Disney Magic is alive and well. Take its MagicBands — the all-in-one wristband that connects us to our entire Walt Disney World vacation, letting us enter the parks, unlock our hotel rooms, and buy food and merchandise. Even more magical, or so it seems, is how Disney shares surprises personalized just for its visitor, such as an occasional photo of …
Finding and Targeting the Right Customer with AI
Companies are finally starting to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve sales. When used in sales automation, AI can make predictions about whether a deal will close or move to another stage in the customer journey. This accuracy is transforming how salespeople make decisions and close deals. New York City’s Asaf Jacobi is one such salesperson. Jacobi’s …
Six Industries that Artificial Intelligence Will Change Forever
Artificial intelligence is not something unknown today as it used to be, but its impact is still under-estimated. Frankly speaking, I was also doubtful about the massive disruptions led by machine learning and artificial super intelligence, but when we hired AI team for IQVIS, the interaction changed my perspective. My early assessment was that AI will be something (truly disruptive) …
Deep Reinforcement Learning: Making the Robots Smarter
If you’ve ever taught a dog to sit or shake, you’re familiar with the concept of reinforcement learning. Positive reinforcement is when an animal—or a child, if you’re lucky—learns a desired behavior based on the rewards it receives for the steps it takes to reach the desired outcome. For example, you give your dog a treat for sitting at the …
Conversational Systems are the Future of Business
I don’t know about you, but I’ve developed a love-hate relationship with voice-texting. On one hand, it’s so much easier than typing out my messages, especially when I’m on screen overload. On the other hand—my phone seems to be about 70 percent accurate in recognizing my words, which means that I end up going back in to edit my texts …
SMACtalk Episode 75: Exploring the Future of Artificial Intelligence with Dr. Rob F. Walker
In this week’s episode of SMACtalk, hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman had the opportunity to speak with PegaSystems VP, Rob Walker, an experienced executive in the machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that also happens to hold a PHD in the space. While the show has covered the gambit of technology topics, this was one of the very first SMACtalk episodes that focused on the future …
Simplify Customer Data Acquisition, Improve Customer Experience!
The customer experience (CX) is increasingly driving business success worldwide. With customers able to share their experiences online in real time, companies in every sector—from retail to healthcare—are realizing CX has the ability to make or break a reputation, and to do it even faster than ever before. Not buying it? Consider this: Research from Forrester shows that in 2016, …
Time for Chatbots to Get Smart
When you imagine the ideal chatbot, what do you picture? The bot in your mind’s eye may resemble something along the lines of blockbuster movie favorites like Baymax from “Big Hero 6,” “Wall-E’s” EVE, or my personal hero, C-3PO. You probably didn’t imagine a small tower that lives on your shelf, like Alexa; a virtual being that resides in the …
The Top Six Enterprise Network Predictions for 2017
Move over big data, here comes artificial intelligence. And hello, Internet of Things; you’ve finally made it to the party. Those are just a couple of growth areas I see for enterprise networks in 2017. With all the activity that took place in enterprise network computing in 2016, the coming year stands to bear fruit with some truly big trends …
The Next Big Use for AI? Meet Your Virtual Assistant, Scheduler Extraordinaire.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can do so much already—power your company’s B2B sales process, transform your recruitment strategy, boost the potential for customer service, and more—but there’s one lingering question that has been on the mind of Principal Futurum Analyst, Shelly Kramer. “If AI is all about simplifying my life by eliminating mundane tasks, why can’t it schedule my meetings? My …