By Bob Kobek, President, Mobius VP, LLC

First, and most importantly, I am taking this opportunity, the first ‘First Friday’ of 2025 to wish you well. I hope you, your family, your friends and your business prosper, safely with good health.  

To me, 2025 looks a lot like the last 25 years of our existence with one notable exception, the opportunities that exist. Past the past, past the present and into the future filled with innovation and exciting partnerships and new clients. Each of those spell growth. 

The blessings of AI

I feel certain you know that AI is not new. It has been around as long as the very first computing machine was switched on. The entire technology capabilities were released in the 1800’s with the invention of the Analytical Engine:

In 1837, Charles Babbage proposed the first general mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine. The Analytical Engine contained an ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), basic flow control, punch cards (inspired by the Jacquard Loom), and integrated memory. It is the first general-purpose computer concept that could be used for many things, not only one particular computation.

When Was the First Computer Invented?

Without going into the entire history of the computer, suffice it to say we are in a brand new and significantly new, strong, fast, faster and fastest era in technology and automation. What is now significantly different is that today’s AI allows for the creation of content. Streamlining communications, analytics and research has always been a goal for business, and yes, I used that absolute word ‘always’. 

The Mobius Strip was copied to create the symbol for ‘infinity’. 

So, what are we?

Just as the Mobius strip was invented by a German mathematician to keep the wheels of machinery turning in different directions, it could not change direction. If you think about the symbol of infinity, you will see the Mobius strip. In 1999 we created Mobius Vendor Partners as a business process management company and as a way to prove the successes of the business processes we designed, we designed a measurement tool called the Mobius System. 

From there, CustomerCount was developed and is now a world class online feedback management system with AI based text analytics, partnerships with sentiment analysis companies, Tripadvisor, and many others. 

So, we honor the Mobius strip by continuing to morph, grow and never change direction!!