# Closing Address — Transcript

There we go. Now you can hear me. All right. So how many of you remember or have seen this diagram before?

This is going to date some people. So if you've seen this, raise your hand. Like 11. That shows how many people were here at our first event.

Okay. Now, what I was doing when I made this in 2024 was trying to articulate what I was thinking about what AI means to us. And I didn't do it perfectly. I meant to get together with a bunch of experts.

Never did. Never did. But I put this up and people wanted to see it. They took their phones out and they took pictures of it.

I'm sure they never did anything with it. But I think it's relevant today because what we're looking at here are things like the phases that we can go through when we talk about AI and the changes that it's going to make to us, changes to tasks. If you really think about it, AI is able to help with tasks. Individual processes, things that we do or don't like to do, et cetera, it can help with that.

Groups of tasks kind of combined with maybe a human being might be a job. So if you think about that, there might be several tasks that you do, but you wrap them up into a job. And many jobs might be a workforce within an organization. Workforce combined with capital and equipment and four walls might be a company.

Companies participate in economies. Economies are a supporting element to a society, and societies, that's human existence. Without societies, we don't have norms, structure. People decide we don't like for some reason, or do like for some reason.

What I said in that first talk is tasks are something we can do something about. Tasks are something that AI can do something about. Tasks are also something that as individuals we need to be concerned about because if the thing we do is a task, it can easily be done by AI. If all you are good at doing is getting rid of the background, in product photos with Photoshop, but you're darn good at it.

I mean, you are magic lasso experts. Your job's gone. That task is gone now, isn't it? How many of you are graphic designers?

Not many. One, right? But we all knew what I just meant. Okay?

But there were jobs like that. If those people don't evolve, That job's gone. If we don't think about the way that we become strategic, that we enable ourselves with artificial intelligence, others who are capable of doing more tasks more efficiently than us, those that enable themselves with artificial intelligence, not artificial intelligence itself, maybe now that we're talking about agents and things, but not artificial intelligence itself, But those who enable themselves with artificial intelligence are the ones that are going to be taking the jobs. Changes to workforce.

If we don't help our workforce advance, we will not have the workforce that we need to compete within our organization. And if our leaders within the organization don't understand artificial intelligence and the impact that it's going to make on the future of the business that they lead In the AI future, we won't have a company. Now I'm not saying this because it's okay not to do AI because look, I'd love a future that has options like that. The problem is if others are capable of efficiencying themselves into greatness, then that threatens our organization if we're not able to do it the same.

The state of Iowa is my purview, it's my interest. The small and medium sized manufacturers of the state of Iowa are what I want to be there and ready. Some of you saw the tsunami talking last year. The water is receding.

There is no seashell picking up right now. Turning around, getting to high ground, being there before that tsunami hits. Okay? That's where we need to be.

I don't really have to tell you that, you're here for a reason. But we have to work together to get the people that we work with, those around us, our organizations, our CEO or president or whoever's in charge of it to understand this. If we're unable to do that, we'll have problems. Now, since that time, there have been, and when I say that time, since that, the end of that conference, approximately 8 days after the conference that we had in 2024 or the summit, there have been 75 major model releases.

And I mean major, I talk about the big four or five, if you consider deep sea. in there. Yeah, Grok's not even this. 75 major releases. Not, oh, you know, they did a little this or that. I'm talking point something.

Or, hey, 4 to 5. Big deal. Here's the thing. Whenever somebody talks to me about, oh, hey, which model should I be using?

Which tool should I be using? This is the question that we need to address at a high level so I can tell my IT director what we should do. I say, I don't care. That's not the point.

This is not what matters. What matters is this. If we can get that across to the people who have some kind of power to help the state advance, That's what we need to do. Use ChatGPT, Gemini, whatever.

I don't care. But figure that stuff out. Because that's the important part. Are you going to help me?

If you need help, we have contact information. Mary's been standing out there all day, probably being very sweet and nice to everybody, but she's going to hand out paper like you wouldn't believe. There are three sheets on our table at the Cirrus table that said, this is how we want to help you. I'm not doing it myself.

It's not just Mary and I. It's not even just Cirrus. It's Cirrus, our partners, our third parties, all of the people that we know that we will bring to the table to help you. Okay?

So if you come, if you're thinking to yourself, gee, I don't know if there's a resource or whatever, I'm going to be terribly disappointed because I think I've said it about 11 times today. Come and ask for help. We'll help you do it. There's no charge up to a certain point.

If we get to a point where there's a project or something, you will know it. Okay? All right. So with that said, we want to help.

We are empowering our specialists within Cirrus with AI so they can help you, so they can take their knowledge and empower themselves with AI and help themselves internally and you externally. We are facilitating education and discussions. One of those sheets that Mary is handing out is talking about the partnership between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. We were kind of jabbing each other today a little bit, but we brought the IIAI from the University of Iowa and TRAC from Iowa State and SIRAS together to develop a curriculum.

I'm one of the deliverers. We'll come and help you. can ask your community colleges. They have access to it as well. We come and teach through their programs.

And we're ready to discuss your present needs. Do I know exactly how to do everything you're trying to do? No. I have smarter friends.

I will evaluate it. Other people will evaluate it. Those smarter friends will help execute it. We will try to help you.

What did you take away from today? What did we learn? This isn't rhetorical. Curtis.

The problem is real. The problem is real. Okay. That's all we got.

Okay. Well, you know, that is something. That is something. Okay, and I will come after.

Anyone else? I got one. I really like the post-it note of how can AI help me with this. That was a really, really good one to pick up.

Excellent. Is that still on there? Is that me? I walked in front of that.

You know, I spent 35 years in AV. You'd think I would know this, but. Okay, who else? I thought if I had my back turned to it.

What else did we learn? That's sensitive. Who else? There's got to be more that we've learned today.

Even from the sessions, not just from things that have been sent in this room. That walking in front of a speaker causes feedback. Is it on? How about now?

There you go. I think. At least from what I heard in passing and different things, I'm not a manufacturer. I'm just making websites.

But I think everything I was hearing in passing is you guys are all in the same, like, we don't know what's going on. And coming from the nerd side of things, we don't know what's going on either. So know that continuing to learn, continuing to build, and just trying to soak up as much as you can, because who knows what model they're going to drop next week. But I think that there's going to be some solace to take in that. you're not lost, you're not behind.

It's just everyone's trying to run the race. All right. Well, I'm not seeing people jumping up and down to say that, but what I would like you to be able to do is stick around. We do have the facility until 6 P.m.

If you want to sit around and geek out about this, or if you have to get out of here, either way is fine. We will have some refreshments outside, so it's not being taken away or the cookies. I really appreciate your attendance. I think just the conversations and things I heard at the tables at lunch and out in the hallways and things, this was terrific.

Make sure that you hit the exhibitors on the outside there. You can also network and I really thank you and I hope you're going to come back next year because we'll do it bigger and better.