In a recent episode of my weekly podcast DisrupTV, Constellation Research's R "Ray" Wang and I had the privilege of hosting two remarkable visionaries who have shaped our digital landscape: Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, vice president and chief internet evangelist at Google, and Dr. David Bray, distinguished chair of the accelerator at the Henry L. Stimson Center and Principal/CEO of LeadDoAdapt Ventures, Inc.

As we navigate the transformative era of artificial intelligence, their insights on leadership, technology's societal impact, and creating better futures offer invaluable guidance for today's leaders. Their decades of experience bridging technological innovation with human needs provides a crucial blueprint for executives seeking to harness emerging technologies while avoiding the pitfalls that can undermine both business success and societal well-being.

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Cerf, in his role at Google, Widely known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet," Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols. In December 1997, President Clinton presented the National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his colleague, Robert E. Kahn, for their work in founding and developing the internet. 

Cerf has served in executive positions at MCI, the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and on the faculty of Stanford University. While at MCI, Cerf led the effort to develop and deploy MCI Mail, the first commercial email service that was connected to the internet. In 2005, at age 62, Cerf left MCI to join Google, where he contributes to global policy development and the continued spread of the internet.  

In addition to the National Medal of Technology, Cerf has received numerous awards and commendations for his work on the internet, including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the ACM Turing Award (the highest honor in computer science), the French Legion of Honor, and 29 honorary degrees. In 1994, People magazine identified Cerf as one of the "25 Most Intriguing People" in the world. 

The evolution of the internet and what's next

Cerf reflected on the remarkable journey from the early days of ARPANET to today's global network connecting 5.6 billion people. Looking to the internet's future, he highlighted increasing capacity, expanding accessibility, and going off-planet. Since 1998, Cerf has worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab on developing an "interplanetary internet backbone." Cerf also emphasized how AI is becoming an increasingly powerful tool, noting that approximately 25% of Google's software is now being generated through AI-based tools. He sees us "entering into a period of abundance of computing and communication capability that will enable some amazing accomplishments."

Bray has been a thought leader on the internet's future trajectory, often collaborating with Cerf through their work with the People-Centered Internet coalition from 2017-2021. In his writings, Bray has outlined several key dimensions to the internet's evolution, including the importance of increasing digital resilience, bridging digital divides, and advancing community-driven innovation. According to Bray, "the most successful digital transformations happen when communities have agency in shaping how technology serves their specific needs."

Bray emphasized: 

"The good news is the internet, like never before, allows us to connect with people around the world and access information, and that's a good thing. And then at the same time, much like other technologies in the past, including radio [and] television, there are going to be some that use it, either for propaganda purposes or for creating communities in which people all think the same thing, and you're not exposed to different ideas."

Leadership lessons from decades of tech innovation

When asked about leadership insights from his illustrious career, Cerf offered several practical principles:

1. Seek collaboration:"If you want to do anything big, get help."
2. Learn to sell your ideas: "Make sure you learn how to sell your ideas to other people so they want to help you do what you want to do."
3. Maintain curiosity: "I hope I never grow up. I want to stay the same curious person I was when I was 10 years old."
4. Value mentorship: Cerf credited mentors like Bob Kahn and Steve Crocker, who "helped to keep my curiosity vibrating and have helped to feed my interests."

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Bray highlighted several consistent leadership themes emerging based on his collaboration with Cerf:

1. Lead through positive change: "Change agents need to recognize that they're going to face resistance. The question is: how do you navigate that resistance while still moving forward?"
2. Embrace adaptive leadership: "The best leaders today are adaptive -- they recognize that different situations require different approaches, and they're willing to adjust their style accordingly while staying true to their values."
3. Build diverse, resilient teams: "When facing complex challenges, you need cognitive diversity-people who think differently than you do."
4. Cultivate trust through consistent values: "As a leader, your team needs to know that your values remain constant even when circumstances change."

Building people-centered internet and AI

Both leaders stressed the need for technology to serve humanity rather than vice versa. Cerf noted that while the internet allows like-minded people to discover each other, "like-minded doesn't necessarily mean people who have your best interests in mind." For Cerf, this highlights the need for accountability, responsibility, and ethics -- issues that "technology cannot solve. These are things that only social constructs, social norms, maybe laws and law enforcement can solve."

Bray added that with AI, we need to engage communities directly. "What I think we haven't done is go to communities and say, how do you want to use this combination of AI and the internet for the future of work? What do you want the future of education to look like? What do you want to be a new social contract?"

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Both technology experts offered thoughts on necessary guardrails for the future of AI and future technologies. Cerf emphasized the need for interdisciplinary approaches. "When we introduce technology, we should bring with us sociologists and psychologists and anthropologists to help us understand the impact of the technology on the societies that are ingesting it." 

Cerf highlighted the challenge of AI systems that are "beguilingly articulate [and] often better spoken than a lot of our friends," which lends weight to what they say, "even when they're wrong." This underscores the need for critical thinking and providing provenance for AI-generated information. 

Bray's solution focuses on human agency: "We've got to create spaces where people can come in and actually have agency in shaping the future themselves. The only way you get through this, even if you have disagreements and different paths to be charted, is you've got to actually find a way to give people agency back."

Leadership advice for today's leaders

For executives navigating digital transformation and AI integration, Cerf and Bray offer seven key takeaways:

1. Revisit the social contract: As Cerf put it, "It's time for us to revisit the social contract... accountability has to go along with agency."
2. Prioritize human connection: Bray emphasized creating spaces where people can engage meaningfully across differences, comparing it to "electronic agoras" where diverse perspectives can be shared.
3. Balance innovation with responsibility: Both Cerf and Bray stressed that technological advancement must be paired with ethical considerations and societal impact assessments.
4. Embrace collaboration across disciplines: The challenges ahead require collaboration among technologists, social scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and community leaders.
5. Lead with empathy: Empathetic leadership is not just nice to have; it's essential for navigating complex change. You need to understand how changes affect different stakeholders and address their concerns authentically.
6. Create psychological safety: "Innovation," said Bray, "requires an environment where people feel safe to take risks. If your team is afraid to fail, they'll never try anything truly innovative. Create a culture where calculated risks are encouraged, and failures are treated as learning opportunities,"
7. Think exponentially: Both Cerf and Bray believe leaders need to anticipate exponential changes and prepare their organizations accordingly.

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As we stand at the intersection of the internet age and the AI revolution, these insights from two pioneers who have shaped our digital world offer a roadmap for leaders seeking to harness technology's potential while ensuring it serves humanity's best interests. They envision a future where thoughtful leadership, inclusive dialogue, and a commitment to human dignity -- even amid advances in technological and data capabilities -- help guide our collective journey forward.

This article was co-authored by Dr. David Bray, principal and CEO at LeadDoAdapt (LDA) Ventures, chair of the Accelerator, and distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center.

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