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Carrie Steyer remembers the conversations in consulting from the Y2K years. “For every business problem, there’s a people, processes, and technology solution,” she says. The current chief customer officer (CCO) at AI, data consulting, and professional services company 66degrees says that motto was ahead of its time, but it requires some unpacking and one important addition.
“Let’s be honest, the people piece of that is the hardest,” Steyer says, laughing. “The technology and processes are easy. The people part is incredibly hard. But then there’s data that needs to be added, and there is no easy button for those two pieces.”
Steyer can speak frankly because she’s spent decades thinking ahead of the curve. She’s part of the rare breed that can succeed in consulting for the bulk of their career. Steyer didn’t just survive; she thrives in helping clients seek solutions to some of the toughest problems in business, all the while helping them understand the need for evolution before even putting solutions in place.
“One of the areas that 66degrees does so well is how we help our clients understand the value that we can create for them,” the CCO says. “The easiest way I’ve found to create the kind of buy-in you need to drive change is simply to show it.”
Steyer thinks back to an old YouTube video that illustrates one man dancing very badly at a party. It’s painful to watch, but after he’s joined by just one more person willing to strut their stuff, the party is in full swing. 66degrees can dance far more gracefully in this case, but the metaphor remains. It’s an organization willing to show the kind of change it can provide and help get reticent clients excited and delighted by the possibilities.
“It’s not always easy to hear someone’s differing opinion, but there’s so much more value and quality that comes when that person knows that opinion is accepted and valued.”
Carrie Steyer
That change includes artificial intelligence (AI), the talk of every industry for the last couple of years. Steyer’s been in this space for decades.
“For so many years, people treated AI like this black box that they were afraid to touch,” Steyer says. “Unless you were a scientist or a mathematician, it was scary. I was giving presentations on AI twenty years ago, and while there are incredible advantages to be utilized, I think there are still some issues that need to be recognized and reckoned with.”
The team at 66degrees understands the myriad of pitfalls that can accompany “doing AI” just because it seems like the next big thing. That mentality is a quick way to create failure on a massive scale.
Steyer says that data still needs to be organized in a way that is accessible and available because inherent biases built into the data AI can skew results in completely unintended ways. And as AI continues to build out capabilities based on those biases, a flawed cycle is allowed to perpetuate and grow.
“That bias will get exponentially worse if we don’t also think about how we govern AI,” the CCO says. “There is still a human creativity piece to this that is crucial to helping how we think about this innovation and how to make it safe for everyone.”
Steyer takes that safety to heart internally as well. The CCO is a long and proud advocate for what she calls ID&E: inclusivity, diversity, and equity. Why the switch from the traditional abbreviation of DEI? Steyer says that until organizations create environments that are fully inclusive to anyone from any walk of life, it doesn’t matter how much diversity you’re able to attract. They will not stay.
“We should be focused on making sure the kind of culture our people are working in is the most inclusive they’ve ever experienced,” Steyer says. “That doesn’t just pertain to certain demographics or backgrounds; it’s about different ideas and life experiences. It’s not always easy to hear someone’s differing opinion, but there’s so much more value and quality that comes when that person knows that opinion is accepted and valued.”
Steyer knows from experience. Her first job out of college, she jumped into the financial services world and quickly hit a glass ceiling. She was told she was “overqualified” for the job she was in, an assertion that made no sense to her and ultimately seemed like an attempt to get her to move on. She hopes it’s better for women in the space now, but it’s only emboldened her desire to create more inclusive environments at all her employers.
“The technology and processes are easy. The people part is incredibly hard.”
Carrie Steyer
Steyer was a Daniel Burnham Fellow for Leadership Greater Chicago, an opportunity that provided her with the chance to see how those in leadership can make more opportunities available for underserved and overlooked communities.
“There is so much untapped potential in the world that we wouldn’t be seeing any of these talent shortages if we simply figured out how to connect with that talent,” Steyer says. 66degrees just completed an event with SuitUp, a nonprofit that helps provide high school students with the chance to see how businesses run firsthand. Steyer is also engaged with P33, an organization dedicated to acting as a catalyst between Chicago stakeholders and the global tech and innovation community.
When Steyer isn’t busy at work or helping the various nonprofits, she dedicates time to, you might find her on the South Pole—really. She’s ready to tick off the continent with only Australia remaining on her list on an upcoming trip.
This isn’t a talent-sourcing endeavor, but Steyer is willing to go just as far to help create a more inclusive, just, and diverse talent base that will continue helping solve complex problems across the world, even Antarctica.
