Deus ex machina: a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial or contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.

In the art and science of veterinary medicine it is increasingly difficult to discern the ghost from the machine. The issue that arises with the wholesale adoption of technology and A.I. is that vets are no longer the guardians of veterinary knowledge – this is all freely available and accessible to the public.

To remain significant and relevant and continue to contribute as a profession, we need to let go of the academic ‘left-hemisphere’ certainty and authority of the ‘white coat’ and instead become curators of intuitive ‘right-hemisphere’ wisdom and insight within our communities.

The questions are: How difficult will this be? Can it be learnt? Do we have the skills, systems and business models to support change on such a scale?

Perhaps the more fundamental question is: ‘Why should I care?’

Do you, your business and your team have the personal resilience, the professional business skills and the purposefulness to withstand the challenges to come?