The past decade has witnessed the ascension of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a pivotal force driving transformative change across various sectors. With AI reshaping the contours of leadership paradigms and operational frameworks, there emerges an imperative for decision-makers to harness its potential to enhance Customer Experience (CX) and Operational Efficiency.

A visionary leader who showcases proficiency amidst this epoch of AI proliferation is Helen Fu Thomas, Co-founder of AnyQuest. Armed with an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas Business School, Helen embarked on her journey into the realm of technology, fueled by a fervent passion for innovation. Her formative years in Silicon Valley, notably at LeapFrog, instilled in her a profound understanding of the intersection between education and technology, laying the groundwork for her illustrious career ahead.

Over two decades, Helen has traversed diverse domains within the tech industry, from EdTech to consumer electronics, robotics, gaming, and SaaS, accruing a wealth of experience and expertise. Her tenure as CEO at DMAI exemplifies her knack for pioneering ventures at the forefront of AI innovation.

Under her stewardship, DMAI emerged as a global leader in artificial intelligence, catalyzing social impact through groundbreaking initiatives like the Animal Island Learning Adventure (AILA) Preschool Learning System.

Notably, Helen’s visionary leadership garnered international acclaim, as evidenced by DMAI’s triumph at the prestigious Cannes Neuron’s Award for Creative AI. Before DMAI, Helen’s tenure as Chairman, Co-founder and CEO of Touchjet, Inc., underscored her prowess in revolutionizing collaborative technologies.

Alongside Dmitri Tcherevik, a business partner and CEO of MightyMeeting, Helen spearheaded the development of cutting-edge products that redefined connectivity and interactivity in conference rooms and classrooms alike in the United States.

However, it was in July 2023 that Helen’s entrepreneurial spirit reached new heights with the founding of AnyQuest. Teaming up once again with Dmitri, AnyQuest emerged as a beacon of democratization in AI, offering no-code tools and a middleware platform for building enterprise AI assistants and agents for knowledge workers in organizations of all sizes.

Democratizing AI

The hype about Generative AI alluded to wildfires that may have caused more concerns about deep fakes and hallucinations than positivity. The solution is to take a systematic approach for organizations to adopt generative AI so that humans and AI can work together cost- effectively.

AnyQuest steps into this realm with a collaborative framework tailored for knowledge workers, offering sensible use cases of generative AI at affordable SaaS pricing, while ensuring robust integration, security and control.

AnyQuest’s dedication to accessibility, affordability, innovation, empowerment, security, and economic impact distinguishes it in the generative AI field. By democratizing AI adoption, AnyQuest is redefining enterprise operations and fostering a new era of productivity and creativity.

• Empowering No-code Solution: AnyQuest’s no-code SaaS solution empowers knowledge workers globally, enabling them to utilize generative AI without needing extensive technical expertise. This approach lowers the barrier to AI adoption and democratizes its use.
• Enterprise AI Middleware: By providing middleware capabilities, AnyQuest facilitates the integration, deployment and management of AI applications within organizational infrastructures, enhancing scalability and interoperability in complex environments.
• Cost-Effective Pricing Model: AnyQuest offers a transparent pricing model at $12K per year for ten users and ten agents, making generative AI accessible to organizations of all sizes without financial strain.
• Comprehensive Generative AI Solution: The platform transcends traditional AI limitations, enabling organizations to innovate and optimize workflows effectively, addressing diverse AI use cases without compromising functionality.
• Empowerment and Innovation: AnyQuest empowers end users, AI champions and executive sponsors with the necessary tools for success, driving innovation and productivity across the enterprise while fostering a culture of creativity and competitiveness.
• Robust Security and Reliability: Prioritizing security, precision and control, AnyQuest ensures data security, compliance and reliability by instilling confidence in users and enabling seamless integration into existing
• Responsibility and Governance: Committed to responsible AI practices, data privacy and security, AnyQuest aligns with AI governance and regulations, enhancing trust and transparency in AI applications.
• Economic Impact and Competitive Advantage: Projected to impact the economic landscape significantly by 2030, AnyQuest positions itself as a pioneer, enabling organizations to secure a competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

Collectively, these factors make AI more accessible, usable and impactful for knowledge workers and organizations seeking to harness AI technology for innovation and growth.

