2/12/2025-On this day, Ray Kurzweil

Published on

Skill

Ray Kurzweil’s thinking should not paralyze you but instead help guide you to focus your skill development and what you mean in the sales chain.

On this day in 1948, Ray Kurzweil, an American computer scientist and futurist, was born in Queens, NY.

So, why is Ray important to you, human being sales pro? (Go re-read his quote.)

For years, Ray has predicted how tech automation will grow and affect marketplaces like the one you sell in.

What Ray – and others – predict about the immediate future needs to be included in your career strategy. Study Ray, and what you learn will inform you where to steer.

Do

Humans have superpowers, too!

What are your selling superpowers, and how will you invest in them to compete with technology advancements?

For one, bots and AI cannot compete with your ability to make customers feel. How are you doing in that department? …do you need to work on your empathy and trust-building?

What about your storytelling skills?

Do you need to grow those so you can better engage your prospects? Start by writing some stories today using your case studies and client experiences.

The selling habits and skills you use today probably won’t work "tomorrow."

But one constant is tech innovation.

Sure, tech advancements are fun, exciting, and rewarding. But, tech can be scary when you think of how much it can replace what you currently do in your job.

When Ray Kurzweil speaks, it makes sense to listen to him so we can prepare and think about how to remain competitive.

Kurzweil’s accomplishments and honors are impressive…to name a few, he received the 1999 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the United States’ highest honor in technology, from then-President Bill Clinton in a White House ceremony. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2001 for applying technology to improve human-machine communication. In 2002, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, established by the U.S. Patent Office. He has received 21 honorary doctorates and honors from three U.S. presidents.

The list goes on.

You may not have a brain like Ray’s, but you understand people and selling. Honoring Ray’s birthday is not about bowing to technology and letting it paralyze you, but instead acknowledging where you need to focus your skill development and what you mean in the sales chain.

The best thing you can do – today – is to get as many face-to-face meetings with customers as you can. Communication value is pretty good through Zoom, but it’s the best it can be in person. Be a seller who personifies the human spirit: go see your customers. Go look them in the eye.

Oomph

It may have been a while since you’ve had your mind blown, so sit on your hands and watch a summary of Ray’s popular theory, "The Singularity."

This clip will help you think beyond how particular tech tools can improve your prospecting or pipeline analysis.

Open up…let your brain get pushed.

Quote of the day

"AI will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold." Ray Kurzweil