Guest: Tobias Dengel, the president of WillowTree, a digital product consultancy that was acquired by TELUS International in 2023 for over $1.2 billion. Under Tobias’ leadership, WillowTree has become a leading provider of premium digital products and experiences for iconic global brands, including HBO, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, and many more. Tobias’ new book is The Sound of the Future: The Coming Age of Voice Technology.
In a Nutshell: We’ve all asked Alexa, Siri, and Google to check the weather, turn off the TV, and navigate to the nearest gas station — with varying degrees of success. But the coming wave of upgraded voice technology, powered by generative AI and large language models (LLMs), could trigger the biggest changes to how we live and work since the iPhone.
On today’s show, Tobias Dengel and I discuss what advisors should be thinking about as they prepare for the next big fintech revolution.
.Tobias Dengel and I discuss:
- The human needs that voice technology can solve and why now is the moment.
- A “smart speaker” versus a “smart microphone.”
- The biggest obstacle current voice tech has to contend with and how AI could solve that problem.
- Practical applications of next-gen voice tech in financial services, from ordering checks to scheduling client meetings.
- How new technologies build trust with the user.
- What political leaders and educators should be doing to prepare workers for the AI future.
- Will the next tech revolution create fertile ground for startups or mass consolidation by a few big firms?
- What Tobias learned working for AOL founder Steve Case.
