This book would never have been possible without the strong interest and encouragement of Bart van Ark, the managing director of The Productivity Institute. Bart has been a friend and colleague for nearly two decades. Bart has given his time generously and read carefully the paper that was the basis of this book. Bart has encouraged and supported the book project over its entire recent journey. My long-time friend and former IBM colleague, Jim Spohrer, watched this work grow and mature over many years. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Jim quickly came across the original paper on The Productivity Institute website and, in his role as a Business Expert Press editor, encouraged me to expand the paper into a book and join the Business Expert Press family. Jim’s comments on the manuscript are much appreciated.
Diane Coyle of the University of Cambridge also read the original paper in detail and provided valuable comments. The book and my work are a better product after much long discussion with Tony Venables of the University of Oxford who patiently read much of my initial work. My friends and Conference of Business Economist colleagues, Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, KPMG; Stuart Mackintosh, Executive Director, The Group of Thirty; and Susan Lund, formerly, McKinsey and Company and now Vice President, Economics and Private Sector Development, International Finance Corporation, The World Bank, each read and commented on the manuscript.
In all intellectual endeavors, there is a long legacy that can hopefully bear fruit. Most recently David Autor and Daron Acemoglu of MIT, and Erik Brynjolfsson, now at Stanford University, have provided support in sharing their time and insight. Having spent 20 years at IBM, the last 10 of which as Chief Economist and Chief Analytics Officer, many friends and colleagues have influenced this work. The current work’s origin finds its way back to the three years I spent in IBM’s corporate strategy group, having been introduced to Carlota Perez and her work by Joel Cawley, Dan McGrath, and Bruce Harreld. Finally, having spent a year—many years ago—as a research assistant to Jay Forrester at MIT, I grew to appreciate the dynamics of complex systems along with, importantly, what it means to do quality work.
It has been a pleasure to have joined Varicent as Chief Revenue Scientist. Marc Altshuller, Varicent CEO, and Marcus Hearne, Chief Marketing Officer, have been supportive throughout this effort. The opportunity to both see and contribute to the innovation and deployment of new technology on a first-hand basis has been immeasurably helpful.
The publication process has been made relatively pain free due the effort of Scott Isenberg, Managing Executive Editor, and Charlene Kronstedt, Director Production and Marketing, both of Business Expert Press. My thanks go to both. David Yaun has provided important support in communicating this work to the broader world. Anna Sekaren has also provided her coaching and guidance.
As ever, the love and support of my wife, best friend, and partner, Patricia, has made it all possible. I am delighted to dedicate this book to her.