We live in a year of uncertainty. 2021 continues to be marked by the pandemic, accelerated by technological innovations that have so drastically changed our daily lives. But it is also a time for positivity, to look around and make a plan (even if planning seems difficult), to create a list of goals and to create opportunities to develop ourselves in the face of the current situation.
For over a year, many employees and companies have continued working from home, and the opportunity to reflect amidst so many obstacles becomes necessary, as does staying up-to-date with what's happening in the world, especially in one of the areas that never stops and is growing more and more: technology.
With that in mind, we've prepared a list of 5 books that deserve a prominent place in your library (or among your ebooks) this year:
1.) 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
The same author of Sapiens and Homo Deus explores the great questions of the present and what we can do to improve it. In the book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, author Yuval Noah Harari explores the present and takes us on a fascinating journey through current issues, addressing topics such as artificial intelligence and environmental crises to try to provide answers about our lives in the current century. An excellent book that allows the reader space for reflection.
2.) Technology Isn't Everything – Understand Why People Are the Real Key to Your Business's Digital Transformation
In this book, authors Anh Nguyen Phillips, Garth R. Andrus, Gerald C. Kane, and Jonathan R. Copulsky show that digital disruption is a reality that is part of the evolution of companies, and they discuss how to achieve digital maturity by investing in people, not just technological tools.
Eric Ries, author of *The Lean Startup* and *The Startup Way*, comments on his opinion: “Packed with data, interviews, and compelling examples, *Technology Isn't Everything* is a compelling case for the need for companies to adapt to current conditions, not just by using technology, but by structuring systems and training leaders to embrace continuous learning and adaptability. It's also a fantastic guide on how to get started.”
3.) Future Present
This book, written by Brazilian researcher Guy Perelmuter and winner of the Jabuti Prize, takes a light and informal approach to showing what changes we can expect in the coming years. It discusses the set of technologies that will define the next decades of the modern world, presenting the topics in a non-technical way, focusing on the impacts generated on society and business.
4.) The Lean Startup
With over 1 million books sold, author Eric Ries explains all the steps to building a technology company focused on innovation. Ries includes both the young entrepreneur working in their garage and the experienced professional at a multinational corporation. What they have in common is the mission of navigating uncertainty towards innovative and sustainable businesses. Aiming to increase the success rate of companies and products, the lean startup model is based on validated learning and continuous experimentation, adopting effective metrics to evaluate progress, strategies to discover what customers truly want, and the agility to change direction when necessary. In this book, which has already become a reference on the subject, Ries brings together real stories and examples of companies that have transformed themselves by implementing this revolutionary model.
A great read for those who want to start a business and also for managers interested in innovation.
5.) The Nine Titans of AI: How Tech Giants and Their Thinking Machines Could Subvert Humanity
Amy Webb's book traces the history of Artificial Intelligence, analyzing the nine largest companies in the world, and discusses the influence of this technology on the economy and politics.
The Nine Titans of AI—Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple—are the new “gods” of AI and are rapidly changing our future with the goal of immediate profits. In this book, Amy Webb reveals the pervasive and unseen ways in which the basic principles of AI—the people who work in the system, their motivations, the technology itself—are being subverted.
It's a thought-provoking, easy-to-read, and accessible book. The author demonstrates his broad knowledge of the science driving AI and the geopolitical conflicts that could arise between the US and China.
An invitation for the reader and large corporations, which are subverting the human-machine relationship, to reflect on the fragmented nature of artificial intelligence.
