- Mo Gawdat, former Google X chief business officer, bestselling author - Solve for Happy and Scary Smart - podcast host, serial entrepreneur and founder of One Billion Happy, is joining Flight Story as its Chief AI Officer, to be the strategic lead on how the technology will impact its marketing services offering
- In the brand new role for Flight Story, Mo will work on how the company embraces and regulates AI across its collection of marketing and communication services
- Mo will become the company’s leading voice on how AI should be perceived, and how to embrace rather than abuse the technology
- Rapid growth of the global AI market, which is enroute to become a multi-trillion dollar industry, has left white space for strong AI leadership
London, 1st June 2023: Flight Story, the digital marketing and communications company, co-founded by Steven Bartlett (BBC Dragon’s Den & Diary of a CEO podcast host) and Oliver Yonchev, announces that Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X, will become its Chief AI Officer (“CAIO”).
In line with Steven and Oliver’s vision to make Flight Story the market’s most forward-thinking digital marketing company, and following its recent acquisition of a web3 marketing arm (Flight3) and performance marketing arm (Flight Performance), the role was created to ensure its roster of groundbreaking clients stay at the forefront of the changing digital media landscape.
Mo’s career has spanned 30 years at the forefront of disruptive technology, including roles at IBM, Microsoft, and at the helm of Google’s 'moonshot factory' of innovation, Google X. Here, he oversaw the creation of self-driving cars and the company’s Google Life sciences division. Mo’s understanding of the gravity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is central to the global conversation on the next technological age.
Mo Gawdat had begun sounding the alarm of caution around AI before it was a global topic, back in 2021, with the release of his book, Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World. His expertise positions him as an essential voice on the topic at a time of particular uncertainty, and this appointment will be an additional platform for him to raise the vital issues to those who make decisions on how AI is being used, within the marketing landscape.
As AI applications continue to change the playing field for industries from marketing to education to healthcare, every positive stride is met with a question or challenge: it is now crucial for brands to bridge the gap between the growth and adoption of AI with necessary regulations and ethical considerations. Mo will be central in guiding Flight Story to establish the frameworks within which Flight Story uses, and advises the use of, the burgeoning technology.
Steven Bartlett, co-founder of Flight Story shares: “Artificial Intelligence embodies the greatest existential risk to life as we currently know it, while simultaneously offering the most significant opportunity for positive enhancement. Every enterprise employing this potent technology must be cognisant and deliberative about both aspects of this reality. Without quick and informed legislative intervention, our society risks sleepwalking into an unparalleled social and economic crisis.
“As the founder of a global marketing agency, which advises brands on implementing this technology, it is my responsibility to ensure we have industry leading experts at the very top of our team.
“That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the induction of Mo Gawdat into the Flight Story team today, as our Chief AI Officer.”
Oliver Yonchev, CEO and co-founder of Flight Story adds: “It’s clear that the gap between what companies do now, versus what they will do next, is closing quickly. This requires a new mindset to marketing and a rewriting of the rulebook. With Mo Gawdat onboard, and as we continue to grow our expertise in these emergent areas (with recent acquisitions Flight3 and Flight Performance), we believe we can help brands stay at the forefront of what's possible.”
Mo Gawdat, Chief AI Officer of Flight Story says:
“I have spent my career fascinated by the role that technology plays, and now the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced is upon us. Artificial intelligence is the culmination of technological advancement and it is my view that it will be unprecedented in defining the way the world is shaped. We need to act proactively and intelligently to its challenges: I am not in a position to change the course of AI and its impact, but with the resources and reach I have been given, I can influence the way people perceive it - and that’s where I’m focusing my attention.
“Artificial Intelligence has been entrenched in our lives for years - it’s nothing new - in social media, for example, we’ve been working to please algorithms to further our communication reach for some time now. The sophistication of digital intelligence is such that it has become autonomous and is something that needs to be appealed to, rather than controlled. It’s vital we stay attuned to how to do this, or risk being left behind.”
