On Thursday Zack Plair and I interviewed the new GTR LINK CEO on The Dispatch’s Between the Headlines podcast. Despite the verbose and unpredictable nature of the conversation, I left the studio optimistic about the economic outlook for Lowndes County and for Mississippi. Mr. Iain Vasey is holding the right cards.
I have always thought of big business deals as shady transactions among the country’s oligarchs and political operatives. I still feel that way. But Thursday I saw a glimmer of hope for us peasants and peons.
Without spilling the secret sauce, Mr. Vasey painted the picture of a data driven approach to high profile business dealings. His approach struck me as vastly different from the days of yore. It has little to do with golf carts, cigars, and kissing the rings of gatekeepers. Instead, he spoke of artificial intelligence and its ability to dig deep within the data of what Mississippi has to offer. One aspect of this is making our data both credible and accessible to the global search engines. With the right digital marketing, the bots that are learning to run our planet for us will seek us out and find us.
This is not what Mr. Vasey said per se, but it’s definitely what I heard. It’s downright spooky to think about, but also refreshing. Properly harnessed AI can actually level the playing field between the lords of yesteryear and the savvy entrepreneurs of today. And I sense that Lowndes County will be the ultimate beneficiary.
My sense is that local developments will stall for a period of time, and the dirt at the Cinco megasite will get overrun with grass. Complaints will arise, as they do. And at the right moment Mr. Vasey, ace of spades in hand, will come through with a deal that no one around here thought even possible. The computers will see to it.
David M. Chism
Lowndes County
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