Adapting to the Future

The education sector will witness the integration of AI technologies to personalize learning experiences, provide adaptive tutoring and enhance student engagement. AIpowered tools will revolutionize teaching methods, assessment processes and lifelong learning opportunities.

AnyQuest can offer a platform that connects content, educators and students across various disciplines. Helen explains, “Teachers have limited bandwidth to attend to each student, so the AI assistant can fill in and answer any questions the students may have in the context of curriculum content.”

A colleague shared a compelling story: “My son has his AP Chemistry test today. A few weeks ago, he mentioned how a mid-year teacher change made it hard to keep up. I pointed him to Perplexity.ai, but he found some answers irrelevant to his syllabus. I decided to use AnyQuest. I uploaded his textbook and shared a link with him. He would take tests on Khan Academy, and for any incorrect answers, he would consult AnyQuest for clarifications until he understood the concepts. This was not about using GenAI to cheat but as an expert teacher.”

AnyQuest’s industry-agnostic approach makes it versatile. It offers a no-code SaaS solution, empowering knowledge workers globally and providing middleware capabilities for seamless AI integration. With a cost-effective pricing model and a commitment to robust security and governance, AnyQuest ensures AI adoption is accessible and reliable.

Combining Customer Insights with Disruptive Innovation

Helen has been a contrarian and she considers herself fortunate enough to bring disruptive technological solutions to the world. Recently, in a Fortune cover story by Jeremy Kahn, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: “When the paradigm shifts, do you have something to contribute? Because there is no God-given right to exist if you don’t have anything relevant.”

Helen’s unique insights stem from her deep understanding of the customer journey and her relentless commitment to solving problems through intuitive innovation. As an expert in holistic marketing, Helen approaches technology with the end users in mind and executes go-to-market strategies using a multidimensional playbook, trademarked as the 4Ps + 4Cs.

She believes entrepreneurs cannot rely on others for direction and must avoid getting carried away by tech features. Their everyday job is to make decisions that advance solutions for their target audience while staying ahead of the competition in technology, customer acquisition, and brand development.

Helen emphasizes that AI, like previous tech revolutions from computers to the internet, mobile and cloud, is fast and impactful. Her startup, AnyQuest, is like a small boat in a big wave and her primary job is to maintain direction as well as ensure it emerges successfully. That’s where Helen excels.

Overcoming Hurdles and Creating Value

Helen faced numerous challenges when she first entered the AI arena, where both the technology and market perception posed significant hurdles. Reflecting on her experience, she explains, “I have worked with hundreds of PhDs and topnotch engineers who may not have respected my go-tomarket executive background.”First 90 Days as a GTM Leader,” detailing her approach to commercializing DMAI’s cognitive AI technology successfully.

Step I: Learn the Tech and Create the Product

Entering the AI arena was daunting. “Being in the tech industry and working with many smart engineers and innovators, I am always humbled as a non-coder by great technologies.” Upon joining DMAI, Helen faced a challenge: there were impressive technologies, but no concrete product.

She organized a Pitch-A-Thon, allowing product teams to present ideas to her and business strategist Steve Little. “To create a viable product, the strategist must have unique customer insights, define the problem to solve and design a scalable solution that creates extraordinary value.”

Step II: Build the core team and have buy-in

Marketing can be subjective. “As a leader, my job is to turn the strategy into a business plan and build the team to execute it.” Helen used a football metaphor: “A quarterback can only score a touchdown by having an offensive team execute play-by-play in the playbook.” Building that team and having buy-in was fundamental for success.

Step III: Tell the “Purple Cow” Story to the World, Fund It and Launch It

Different is better than better. “Marketing must distinguish one’s product from the competitors to stand out and be remarkable.”

From unique insights in Step I to internal team building in Step II, a go-to-market leader must now unleash creativity and rally the world to the brand and business. “Building a community with investors, partners and customers is a GTM leader’s job. This cannot be overlooked amid digital marketing’s focus on conversion.”

Reflecting on her journey, Helen observes, “When I look back at the first 90-day journey at different companies, these three steps set the tone for success.”

