Mike Walsh Highlights AI as Catalyst for Business Evolution at ABF CON 2025
Futurist Mike Walsh emphasizes AI's pivotal role in transforming business models, competitive strategies, and franchising dynamics at ABF CON 2025.
- • AI is crucial for the future of organizations and franchising, promoting intelligent decision-making.
- • AI reshapes company structures and work concepts, impacting diverse industries.
- • Competitive advantage in franchising shifts from size to rapid learning and knowledge sharing.
- • AI enables continuous learning at each point of sale, transforming business operations.
Key details
At ABF CON 2025, futurist and CEO Mike Walsh underlined artificial intelligence (AI) as essential to the future transformation of organizations and franchising. Walsh emphasized that strategic, ethical AI integration allows companies to convert data into intelligent decisions, profoundly reshaping company structures and work concepts across sectors. Citing firms like BYD, Samsung, and Bradesco, he remarked, "The value difference between tech companies and traditional ones will be replaced by the difference between those that use AI and those that do not. We can call AI a digital collaborator." In franchising, Walsh noted competitive edge will no longer rely on scale but on the speed of learning and knowledge sharing across networks, stating, "What one unit learns in the morning needs to be applied in another before lunch." Moreover, AI enables each point of sale to become a continuous learning hub through intelligent management systems. Walsh predicted a dramatically changed business landscape within ten years driven by AI’s pervasive influence. These insights from Walsh reveal how AI is not just a tool but a transformative force redefining business models, operational strategies, and competitive dynamics, urging Brazilian businesses to embrace AI for future relevance and advantage.