CEO, CIO, CTO



Data platforms and applied artificial intelligence from a business perspective.




Part Topic
Part 1: "Framing Technology Investment"
Prologue
Why Does a Company Need to Grow?
The Challenges of Growth
Structural Transformation
What is Knowledge Work?
The Rise of the Information Economy
The Red Queen's Game
How Technology Investment Enables Growth
Part 2: "Building Knowledge Work Platforms"
Knowledge Work Architecture
Analyzing Knowledge Work Architecture
Data Integration
What is a Data Platform?
It's All Games of Materialized Views
The Information Layer
What is Data Engineering?
Transform Engineering
How Data Platforms Change as Companies Grow
Modernizing Data Platforms
The Cost of Coordination
Part 3: "The Evolution of Knowledge Work"
The Evolution of Knowledge Work
All You Need is More Productivity
What is Artificial Intelligence?
There's No Such Thing as Artificial Intelligence
Why is it so hard to sell Artificial Intelligence Tools?
(Something Something Luddites)
Making Knowledge Work More Productive
What is Generative AI?
Do Large Language Models Reason?
The Usable Limitations of Generative AI
Conversational User Interfaces
Task Automation with Generative AI
Decision Support AI in Knowledge Work
Information Architecture in the Age of Reasoning

The rise of Large language models, such as openAI, are advanced artificial intelligence systems designed to understand and generate human-like text. They have also kicked off a new cycle of artificial intelligence hype, research, and investment. However, organizations still struggle with the foundations of building and operating data platforms to run their core business.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Knowledge Work introduces the challenges and complexities of modern knowledge work, particularly in industries reliant on expertise and information processing. It emphasizes how traditional management approaches often fail to address the unique demands of knowledge workers, who require autonomy, adaptability, and effective collaboration to succeed.

This online book will allow you to better understand not only "what is knowledge work?", but also how knowledge work is co-evolving with technology and changing the economic labor distribution. This book will set you up to better frame how you should form your technology inventment thesis into both data platforms and articificial intelligence in a way that focuses on making your business more productive and cutting through the hype.


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