Overview

Why are we transforming digitally so rapidly? The course unravels deeper reasons why organizations and individuals are turning to digital technologies. As new technologies (from AI assistants to virtual reality) are emerging rapidly, there is new and exciting possibilities, but also overwhelming information. Are these technologies always empowering? The digital technologies are transforming every facet of life, from how we work to how we connect. However, we need to be equipped with the wisdom to use these appropriately, to understand their effects. In this course, Professor Pankaj Setia at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) develops the notion of Existential purpose that guides human evolution and growth. Using the neuroscientific foundations, this course equips you with the knowledge to transform both yourself and your organization for the digital future. This course is the culmination of Professor Setia's Digital Transformation series. It offers a unique perspective, focusing on the individual and how technology can help you thrive in the modern world. Enroll today and unleash the power of technology to create a more fulfilling and empowered life!

Syllabus

Week 1: Existential Purpose of Digital Transformation

In this Module, you will learn about the Existential Purpose of Digital Transformation. Specifically, the week will outline the relationship between digital transformation and existence. The existential purpose underlines the interplay between three elements: Life, Organization, and Digital Technologies. Using reductionism and re-constructivism, this module explains the neuroscientific basis for human existence. Specifically, the module underlines the idea of cognitive schema that pursues emotional goals. This explains the foundations for the instrumental purpose of digital transformation. Further, the notion of learning - and exploration and exploitation - is used to explain the foundations of the operational purpose of digital transformation.

Week 2: Computational Freedom

In this module, you will learn about conceptualizing humans or life. There are many conceptualizations that drive world models in economics, artificial intelligence, politics, and so on. This week, I underline the need to conceptualize life as a Neuroscientific being. This conceptualization helps us understand what motivates us to adopt and develop Digital Technologies. I identify the pursuit of reward as an essential drive and reason why Bounded Rationality in humans limits our ability to realize this reward. Finally, we will learn about the notion of Externalized Computations as the core to understanding the Existential Purpose in Organizations. This is primarily because it drives Computational Freedom - the core drive that guides humans to adopt and develop new technologies.

Week 3: Entropy and Artificially Intelligent (AI) Ecosystems

Topics in this module explain the role of organization in enhancing our Computational Freedoms. Previously, bounded rationality is examined as capturing the cognitive constraints of human minds, underlining that digital technologies propel an organization of people that are computationally more free to think and act. Specifically, it helps the organization's purpose - countering disorder. Furthermore, a comparison is drawn between the Biological and Artificial Intelligence. This forms the basis for identifying organizations' existential purpose, as the creation of AI ecosystems. The module gives examples to explain how these ecosystems help enhance computational freedom through new-age digital organizations

Week 4: Purposes behind Digital Transformation

In this module, you will learn about the managerial ways to enact a Digital Transformation. Specifically, you will get to think about related concepts that are essential for enacting the three specific purposes. I will discuss the scope of digital transformation, as well as ways to creatively destruct and conceptualize imaginative transformations. Also, you will learn about the disjoint and cohesive purposes of digital transformation. In the end, you will be familiarized with the strategies for mastering the enactment of the instrumental, operational, and existential purposes of digital transformation.