Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long existed, but more so in the realm of science fiction. Now it is finally proving true to the hype by turning mainstream. A study by management consulting giant BCG has revealed that AI’s potential in the banking sector in particular is so large that it could impact business by between 150 and 200 billion dollars. However, the challenge remains in deploying AI at scale known as AI Paradox. It is easier still to launch ground-breaking innovations that using the tries-and-tested tools for mass adoption. The main weapon for using AI in mainstream operations is big data. Ballooning complexities though arise in its usage. To systematically use data, a certain playbook has been suggested by BCG. Here data, processing power and action are seen as the building blocks. One needs to prioritize between the value to be generated and the speed of execution. One must realize that merely by amassing enormous troves of data, one does not instantly jump to be an AI leader. Instead its proper usage needs to be known. Being agile and fast are essential, but they will not bring any additional capabilities as this is the minimum all are supposed to adopt. So, creating the right infrastructure matters here.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2018/big-leap-toward-ai-scale.aspx

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) now extends to all business functions, but in two of them the role is particularly high. The first one of them is marketing and sales where AI impacts business worth US$ 2.6 trillion. The other one is supply chain management worth two trillion. Other functions such as risk, HR, product development, finance, IT and service operations have a much smaller pie as of now according to business intelligence provided by the McKinsey Global Institute.  One industry is particular that is showing much promise for AI usage in marketing is retail which is already worth five-hundred billion dollars in terms of AI usage. Another industry with the same overall value is that of consumer-packaged goods. Banking is another to keep an eye on with increased margins.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/five-fifty-real-world-ai?cid=fivefifty-soc-twi-mgi-mgi-oth-1806&kui=1EJ9eNZ-MV-uuDAyc2-RSA

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) already has a massive footprint in several tech-based and routine jobs, its role in the creative functions was disputed, in fact derided by industry experts. But now that perception could change thanks to changes such as the “Daddy’s Car” pop song in Japan where AI composed the harmony and melody. The human merely mixed the song plus wrote down the lyrics. Even film studios are using business analytics to shape their marketing campaigns suing real-time feedback. A Creative Intelligence Matrix has been created by PwC’s analytics research wing. On the Y-axis, are the factors- consumer innovation and workflow optimization. On the X-axis, there are two factors- fully automated and human works with AI. The first quadrant is fully automated consumer innovation. This includes AI generated music, Facebook timeline movie maker, Google Photos movie assistant and face recognition. The next one with high customer innovation but human involvement in the AI tracks athletic performance, allows for content curation through Spotify and works with digital assistants such as Alexa. The third quadrant is Freedom from Repetitive Tasks. This is ideal for digital marketing as it includes sports summaries, credit control, content editing, customer service process automation, newsletter curation, content tagging and film scoring. The final quadrant deals with better and more creative decisions being taken.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/AI-Is-Already-Entertaining-You?gko=dc252

Uploaded Date:18 August 2018

The all-conquering Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is self-driven and can solve complex problems is still some years away. So, business leaders would be well-advised to not run after latest AI fads but to instead apply a more holistic Agile AI process. This will allow for flexibility within operations. It is a five-step process beginning with setting the business context and purpose right. The data to be used is of utmost importance. Once the right data warehousing is done, it needs to be engineered towards the desired direction. A proper model needs to then be developed where this AI may be processed using business analytics capabilities. Once designed, without any further ado, it needs to be launched in the market as an experiment. The task will not be completed till it sees some level of adoption.

Source:http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/the-cure-for-ai-fever.aspx

Uploaded Date:16 August 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not an incremental but a standout technological transformation happening to business and society alike. A new study has been anchored by the McKinsey Global Institute to fully understand the extent of this. First of all, AI is being used to map the problem types to deduce possible solutions. Reinforcement learning for example is one of the hottest trends being followed in corporate training with the aid of AI and neural networks. The potential value of AI is way more than was earlier thought. It is now an integral part of several industries such as pharma, aerospace, healthcare, retail, automotive, travel, transport, banking, media, CPGs, agriculture, aerospace and defense. In each of these industries, business intelligence is being derived from use cases. Analytics voraciously feeds on data which gets generated for predictive maintenance. AI is also used extensively for personalization and customer service management. It can help logistics to reduce costs through real-time forecasting. Labeling and obtaining data is still a challenging task, forcing a lot of companies to forego their AI plans. Decisions made are also sometime difficult to explain to people in spite of hard data-driven evidence being available. There is also the risk in bias in algorithms and sources of data which need to be corrected before one sets out.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/notes-from-the-ai-frontier-applications-and-value-of-deep-learning

Uploaded Date:10 July 2018

The founder and CEO of Sinovation Ventures which is a technology venture investment fir from China, recently described Artificial Intelligence (AI) as having the capacity to transform industries companies and even nations. The first major impact of AI is the huge quantities of data warehousing currently taking place in all companies. This is providing them with usage and behavioral insights like never before as they crunch the data to derive coherent business intelligence. Sensors are further expanding the capture of such data. Robots and autonomous vehicles are disrupting several existing industries. Amazon’s Echo used in Snapchat is an example of such sensors disrupting the way we work. The trust in algorithms need not be complete as shown through the latest crash of an autonomous vehicle of Uber. Accident rates for such cars are still lower than human errors. Similarly, air travel is one area which has become much smoother, with far fewer errors than previously. Most of AI profits from a general positive view and sense of trust. But sometimes this trust can get manipulated, with even Facebook claiming that greater regulation is needed. Unlike other industries where a pyramid structure exists, in AI or the digital world in general, a winner-takes-all trend pervades. AI will even impact nations’ competitiveness. US for example leverages its digital giants such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft while China has We Chat. Technology and the resultant economics have made the world a more level playing field for different nations.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/artificial-intelligence-will-reshape-companies-industries-nations-interview-kai-fu-lee.aspx?linkId=51006485

