Conversations with Trailblazing Women: Nina Schick, Founder of Tamang Ventures

Recognised as one of the world’s best Generative AI speakers, Nina Schick is a pioneering expert at the forefront of the generative AI revolution. As one of the first authorities to identify the seismic implications of this transformative technology, Nina has been instrumental in helping global leaders and organisations navigate the opportunities and risks presented by AI. She is the author of DEEPFAKES: The Coming Infocalypse, the world’s first book on generative AI, and the Founder of Tamang Ventures, a company dedicated to accelerating the adoption of generative AI across industries. With a distinguished career advising figures such as President Joe Biden and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nina’s expertise spans the intersection of technology, policy, and geopolitics. In addition to her advisory roles with innovative AI companies like Synthesia and Truepic, she is also a sought-after speaker on the global stage, regularly appearing at events such as WebSummit and CogX, and contributing to media outlets including the BBC, Sky, Bloomberg, and the MIT Tech Review.

In this interview, Nina shares her perspective on why generative AI marks a fundamental paradigm shift – one she believes will transform the global economy, redefine productivity, and reshape the very framework of society.

Q: How do you envision generative AI shaping the future of business?

Nina Schick: I think generative AI is absolutely going to transform the economy. This is a moment similar to 1993, when we were being told to prepare for the Internet. Thirty years ago, we didn’t understand, in our naivety, how the Internet would change business forever. Generative AI is like that, but an even bigger deal, because you can understand generative AI as almost a combustion engine for all human creative and intelligent activity. Every industry, every bit of productivity, will be transformed by generative AI, and those use cases are emerging now.

Q: What ethical concerns do AI and big data pose for society at large?

Nina Schick: The question of ethics, AI, and big data is going to become intensely political and will be a predominant issue for a long time. You have this utterly transformative technology that I think will change the economy, the labour market, and the framework of society. The question about how to apply this technology in a fair, safe, and ethical way will be a dominant political issue.

Q: In what ways could the Metaverse and immersive technologies redefine the business landscape in years to come?

Nina Schick: I think the Metaverse is this concept of where the Internet may go and how digital experiences might be perceived going forward, where it is far more immersive. However, the really interesting thing with AI is that AI is the actual vehicle that is going to allow us to build this kind of immersive digital experience or environments that are known as the Metaverse. So, while the Metaverse is still an untested concept about where the Internet may go, what is definitely true right now is that AI is going to be the vehicle that will build the content that will go into this kind of immersive experience.

Q: What guidance would you offer organisations aiming to embrace a more digitally driven mindset?

Nina Schick: For businesses looking to digitally transform their mindset, you have to understand the conceptual paradigm change happening now with artificial intelligence. Once you have the conceptual framework in place, you can start to delve deep quickly. If you want to be competitive and have an advantage, this is the time to start looking at how generative AI can be applied in your business. There are many considerations you need to get into regarding your priority areas, long-term gains, not just short-term gains, and your long-term AI strategy. If you put together a generative AI working group to look into this, your business will be transformed and able to compete with other businesses using AI to transform their processes.

Q: In your view, how are data and artificial intelligence influencing the political sphere?

Nina Schick: When you think about how profound AI is in its ability to impact and change the framework of society, this AI revolution will become one of the most important political questions of our generation. We’ve already seen how the information revolution of the past 30 years—the Internet, smartphones, and cloud computing—has become a major geopolitical force shaping our world. Now, you add the AI revolution on top of that and the data powering it, and you have a seismic political issue that will be one of the most important things society needs to deal with in the next generation. So, when you ask about how it will impact politics, it will become politics.

Q: As the pioneering author on generative AI, what inspired your vision for the book?

Nina Schick: The reason I was interested in AI is not because I am a techie. I don’t have a technical background. My background has always been in macro trends shaping society, geopolitics, and the world. This is why I started to research and write about AI. Ultimately, this isn’t a story about technology. This is a story about humanity. The way this exponential technology, built, amplified, and controlled by humans, is going to transform not only the way we work but the way we live. It’s even going to change our perception of what it means to be human.

This interview with Nina Schick was conducted by Mark Matthews for Dataconomy.