Those who touched our lives stay in our hearts forever – Unknown.
We were told that Maracaibo was almost 4,000 km from Toronto and it would take almost 10 hours in the air. There was no time difference between Toronto and Maracaibo. I didn’t know anything more about it.
I realized Lynda didn’t know anything about Maracaibo either; therefore, I did see any point in bugging her with any questions.
I asked the guy who was sitting next to me on the plane, and he said he didn’t know anything about Maracaibo either. Yet he was happy that he was going somewhere to spend a week away from his job and other things.
I decided to follow his lead and started talking to him about something else.
Finally, when we got there, it looked so beautiful from the plane. Sun was shining on the water (I didn’t know if that was the ocean or a lake) and told Lynda that it appeared to be a nice place, babe. She said thanks God for that, otherwise I would have killed my sorority sister for booking us.
There were representatives from the travel agency at the airport with a big bus to transport us to our hotel. When we got there we found it was a high rise building. As soon as we entered the lobby, we heard loud music playing La Bamba. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.
When we got to the 22nd floor for our room, we were not sure what kind of view we would have. As soon as we opened the drapes, we saw a beautiful view – the sun was shining on the water, all kind of boats were floating there, and people were water skiing.
We were really surprised, not to mention pleased.
As soon as we got our suitcases, Lynda started organizing things. I decided to go down and find out more about the place.
I found out that:
- Maracaibo was a city and municipality on the northwestern shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela;
- It was the second largest city in Venezuela;
- A place you must visit to admire the beauty of Lake Maracaibo and its scenic bridge; and
- You can just watch a beautiful sunset.
We found out that Maracaibo was a vibrant city that blends colonial charm with modern energy. As the gateway to Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in South America, it offers stunning views of the water and the famous General Urbanite Bridge, one of the longest in the world.
We visited the following places during our one-week stay in the beautiful city of Maracaibo:
- Aguamania Parks (now known as Aquatica);
- La Vereda del Lago Marie; and
- Plaza del Rosario de Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá.
We both enjoyed shopping in their downtown as well as at their flea market. That was the longest demonstration of designers’ products we had ever seen anywhere.
Needless to say we bought a quite a few things, including several pairs of designers’ shoes at reasonable prices.
We had a wonderful time in Maracaibo and when we got home, I asked Lynda to say thanks to her sorority sister who had booked our vacation.
I was looking forward to going back to work on Monday as I wanted to brag about our time in Maracaibo.
As soon as I got into my office and was about to take my jacket off and hang it up, Ron popped in and asked how everything was.
We went out to grab a cup of coffee and chatted about my holidays for a little while.
Ron said you look relaxed and energetic, Mir.
I said thanks. I asked him if he had any opportunity while I was gone to think about how best we could plan to conduct sessions with the functional areas that would be the focus of the plan.
He said he had the opportunity to discuss it with Chris. They both agreed that maybe I should conduct those sessions the way I conducted the previous ones: the sessions to develop and validate the vision/mission statement. The users seemed to like them.
I said leave it with me.
Before I finalized the presentation for FINANCE, I thought I should meet with a select number of people in that area to explain the next move. That way they could be prepared for the upcoming activities. I provided them with a list of questions that should be answered in the presentation, and asked them to provide us with their feedback.
I told them that starting on the following Monday afternoon, we should dedicate 3 hours for the presentation. They all agreed.
In the afternoon I called Lynda to see if she would like to go out for supper. She said no as she missed home-cooked meals. She said she would cook a nice meal for both of us as Adam was coming back tomorrow in the afternoon.
On the subject of my studies, the first draft of my thesis was edited by my advisor. He had some recommendations for me to consider including in the thesis. I was going through those recommendations one by one to see if I agreed with his assessment.
The focus of my thesis was on the Japanese Diagnostic and Therapeutic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Healthcare System.
It was no secret that Japan was way ahead of any country in the world in applying state of the art medical technologies, including AI. This was partly because Japan had a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce. The ratio of patients to doctors and specialists was on the rise, making it harder to provide quality care.
Nevertheless, they had managed to capture any and every possible medical symptom. They then diagnosed them based on practical knowledge and validated everything again and again to make sure that no stone was left unturned.
They tested the system for years with consultation with real patients by asking them:
- About the symptoms they were suffering;
- Reviewing their medical history;
- Performing physical examinations;
- Inputting all that information into the system;
- Allowing the system to create diagnoses;
- Having real doctors review and approve the diagnoses; and
- Allowing the system to write prescriptions;
- Validating the prescriptions by real doctors; and
- Issuing the prescriptions to the patients.
From time to time the system was set up to allow the diagnoses or prescriptions to be modified by real doctors in the interest of accuracy.
It took years for them to perfect the system before they decided it was not necessary to have a real doctor present. They automated the process, which turned out to be a real success story.
However, my advisor had some logical and reasonable questions about the accuracy of the automated prescriptions.
