Future of communications, learnings with Facebook

Listening in to the discussion on the 'Future of Communication', the first in a series of content-driven events we're running with Facebook in Hong Kong, here are a few things we learned from the discussion.

Our speakers:

Benjamin J Butler, Global Futurist and Philosopher
Paolo Pirjanian, Founder/CEO, Embodied, Inc.
Craig Allen, Chief Creative Officer, Embodied, Inc
Erica Kerner, Senior VP, Head of Marketing Strategy & Partnerships, ONE Championship
Jayne Leung, Vice President and Head of Facebook Greater China
Lizzie Runham, Director of Human Resources, Facebook APAC 

On the future of people and tech

'People are looking less for inspirational leadership and more empathetic leadership' Darren Chuckry

‘We shape our tools and thereafter, our tools shape us’ Ben Butler

‘We need tools and tech to make us who we are’ Lizzie Runham

‘Bots and AI is going to give us time to become more human’ ‘The mindset in which we engage with tech is the key’ Ben Butler

'There will be a huge investment in digital and virtual characters, but over time as AI moves forward it will be like website development’ Craig Allen

On global transformation

'Younger generations are rallying around brands that they see as authentic. Corporations are really having to consider what their identity is globally... What will come out of this period are strong brands that really care about people' Craig Allen

‘This year has taught us listening is a leadership skill. You need to deeply understand others, their perspective’ Lizzie Runham

On remote working and motivating teams

‘I’ve been with my team for four years but I know them better in the last four months. Any conversation starts with that empathy and start with where they are at before you go with your agenda’ Lizzie Runham

On tech overwhelming humans

‘We’ve seen a lot of that. Cognitive load of interacting with tech is very high. We are beginning to see a shift to voice and body language to reduce that load’ Paolo Pirjanian

‘It’s important at this time in history to step back and realise where we are. It’s good to look at sci-fi and big history books, and big future’ Ben Butler

‘With all the companies I’ve worked for, it all comes back to the consumer and what’s the consumer insight’ Erica Kerner

On how to act during a pandemic

‘I’ve been working with people on moving slowly rather than fast. We’ve also tried to hold the tension between knowing and learning. And gun for effectiveness over efficiency’ Lizzie Runham

‘TED was great at bringing back storytelling but we really need to bring back the art of dialogue’ Ben Butler

Final thoughts

‘Try some things, see if they work. Use this time as an opportunity to take a stand and keep listening to the consumer’ Erica Kerner

‘Without the focus on humanity, technology is irrelevant’ Paolo Pirjanian

You can watch all the talks from this session here.