Top 5 Favorite 2022 Tech Predictions

(Photo credit @sunlifter)

Happy New Year to all of you! I can’t quite believe that we’re already in 2022. It’s a great time to consider whether a new year means a new job/career for you. 

#announcements

1. If you would like to drop in to say hello or ask a quick tech/career Q, please subscribe to the newsletter - and you’ll get the Q&A registration link!
   

2. I’m also launching a series of short workshops to help you jumpstart your job searches! Based on the LinkedIn poll I did, multiple workshop topics are appealing! (There’s still time to vote if you want to push one forward to the top.) I’ve decided to offer the first one as a free session on understanding tech, and then 4 other paid workshops related to tech resume revamp, job search strategizing, developing 30-second pitches, and finding contacts. 

   1. You can register for any of these workshops here: lu.ma/lizarnold

   2. You are welcome to share this public link with anyone who you think could benefit from these workshops! 

#tech+careersoundbite

It is incredibly popular to do predictions around this time of year. Rather than add to the noise, I thought it would be useful to share 5 of my favorite tech+career predictions for 2022 & add my own commentary. I’d love to hear what you think! 

1. “The next generation of top talent will have “Polygamous Careers,” transforming the corporate world as we know it.”  – Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer, Adobe.

   1. I love this one for likely obvious reasons. It’s great for creative types who have many interests & career goals, and helps to elevate side hustles from an auxiliary activity to one critical piece of your career/skill portfolio. It’s not really a new concept but I love the thought of it becoming more mainstream within many organizations. 

2. “NFTs will become mainstream and attract far more diverse consumers.” – Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed

   1. When I read this, it convinced me that I need to take NFTs more seriously: ‘NFT trading volume hit $13bn for 2021, which was a yoy increase of 43,000% (!!).’ I’m fascinated by how this tool can help creators of all types to better monetize their artwork, and at the same time, how brands can leverage the usage of unique NFTs in the new metaverses being developed. Your avatar could wear a piece by a designer or you could own a unique copy of a song from a new artist - and these are verified by the blockchain. More to come on NFTs in a future newsletter!

3. “The Zuckerverse Is the Biggest Tech Fail of 2022” – Scott Galloway, NYU MBA Professor & Founder, Section4

   1. Ready Player One has shown us that one company designing a metaverse game can easily go horribly wrong, and Meta (aka Facebook) is no different. They have already hosted 3 concerts that were poorly attended. And while I have no doubt that some will be attracted to their metaverse, if it is siloed off from other virtual worlds, it’ll likely die on the vine. 

4. “The spirit of Silicon Valley continues a spread outward.” – Tomasz Tunguz, Managing Partner, Redpoint Ventures

   1. The dispersion of tech talent from Silicon Valley to remote locales & the conviction of Theranos’ disgraced CEO Elizabeth Holmes is part of the subtle dismantling of a power concentration in Silicon Valley. It will always retain an allure & plenty of power due to all the company HQ’s – but it has been fascinating to watch other cities like Miami & Austin suck talent to them. I will be very curious to see what will happen in the coming months as hybrid/remote work becomes more commonplace. 

5. “Precision medicine is imperative to scaling care delivery amidst rising demand.” – Aike Ho, Principal, Acme Capital

   1. We need continued innovation in digital health to support the rising demand for healthcare services (hello neverending pandemic!) coupled with the decline in the number of healthcare professionals here in the US. The only way to scale services is via tech-enabled healthcare services. Tho as there are some worrisome trends about AI bias that could cause some unintended consequences, we & the growing health tech startups need to remain vigilant. Many of the communities that require tech services are in low-income and rural areas that are losing healthcare workers at higher rates. 

#random

Forget the metaverse - instead, contemplate the existence of the Multiverse. The TV show Fringe delved into this topic if you want to nerd out on a very weird yet binge-able show. 

Happy Holidays update!

(Photo credit @cristian1)

I wanted to send a brief update on what’s been happening here at Digital Orchards and to wish all of you a safe and healthy Happy Holidays! 

