What's your view on using AI for FDI?

The Gen AI revolution provides IPA professionals with new and exciting digital resources to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) but there are a range of views on AI in the FDI industry.

Some IPA pros use AI extensively, others remain wary or unconvinced. Those that adapt and responsibly leverage this tech are likely to be more competitive in their investment attraction.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, famously said: 

"Oh, for that? It will mean that 95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI — and the AI will likely be able to test the creative against real or synthetic customer focus groups for predicting results and optimizing.  

Again, all free, instant, and nearly perfect. Images, videos, campaign ideas? No problem." 

He throws down a significant challenge for marketers to consider. This quote generated a lot of online discussion and speculation about what the future holds for the industry.

How does this vision of tech disruption make you feel? Concerned? You're not alone. 

There has been a lot of media coverage about the impact of AI on marketing and the displacement of creatives by generative AI, as well as the billions of dollars being invested in AI startups and platforms. You may have creative friends already feeling the AI pinch.

Some folk wonder if the AI bubble will burst. Others worry that there won't be any jobs left for humans or that it represents an existential threat.

I heard one Podcast AI expert say that a test simulation showed an AI model displayed a tendency to threaten and blackmail based on data analysis of the user's email account when it was informed that it would no longer be needed.

Concern was expressed that an AI model could lock someone in an office meeting room and turn off the oxygen supply. I know. That's what I thought too. I remember meeting one IPA pro at a trade show tell me that AI just made her think of Terminator 2.

It's both confusing and alarming isn't it? Hence the need for regulation and highly effective guardrails. I hope I haven't put you off the thought of office working.

You'll have seen on TV tests being carried out where members of the public are asked to identify which piece of marketing content is AI generated and which has been created by humans from a marketing agency.

AI has been used in some areas of marketing for several years now. Experts are forecasting that AI will become so ubiquitous after a while that it will just become viewed as mainstream technology or software.

There's a high degree of Gen AI experimentation across the marketing industry, with new AI-powered products coming out all the time. People are getting quite stressed about the challenge of staying up to speed with the emergence of so many AI platforms.    

Others are asking if AI can add more value in value in terms of creative quality and not just efficiency, speed, and the quantity of output.  

The Invoca report on the State of AI in Digital Marketing for 2023-24 provided a helpful snapshot of how marketing professionals in the US market view the implications of AI for their work as marketeers. Its findings were based on a survey of 500 full-time US marketing professionals, manager level or higher, in organizations of 100 or more employees.  

Interestingly, it reported that marketeers were overwhelmingly optimistic about the impact of AI on their careers, their organizations, and their ability to perform at the highest level possible.

93% thought they were experts or had an advanced level of knowledge of AI use cases in marketing, although a lack of knowledge of AI solutions was cited as the number two barrier to AI adoption so there may be some overconfidence at play there.  

It would be interesting to know what percentage of IPA professionals consider themselves to have either an expert or advanced knowledge of AI use cases in investment promotion.

What percentage of IPA pros would respond that your Investment Promotion Agency's use of AI is more advanced than your competitors and or that your IPA's planned AI investment will change significantly in the next year? 

IPA leaders have spoken openly about the need to take time to assess the utility and limitations of applying AI to FDI attraction end uses. They advocate a values-driven approach that places Gen AI usage within clearly defined governance frameworks while ensuring human engagement with investors is not diminished.

AI literacy is an important consideration for marketeers who are interviewing candidates and IPAs are unlikely to be any different. It's good to be aware of the common strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with your view on the application of Gen AI to investment attraction.

It's also important to better understand different views held by your IPA colleagues. This will help unlock better collaboration and lead to the identification of a wider range of end uses.

The Copilot for FDI Attraction Toolkit Course helps you to explore your own Gen AI perspective - and show you how that insight can generate AI-powered stakeholder insights that supercharge your teamwork and engagement strategies.

The Course looks at five investment promotion Gen AI perception profiles - the Optimizer, the Innovator, the Guardian, the Realist, and the Traditionalist. You’ll see how each one brings something different to the table when it comes to using Copilot in investment promotion.