I looked further into the process to see if they kept an eye on those prescriptions from a quality point of view. I found that they were very keen about finding the differences in the automated process, and correcting them quickly.
On the weekend, I decided to make necessary changes to my thesis and send it to my advisor for further consideration.
It took almost three months to conduct presentations to develop and define strategic priorities and validate them for the following five functional areas:
- Finance;
- Marketing;
- R&D;
- Human Resources; and
- Innovation.
Once everything was validated and approved, I started promoting the concept of SWOT analysis which stands for:
- S = Strengths: Strengths describe what an organization excels at and what separates it from the competition: a strong brand, loyal customer base, a strong balance sheet, unique technology, and so on. For example, a hedge fund may have developed a proprietary trading strategy that returns market-beating results. It must then decide how to use those results to attract new investors;
- W = Weaknesses: Weaknesses stop an organization from performing at its optimum level. They are areas where the business needs to improve to remain competitive: a weak brand, higher-than-average turnover, high levels of debt, an inadequate supply chain, or lack of capital, for instance;
- O = Opportunities: Opportunities refer to favourable external factors that could give an organization a competitive advantage. For example, if a country cuts tariffs, a car manufacturer could export its cars into a new market, increasing sales and market share; and
- T = Threats: Threats refer to factors that have the potential to harm an organization. For example, a drought is a threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may destroy or reduce the crop yield. Other common threats include things like rising costs for materials, increasing competition, tight labor supply.
This analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company’s competitive position and to develop strategic planning. SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential.
A SWOT analysis is designed to facilitate a realistic, fact-based, data-driven look at the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, its initiatives, or the strengths/weaknesses of an organization compared to others in the same industry. The organization needs to keep the results of analysis accurate by avoiding pre-conceived beliefs or gray areas, instead focusing on real-life contexts. Companies use the analysis as a guide and not necessarily as a prescription.
Using internal and external data, the technique can guide businesses toward strategies more likely to be successful, and away from those in which they have been, or are likely to be, less successful. Independent SWOT analysts, investors, or competitors can also guide them on whether a company, product line, or industry might be strong or weak, and why.
I started conducting sessions with each area of function, asking questions like:
- Strengths:
- What is our competitive advantage?
- What resources do we have?
- What products are performing well?
- Weaknesses:
- Where can we improve?
- What products are underperforming?
- Where are we lacking resources?
- Opportunities:
- What new technology can we use?
- Can we expand our operations?
- What new segments can we test?
- Threats:
- What regulations are changing?
- What are competitors doing?
- How are consumer trends changing?
It’s a time-consuming process but it does produce meaningful results. Indirectly it educates the attendees of those sessions.
Ron and Chris attended those sessions whenever they could and expressed their strong support. I needed that to reinforce positive messages to everybody in the room.
It kept me busy for a while.
In the meantime, I heard from my advisor at the university that they had accepted the changes that I had proposed to my thesis. That was good news.
He scheduled my visit to them for Monday in the last week of June 1988. That gave me enough time to fly in on the weekend and be there first thing Monday morning. He also explained to me that:
- The thesis defence committee he had organized for me consisted of four folks including him. He had selected one person:
- From the industry who was working in the field for a high-tech company in LA;
- Who was working in the same field from the local university; and
- Who was his assistant professor and whom I had met before.
I was a kind of happy that at least two of the four people I had met before. I was sure my advisor would be a great help as he was the one who got me into this situation. Before I met him, I had no desire to go back and complete my unfinished degrees.
The main purpose of the committee was to make sure that I had sufficient knowledge about artificial intelligence.
I checked with Lynda if she would be interested in accompanying me to LA. She said I would be better off going by myself as it was going to be a very short trip. She wanted me to concentrate on what I had to do there, not worry about her, which made sense.
I told Ron that I would take a day off on Monday. I didn’t have to give him any reason; I didn’t like telling him the real reason.
I took a cheap flight to LA on Sunday. I had to change flights a couple of times, which I didn’t mind. The time difference of three hours between Toronto and LA was helpful.
When I got to LA and checked into a hotel, I couldn’t sleep overnight as I was nervous. Hence I decided to go over my thesis again and again.
Monday morning, when I showed up at the university, my advisor was waiting for me. He asked me about my flight and told me not to be jumpy as he was confident that I would do well.
He said the meeting would last only a couple of hours.
He took me to the meeting room where the rest of the committee members were having coffee and chatting.
I had prepared a presentation for the occasion which I had sent a couple of weeks back and the secretary made sure that each member had a copy of that in advance.
We started out by introducing each other. I asked them if they had a copy of my presentation, which they acknowledged positively.
I was given only 45 minutes to talk about the presentation. They had dedicated 75 minutes for the discussion, including questions and answers.
I was told that typically the process was of two types:
- Closed thesis defence viva; and
- Open thesis defence viva.
Luckily, it was a close defence viva which meant that only a subject expert and a PhD supervisor conducted the entire process of the thesis defence. No one was allowed to interfere. This way, a student could defend his thesis confidently.
