‘Technology will eat up everything ahead’

As part of our series looking at the region’s young talent, Emerging Europe’s Claudia Patricolo speaks to Vladimer Botsvadze, a Georgian who was recently named among the top five technology leaders and influencers by Thinkers360.  

By the age of 29, Vladimer Botsvadze was already a globally-renowned social media influencer, a leading marketing professor, a sought-after Fortune 500 consultant and a prominent coach. Now 32, Vladimer is regarded as one of the world’s top experts on marketing and innovation. His work has influenced two million professionals, 10,000 businesses worldwide and has established a world-class reputation for always bringing innovation to the table with every project. 

“I’m proud Thinkers360 has ranked me as a Tech Thought Leader in 2020,” he says. “I’m honoured to be ranked alongside exceptional and globally-renowned thought leaders including Brian Solis, Marsha Collier, Evan Kirstel, Gordon Tredgold and others.” 

Vladimer has been recommended by the London Business School, Google, KPMG, MasterCard, AC Milan, Forrester Research, PepsiCo, Dell, Accenture, and other leading global brands. Impressive for a young man who moved from Georgia to the US at the age of just 18. After a spell in New York came Washington DC, London and Dubai. 

“I’ve always worked hard, I’ve always been disciplined and driven,” he says. “I demand the ultimate results from myself every single day and I’m lucky to live in the best era of history when I can achieve so much through social media platforms, which I use every day for professional purposes.” 

He quotes James Clear, who said: ”It’s never been a better time for self-motivated people. Anyone connected to the internet has the education of a university and the distribution power of a media company at their fingertips. Curiosity, courage and persistence are the new gatekeepers.” 

“I became obsessed with growth in business and tech,” Vladimer adds. It is media has been the driving force behind his global achievements. Vladimer is a top influencer with a total of 125,000 followers from 1,142 cities and 185 countries across all his social media platforms. 

“With persistence and patience, I’ve initiated and continued a process of constant self-education, which has distinguished me as an influencer in digital marketing, social media, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence,” he explains. 

Among all the social media platforms he uses, Vladimer prefers Twitter as it’s a joy for him to connect with the world’s best tech thought leaders, professors, journalists, analysts, politicians, entrepreneurs and more: a lot of like-minded individuals who constantly support his journey. 

Vladimer quotes another guru of entrepreneurship, Henry Ford: “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” 

It is artificial intelligence (AI) that he believes will cause the greatest disruption, and says that organisations should focus on improving their operations, revenue, customer experience, and competitive position. 

“Technology will eat up everything ahead,” he warns. “Bookstores were first, then it was people who owned taxi services, then it was the hotel industry which was disrupted by Airbnb and it will keep happening. Speed and convenience win all the time. Voice assistants will dominate this decade, we see more and more people make decisions through devises such as Alexa. We save so much time while using voice assistants. The majority of businesses are investing in voice technology and planning to increase investments in 2020. Companies must adopt a mobile-first mentality to grow and monetise apps that account for trillions of dollars in revenue across the globe. It’s imperative to deliver personalised content and create consistent engagement across a brand’s digital channels. Blockchain, cloud, and VR will also help the new initiatives.” 

Vladimer says that patience and gratitude have also played a big role in his success. 

“I was lucky to have met many outstanding people who shared their expertise with me and inspired me to put in the work,” he says. 

Gary Vaynerchuk has been a great role model, he says. 

“I’m thankful for his daily content which provides value and encourages other people to start growing their businesses,” Vladimer says. “Gary is the reason why I believe in humanity, kindness, patience, teamwork, and empathy. He has positively impacted millions of people and the world is fortunate to have such an inspiring leader and entrepreneur.” 

Now it is Vladimer’s turn to offer advice and inspire young generations. 

He suggests that we should constantly think of ways to stand out, and while always being driven by empathy, kindness, and gratitude, not to forget that we were born for greatness. “Self-motivation allows you to produce great results, so stay outside your comfort zone. It costs nothing to create content at scale so fire on all cylinders across all social media platforms. 

“Go for your dreams, explore new things, choose happiness and live without limits.”