Adapt or Be Left Behind: Embracing the AI Revolution with Innovation and Empathy with Michael Sherrod

Good Morning, HR

In episode 136, Coffey talks with Michael Sherrod about the impact of artificial intelligence on business strategy and management.

They discuss how old news media’s failure to adapt their business model to the digital age may be a predictor of how businesses succeed or fail with the advent of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies; how organizational structures are changing to more quickly adapt to digital transformations; younger workers’ expectations that businesses incorporate new technologies; why business leaders should begin integrating artificial intelligence into their business strategies; using technology to replace workers; and companies’ ethical responsibilities to workers whose jobs are disrupted by new technologies.

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This episode is pre-approved for .5 hour HR (Business) recertification credit for HRCI-certified professionals and .5 professional development credit for SHRM-certified professionals. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.

About our Guest:

Michael Sherrod is currently the William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence at TCU’s Neeley School of Business.

He began his career by starting a magazine publishing company right out of grad school. Over a few years he added 7 additional media properties to the original magazine.

He transitioned from the print world into the online world in 1985 when he helped manage Star-Text, a video-text news service at the Star-Telegram, owned at the time by CapCities/ABC.

In his career Michael has founded or co-founded 19 companies, including Black Dove Media, DigitalCity.com, AOL Local, Examiner.com and the AddLibra Corporation. Additionally, he has served in senior management roles and started new companies inside CapCities/ABC, AMR Information Services, AOL, Ancestry.com, and The Anschutz Companies.

In 2010, he served as the first Publisher of The Texas Tribune (https://www.texastribune.org), a non-profit, non-partisan media site covering Texas government, politics, and public policy and was a founding board member.

Michael is the immediate past Chair of the Board of the Urban Library Council, Past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Kinsey Institute, the world’s leading research institute for sex, gender and reproduction, and a former board member of the Craigslist Foundation. He also serves as board member, advisor and investor to a number of online organizations in Texas and around the world. Michael is an author and frequent speaker on online, cultural, business issues and how they will impact the near and mid-term future.

Michael holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, where he studied in the interdisciplinary Great Books Program, an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri at Columbia and an EMBA from The Neeley School of Business at TCU.

Michael Sherrod can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-sherrod-1688611/

About Mike Coffey:

Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, human resources professional, licensed private investigator, and HR consultant.

In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations firm helping risk-averse companies make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.

Today, Imperative serves hundreds of businesses across the US and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.

Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence and has twice been named HR Professional of the Year.

Additionally, Imperative has been named the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.

Mike is a member of the Fort Worth chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and volunteers with the SHRM Texas State Council.

Mike maintains his certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute. He is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Mike lives in Fort Worth with his very patient wife. He practices yoga and maintains a keto diet, about both of which he will gladly tell you way more than you want to know.

Learning Objectives:

1. Apply lessons learned from previous disruptive technologies’ impact on businesses.
2. Consider more agile organizational structures to more quickly adapt to and leverage new technologies.
3. Predict and prepare for workforce disruptions caused by new technologies.