We’re likely to exhibit characteristics from each profile over time depending on the context and our experience of using Gen AI. It is important to understand the viewpoints of others, to hear their concerns, objectives and preferences. 

The Course helps you to better understand your own FDI Gen AI perspective type as well as those of your colleagues. When you know where others are coming from, you collaborate more smoothly and can adopt AI through a human-centric adoption strategy that respects everyone’s pace.   

Which of the five perspectives do you most closely identify with?

Complete the Investment Promotion Gen AI Perceptions Profiler to read your profile description including agenda, strengths, weaknesses and frustrations. Each profile provides tips for collaborating with other profiles on AI task forces. 

Or you can read all five profiles via the following links: Optimizer

Innovator

Guardian

Realist

Traditionalist

Pursuing a deeper understanding of different viewpoints will lead to a more successful transition to the adoption and deployment of Gen AI within investment attraction.

In Session 3 of the Copilot for FDI Attraction Toolkit Course you will look at the five FDI Gen AI Perception Profiles in relation to five IPA roles and five Microsoft 365 Copilot applications. This will help you think about the range of potential Copilot end use applications.

You will explore how to use simulated dialogues involving these profiles and leverage Copilot mobile app voice mode to generate FDI Gen AI insights via coaching conversations. 

Sessions 4 to 10 of the Course include a Profile specific reflections matrix providing you with a key takeaway, question and prompt from the session.

Session 3 Internal IPA Workshop: Four Exercises

Session 3 of the Copilot for FDI Attraction Toolkit Course includes content for your agency to facilitate an internal workshop. The Session 3 Internal IPA Workshop includes four activities: 

1. The Great Debate

Firstly, an exercise called “The Great Debate” in which four volunteers read the script for a debate.

The motion under debate reads:  

"Should Copilot be adopted for drafting an inward investment prospectus in half the time?"

Each of the debaters is characterised by one of the Gen AI Perception profiles presented in this session. The Copilot Champion facilitates a group discussion with a set of questions. 

2. The Spontaneous Storytelling Game

Secondly, in the "Spontaneous Storytelling Game" a participant reads out a Copilot voice mode prompt to generate a 3 minute story about how an Investment Promotion Agency used Copilot to attract a cleantech Foreign Direct Investor.

Participants are assigned to small groups and given the task of writing a voice mode prompt to generate their own three-minute story about how an IPA pro used Copilot to attract an investor.

Again the facilitator hosts a reflective team discussion.

(Copilot voice mode is not currently available in the enterprise version, only the free public version, which means it is important not to enter any confidential information using this app).

3. That's a Wrap

Thirdly, in a game called “That’s a Wrap!” a participant reads out a Copilot voice mode prompt for a fast paced witty narrative for a storyboarding pitch by a film director to a film studio for a documentary film shot in the style of The Big Short.  

The documentary is about how an IPA used Copilot Chat strategically and creatively behind the scenes to respond to an enquiry for a $1 billion Foreign Direct Investment project for a Net Zero state-of-the art immersive technology theme park.   

The Cast of Characters includes from the client side the CEO, COO and creative director and on the IPA side the Investment director who is an Optimizer; the Investment project adviser - an Innovator; and thirdly the In-market lead generator who has a Traditionalist profile.

After Copilot has generated the narrative, the facilitator hosts a discussion and assigns the participants to small groups to create their own Copilot voice mode prompt to generate a narrative for a storyboarding pitch by a film director for a film about FDI Gen AI. 

4. Five-Step Copilot Strategy

In the fourth activity, small groups are given the task of creating a five-step Copilot strategy for an FDI workflow in an exercise incorporating at least two of the profiles. The objective is to produce, present and demo a mini five-step blueprint based on specific Copilot apps and Gen AI perception profiles highlighting the KPIs impacted.  

Book a Demo Call Today with Greg Rogers, the Course Trainer to find out how the Copilot for FDI Attraction Toolkit Course will help your agency to attract more high value FDI faster.

Get in touch with Greg at: info@marketentryleaders.com