A Blend of Creativity, Technology and Community

Animal Island Learning Adventure (AILA) Virtual Preschool Learning System earns the title of the best tablet for toddlers, according to Popular Science. “The most important contributor to its success is the product’s effectiveness, which our customers, who are the parents and caregivers, and users, who are the toddlers, cannot live without,” says Helen. Testimonials from real customers and users showcase AILA’s tangible impact on preschool learning.

AILA’s success is attributed to several key factors:

• High-quality original content: Educators and creative talents collaborate to develop engaging content. Previous LeapFrog content producers, education publishers and Hollywood animators contribute to the creation of unique characters on Animal Island, delivering captivating content to toddlers.
• Innovative technology: AILA integrates hardware, mobile software and AI algorithms on the cloud. This global AI company designs user-friendly hardware and develops firmware and mobile applications, all interconnected with proprietary algorithms for effective preschool learning.
• Community-driven marketing: A social campaign during the preorder phase enlists a relatable mom—Jenny and her daughter—Lulu from Tennessee as spokespersons. Their authenticity resonates with families nationwide, leading to strong community growth and positive reviews on platforms like Amazon.

Enterprise AI Success

To balance the technical and human-centric aspects of AI development effectively, Helen emphasizes the importance of continuous engagement with their target audience, knowledge workers.

“My co-founder Dmitri Tcherevik and I interviewed many executives across different industries,” Helen explains. She hosts the AQ24 LinkedIn LIVE webinar series, featuring innovative leaders discussing enterprise AI adoptions regularly.

Helen follows a structured marketing playbook to ensure their approach remains focused. “Internally, we drink our own Kool-aid and eat our dog food,” she says. This means they use their own AnyQuest workspaces and prioritize UI/UX design and features based on real-time use cases.

Strong AI Foundation

The qualities that an AI leader should possess to drive innovation and create meaningful impact are multifaceted, according to Helen. “The reason I co-founded AnyQuest in July 2023 after the ChatGPT boom was to focus on enterprise users who can benefit from the productivity boost and improve their work-life balance,” she explains. Integrating AI into regular workflows can advance technology from data efficiency and quality control perspectives.

“Technologists chasing the superior power of AI may sacrifice the mass audience and data security just to train the next better LLMs,” Helen warns. She advocates for an integrated approach with transparency, accountability and human involvement, despite potential short-term setbacks, to build a solid foundation for AI.

Currently, most generative AI users are consumers or prosumers operating in silos. Helen believes there’s a need for an organizational strategy integrating AI across various business functions like HR, operations, sales, marketing, legal, and finance. She observes that startups focused on vertical use cases are racing against dominant LLMs in a top-down, winner-takes-all ecosystem.

“The most critical qualities that an AI leader should possess are organizational behavior insights, tremendous vision, relentless compassion, and selfless responsibility,” Helen emphasizes. A true leader in AI, she believes, must prioritize the greater good and long-term gains over personal ambition and short-term victories.

The Future is AI: Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore It

“AI is everywhere in all forms, from smartphones to AI computers that Microsoft is putting out, as well as all kinds of chatbots, AI assistants and automation agents. Sooner or later, if you are not leveraging AI as your sidekick, copilot and assistant, you’ll be at a disadvantage because those leveraging AI will be able to do more with less.”

“AI is naturally intimidating. When I got my fresh start in AI, I had to climb a steep learning curve. Today, being the Co-founder of an enterprise AI venture, I am at the cutting edge of the new revolution. Many men and women discard AI as if it’ll come and go.”

“They say, ‘I know nothing about AI’ or ‘AI is not for me.’ I’d encourage them to be open-minded. Furthermore, by utilizing AI day-to-day, everyone can benefit from a productivity boost and make task flows more efficient.”

“Here is the advice I’d give to women aspiring to make an impact in AI and technology: Regardless of your background, become proficient in AI, focus on problems to solve with AI technology and think outside the box to impact the future of work, life and education.”

“For entrepreneurs and innovators, my advice is to stay grounded and focus on humanity because, without that, AI advancement would be a disconnect or even a deficit. Time will tell how AI will transform our society just like fire, electricity, computers, and the internet. I hope we all pull for it to do good and be held accountable as part of cohorts instead of a superior force.”