El Camino Hospital, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, has a problem. Its nurses, tending to patients amid a chorus of machines, monitors, and devices, are only human. One missed signal from, say, a call light--the bedside button patients press when they need help--could set in motion a chain of actions that end in a fall. "As fast as we all run to these bed alarms, sometimes we can't get there in time," says Cheryl Reinking, chief nursing officer at El Camino. Falls are dangerous and costly.

To characterize 2017 technology trends, we might use the phrase intelligent systems. They have had a major effect on users' digital experience. Technology trends like artificial intelligence (AI), chat bots, virtual reality, the internet of things (IoT) and data analytics are increasingly bringing new insights and data to traditional systems and processes. These intelligent systems are supposed to help decision-makers use data to take action: AI can help sales reps, marketers and customer service agents learn more about customers and prospects; chat bots can help service agents provide more efficient service; and IoT is collecting real-time data generated from a variety of connected things to not only provide proactive service on cars and fridges, but also offer cities valuable data about traffic congestion. Intelligent systems are also helping alleviate some of the manual, time-consuming work of yesteryear with automated processes.