Uploaded Date:13 June 2018

Several studies made on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been collated together to present a picture of trends that will be popular in 2018. According to a Gartner study in particular, the integration of AI with web and mobile apps will be on the rise. This inturn will generate even more humongous quantities of data, leading to more accurate business analytics to be performed. The number of chatbots in operation will surge. AI will increasingly be paired with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and other intelligent devices. Cameras for instance will now operate as fitness trackers cum smart cameras. Medical research, diagnosis and treatment will be further aided using AI-based techniques. At present, AI impacts software more, but increasingly it will have an impact on hardware usage. Intel’s Nervana Neural Network Processor suite of chips for example is based around the same. AI will have a major impact on jobs and the subsequent talent recruitment as testified by Forrester study that claims that 7% of existing jobs are to be replaced. More startups which use this technology deftly will take on the digital giants such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon or will get acquired for hefty sums by one of these.

Source:https://becominghuman.ai/7-artificial-intelligence-trends-that-will-rule-2018-1ace8a006518

Uploaded Date:07 June 2018

While it is a foregone conclusion that smart machines, digitization and artificial intelligence are reimagining several industries, in order to get a proper grip on the numbers, a study was launched by business consulting leader Accenture. Titled as Accenture 2017 Process Reimagined Survey, it studied thirteen different industries. Perhaps surprisingly, it was healthcare that emerged on top in process and data, tied with mining and minerals and followed by retail and telecom. More than half the healthcare firms surveyed responded positively to using business analytics to gauge speed and performance indicators. About two-fifths of US firms confess to using the machine learning in business processes and a similar percentage uses it in human-machine work relationships. About two-thirds of respondents even claimed that revenues rose by up to a fifth due to this. More than ninety percent feel that machine learning has helped tap hidden value in business transactions.

Source:https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/health/healthcare-walking-ai-talk?c=psv_fy18hpshealthcatwitter_10256262&n=smc_0418

Uploaded Date: 30 May 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long disappointed in its actual business implications in spite of the enormous potential inherent from day one. Now, finally it is emerging out of its own shadow by providing genuine business value. Algorithms have now cracked human speech patterns and can even recognize objects or optical patterns. Three major events brought out AI’s success to the wider public, beginning with chess world champion Garry Kasparov’s loss to the IMB-developed computer- Deep Blue. IBM’s Watson and Google’s self-driving cars were the other two. AI has shifted the traditional notions of competitive advantage by creating massive value out data warehousing, as this data is further used by digital giants such as Google, Uber and Facebook to gain business advantages. AI is also providing in-depth customer access through this data, providing cutting-edge business intelligence on user requirements. Capabilities have also jumped up accordingly as AI can now process human language. Any AI implementation into work needs to look at four major applications which are- customer needs, sources of data, advances in technology and the decomposition of processes.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/competing-in-age-artificial-intelligence.aspx?linkId=45055693

Uploaded Date:12 March 2018

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for a while now, it has disappointed making extravagant promises for decades. Now, finally inputs of genuine worth are beginning to get noticed. Algorithms are getting more accurate, computers faster and robots more reliable, but none of this would have been possible without its main fuel at the back. That is the billions of Gigabytes of data warehousing now being done which is behind this growing sophistication and accuracy. The entrepreneurial drive using such capabilities is now exponentially higher than what was even a few years back. It is now driven by tech giants such as Amazon, Baidu, and Google. The early adopters of AI technology are reaping in the benefits, so even those who took time are now either implementing, or still unsure whether it fits into their respective business models. A study was conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) to understand the feasibility of AI involvement in various industries, and early signs suggest that it will work well. While USA is the top source for absorbing AI investments, with China a distant second, the rest of the world is catching up fast. South Kore and the UK want to develop AI clusters to encourage such tech-based businesses.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-analytics/our-insights/how-artificial-intelligence-can-deliver-real-value-to-companies?cid=soc-web

Uploaded Date:01 March 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not longer the sole preserve of tech geeks, but is being used in several day-to-day operations especially those involving customer experiences. One such recent implementation was a chatbot used by 1-800 Flowers which used an algorithm to speed up the customer experience. Retail firm North Face uses IBM’s Watson interface to gauge business intelligence on customer requirements before curtain a personalized shopping experience for them. UK’s Dixons Carphone even provides insurance advice using an AI powered chatbot. Domino’s Pizza uses Facebook Messenger to conduct its digital marketing conduits. Even fraud gets detected by Ticket master. Black Diamond’s equipment is used to help customers ski while also getting a personalized experience. Spotify gauges personal preference using AI to provide the range of music best suited to the particular user. The China Merchant Bank uses the We Chat Messenger to handle customer queries. AI helps Google Photo to tag users whose photos have been identified. A highly interesting use of predictive analytics is done by KFC. They have a facial recognition software powered by AI to actually predict orders.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2018/02/08/10-customer-experience-implementations-of-artificial-intelligence/#32e4333b2721

Uploaded Date:27 February 2018