#eship-journey-update

Entrepreneurship is always full of challenges, but being a solopreneur has had some unexpected twists & turns. I have fully enjoyed having a more flexible schedule and continuing to offer 1:1 support to my many motivated clients who are looking to chart a longer-term pivot into tech. The flexibility also allowed me time to run in a local political campaign that while unsuccessful, helped me to realize I’d like to stay engaged in my community. I will be joining the Board of Directors for the Center for the Arts in Homer in Jan 2022, a space for local creators, students, artists, and national musical acts to convene & engage. This is in addition to being VP for the Board of Directors for the Zonta Club of Cortland, which does important work in supporting programs for women & children in our area. Recently, I also was invited to speak to the team at Coder (a series B startup) on how to grow professionally at startups, and look forward to giving more talks like this in the new year. 

In terms of challenges to overcome: I was initially surprised to learn that I was more effective in my biz when I was working on it alongside a full-time job! (Ouch) It took me longer to realize why: (a) I missed the regular cadence of the academic calendar, and (b) I missed collaborating with a team of colleagues! So for the last few weeks, I’ve been working on connecting with & learning from other solopreneurs in order to better shore up the foundations of my business and think more about the offerings I’d like to provide. 

#announcements

So here are a few announcements that I’d like to share with you: 

1. I’m re-dedicating myself to publishing a bi-weekly newsletter for all of you – to continue sharing tech industry soundbites, career growth/job search tips, job postings, and other random items that appeal to me. Hit reply if you’d like to offer topic suggestions or have burning questions to be answered!

2. I will also start offering free weekly 30minute drop-in Office Hours ONLY to my subscribers in Q1 2022! More details to follow in the next newsletter on how to sign up. 

3. As I really like engaging with small groups, I’m planning to launch a series of short workshops in Q1 2022 on topics like revamping your resume, refreshing your LinkedIn profile, career planning, finding the right job postings, and more. Feel free to suggest your topic of interest too!

4. After testing out multiple platforms this fall, I have decided to use Walden to centralize 1:1 coaching engagements and to keep Teachable for my courses. This will help me better support my clients’ accountability in reaching their specific career and job search goals. 

I look forward to sharing more of these business updates with all of you – and thank you for continuing to support me in this journey! It means the world to me! 

#random

A dinosaur embryo has been found inside a fossilized egg. Very cool tho I hope we all remember what happens when we try to control velociraptors! (see Jurassic Park/World movies)

What is the role of AI in a digital workplace?

(Photo credit @austindistel)

It’s been a busy past few weeks, with the launch of my new Coaching offerings and getting to participate in my first tweetathon! I maaaay have also spent some time watching the recent Pres and VP debates, and maaaay have scared my dog when I was yelling at the TV. (I’m just as passionate about public service & politics as I am about tech!) For those in the US, please make sure you are registered to vote and have a plan for when and how you will vote! It’s really important that you participate in the voting process.  

#techtopic

Earlier this week, I was invited to participate in The Digital Workplace Tweetathon, where around 100 panelists interacted with thousands of attendees on Twitter over a 24-hour period. We discussed a wide variety of topics related to the Digital Workplace. My panel’s focus was on “The role of AI in a digital workplace” and I was joined by Paul Datta, Head of Digital Workplace for ASEAN/Japan for Tata Consultancy Services, and Mitch Zenger, CEO of Synctrics. 

We were each asked to record a video or written response in advance to 4 questions, and I’ve linked here to the Twitter thread for each question. I hope you take a look - I’m especially interested to hear if you know of companies working on my prediction for Q2. 

• Panelist intros

• Q1: Where is AI currently being used in digital workplaces? 

  • My focus: Resume screening - but it's not mature enough for un-assisted candidate selection

• Q2: Where will AI be used that you haven’t seen yet? 

  • My focus: Combining contextual analysis of digital assets + social network analysis = identifying hiring needs before you even know you need someone!

• Q3: How can AI make the employee experience more human?

  • My focus: Automate basic interactions to give humans more time to do human things, like conversations about career planning & navigating people dynamics

• Q4: What do digital leaders need to do now to be prepared to take advantage of AI in the future? 

  • My focus: Train all your people in digital dexterity and AI literacy so they know the power of what AI can and cannot do

Pro tip: Tweetdeck made it so much easier to participate in this tweetathon as you could have multiple threads for notifications, hashtags, etc, open in just one window (check it out if you want an easier Twitter experience). 

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#random

You might have missed this important news tidbit last week. Maybe we’ll be able to go back and erase some of 2020 someday?? Physicists prove time travel is 'mathematically possible' 🤯

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Want a Career in Tech but aren’t sure where to start? Take a look at MY COURSE, ‘TECH SEARCH COMPASS’ FOR STEP-BY-STEP SUPPORT

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