However, while the university allowed a PhD supervisor in the defence session, that person couldn’t participate in the discussion. The examiner examined the thesis and would ask queries randomly to the presenter.
The process of thesis defence allowed the experts in the room to ask me questions about every aspect of the thesis. They were very gentle and logical in asking questions and allowed me enough time to go over the details without interrupting me.
By the time I was finished with the meeting I was really tired. I had already checked out in the morning and carried a travelling bag with me when I got to the university.
My advisor had made a reservation for both of us to have lunch which was a good thing as I was hungry. I didn’t have to be at the airport until 4:00 PM, hence we had a very long lunch. We talked about how the whole thing had started when I had attended one of his seminars on the subject of AI in San Francisco.
He explained to me that the committee would meet tomorrow to go over what happened today. Then it might take another day or two for them to make recommendations.
I said I am in no hurry as I thought I did what I could, and there was no need to worry about anything.
He said he would call me on Friday for sure to let me know their decision.
I explained to him that I was busy with the Citibank consulting contract. He seemed to be interested in the process that I was following to develop a strategic plan. He thought that would open up more opportunities for me. However, he was keenly interested in knowing if I had thought about starting an AI consulting practice.
I said to him that while I have no practical experience in the field of AI, I had spent a great deal of time studying the Japanese AI Healthcare System. There’s always a possibility that I might find a way to secure a contract to conduct a feasibility study either for the provincial or federal government in Canada. It could be just a dream but I would try my best.
He thought that was an excellent idea. He asked me if I had thought about what the focus of that study would be.
I remember explaining to him that I wanted to focus on how indigenous folks managed to practice medicine for centuries as:
- The use of medicinal plants has been a part of peoples’ healing traditions worldwide, probably from humans’ earliest beginnings. Among Indigenous peoples in Canada, the origin of some medicinal applications is chronicled in stories, such as in the Siksika (Blackfoot) narrative of how a woman named Last Calf, who had tuberculosis, gave food to a beaver, who in turn gifted her with a vision of a cure for her ailment. She was told to boil the pitch of the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in water and drink the infusion, while singing a special song. After following these instructions, Last Calf was cured.
He was totally fascinated with my explanation, and asked me to keep talking.
I said I don’t know how much you know about this but when Europeans and other newcomers arrived in Canada, they quickly learned about and adopted many of the plant medicines used by Indigenous peoples. I continued . . . .
The newcomers to Canada also introduced new diseases. Smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and some venereal diseases were not originally known or widespread in Canada. Soon after European contact, however, they spread in epidemic proportions among the Indigenous populations.
Of course, existing medicines were applied to treat those new ailments, and in some cases new medicines were developed. For example, Sweetflag (Acorus americanus), already an important medicinal plant in the boreal forest region and eastern Canada, was used to treat smallpox. Barestem lomatium (Lomatium nudicaule), called q’əxmín in a number of West Coast languages, was used to treat tuberculosis, and came to be known as “Indian consumption plant.”
Furthermore, diabetes had become prevalent among Indigenous populations. Traditional medicines, such as the inner bark of devil’s-club (Oplopanax horridus, a shrub in the ginseng family, Araliaceae); had been adapted to treat this new disease.
He said how did you learn about all this, Mir? (The reason for this question was that this was pre-Internet.) I said I studied it in the library.
I said did you know that:
- Traditionally, indigenous peoples in Canada used healing practices that were (and are) location-based and shaped by the needs of the people living in those territories. For example, Inuit had numerous treatments related to frostbite and hypothermia. The natural environment shaped the medical expertise and practices used by indigenous peoples.
He said I am so impressed with your ability to learn and explain complex things. I am sure with your background in AI, you would be able to contribute a great deal.
However, knowing that there are countless indigenous medical practices and they could be complicated, do you have any idea how you would be able to address them.
You’re right. Knowing that the overall population of indigenous people appeared to be shrinking, I was afraid if we didn’t do anything, we would be sorry.
He said explain to me what you mean.
I remember saying that I thought perhaps the best way to start introducing AI in that community was to capture the knowledge and wisdom their “Medicine Men” possessed (However, much of the plant-based knowledge is held by the women, in many cases more than the men). We needed to learn how they diagnosed their patients. If we captured and incorporated the indigenous ways of diagnosing with the modern medical diagnoses system that the Japanese have already mastered, it might enrich the whole approach in multiple ways.
He said let me have some more coffee before I digest what you just said.
We asked for more coffee and continued our discussions.
Finally, he said you know what, Mir. I made a big mistake today.
I said what do you mean? He said I should have had this discussion with you before our meeting. I would have asked you specific questions about how you imagined using AI? You would have blown their minds away in the meeting.
I said I never thought about discussing this topic with you as I wasn’t sure how that would go. He said I am absolutely sold on that idea. As a matter of fact, I will talk to the committee members about our conversation. Just leave it with me.
Finally we said our goodbyes. I thanked him for being so nice to me. He said I am proud of you, Mir.
