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The real message buried in the Crowdstrike fiasco
The recent Crowdstrike update mess, which caused widespread PC outages around the world, has exposed the vulnerability of our modern infrastructure. Our world is built on a complex web of interconnected AI systems – from global shipping to GPS tracking to social media. While these connections offer efficiency and convenience, they also create unforeseen risks.
The Crowdstrike incident highlights the fragility of these systems and the far-reaching consequences of their failure. It's a stark reminder that as our reliance on emerging technology grows, so does our exposure to potential disruptions.
The AI Dilemma: Navigating Complexity in an Interconnected World
As AI continues to reshape our world, our systems will only become more complex and interconnected. This raises a critical question: How can we manage this complexity and mitigate the risks it entails?
At KPI, we believe the answer lies in fostering creative friction. This means:
Decentralizing decision-making: Empowering individuals closest to the action to make informed choices.
Promoting collaboration: Creating opportunities for teams to learn from each other and break down silos.
Cultivating strong leadership: Developing leaders who can navigate complexity, make sound decisions, and inspire others.
What can you do to make your company more secure and resilient to this type of threat?
More sets of eyes can help prevent errors. Just like in climbing, where your climbing partner always double-checks your knots, additional eyeballs that are capable of seeing things you cannot on the coding side of things are more likely to find mistakes and fix them before they become problems. This has been a major strength of open-source software over many years - any changes to the Linux kernel, for example, are reviewed by many people outside of the development team.
By embracing creative friction, with more eyes on the ball, we can build more resilient organizations and systems that are better equipped to withstand the challenges of our interconnected world.
Chances are that as AI dominates investment, our systems will become even more complex and interconnected. It is no longer a matter of if they will crash, but rather when they will crash, unless we set them up the right way.
