It’s the end of Q2, and that means half the year is gone. A great time for reflection & planning for the future.

Host Rob Grimes shares his own reflections and recent observations on this week’s Accelerate podcast - noting 6 months of conversations and participating in industry events has given him a perspective on what’s coming the rest of this year and beyond.

Just based on physical presence at national events, “Robotics took the biggest space” mentions Rob. AI was also a central theme that took the spotlight at national and regional shows alike. While labor continues to be a main concern into the end of the year, data seems to indicate there’s some relief through leveraging the gig economy and a focus on better scheduling practices.

Considering both internal and external views of how to proceed, Rob suggests competitive analysis; being constantly aware of changes to the market, and to look at your TechStack holistically by putting everything on a whiteboard and seeing how the fit (or not) together. In terms of implementing new changes, whether those be technology or operational, give yourself 6 months to identify, research, review, select and test anything major. A structured process that defines the requirements, sets a reasonable gameplan and timeline, allows you to test thoroughly, and finally plan your launch, will help to ensure success.

If you want to hear Rob’s 2023 observations to-date, and his thoughts on investing to year-end and beyond, listen to this episode Accelerate.