Opinion

The term “AI” has at least three entirely different meanings in the modern business context, and any particular business leader usually has only one of these meanings in mind when they use the term. Not only is it common for participants in a discussion to have different interpretations of the term “AI”, but most will be unaware that this terminological confusion exists, leaving leaders in both public and private sector organisations poorly equipped to discuss one of the most important technologies of our time.

Businesses are deeply confused about what AI is, and they have every right to be. Differences in terminology have plagued the Data-AI-Software landscape for many years, as anyone who has ever looked for a job as a “Data Scientist” will attest. Attempts to demystify the topic either conjure a series of analogies that are then strained to breaking point, or try to delve into the actual technology behind the hype, leaving everyone more confused than they were before.

I will attempt something different: removing the mystery by embracing the mystery.

In 2002, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos issued a memo that has entered tech industry canon. The memo, known as the “API Mandate”, is generally perceived as being a statement about technology at Amazon, and is therefore widely admired by technologists and wholly ignored by executives. This is unfortunate, because it’s no exaggeration to say that the API Mandate completely transformed Amazon as a business and laid the foundation for its success. Better still, unlike many things that global technology titans do, it is something that can be replicated and put to use by almost any business.

In this post, we’ll talk about the memo, and how it created the systems and incentives for radical organisational transformation.