StupidQuestion

In the interest of full disclosure, I have an MA in Political Science and an BA in PoliSci/History. I had to go back to school for the business credits. Maybe we should send the Business Majors and the Lawyers to 24 hours of Liberal Arts training?:)

So what does the CO of the future look like? In a couple of months I'm going to be asking a room of acquisition professionals that question. I expect a "lively" discussion. I hope for something to start our people thinking about the future. While criticism of the idiots in charge is always entertaining, I'm very interested in what the members of this community think. What would you tell a CO starting out today? Will we be slaves to the machine inputting more and more data just because we can? Will we be split into Purchasing and Contracting groups? Will COs still need critical thinking skills in a world of automated contracting? If critical thinking is still required, how will we train COs of the future in this skill? Is consolidation by any other name here to stay or will the pendulum swing back? And my personal favorite: Will Liberal Arts majors ever be allowed back into the field? Any and all thoughts welcome.