Technology changes are all around us, and coming faster than ever. Today, every business is a digital business, and people are engaging with and relying on technology more than before. "While technology has long been developed to serve specific business needs, we are now in an era where people are central to the design and development of technologies," says Bhaskar Ghosh, group chief executive, Accenture Technology Services. Accenture's Tech Vision for 2017 stresses on'technology for people' as the core theme. What is driving this finding?

With more than $5 billion in 605 deals of VC investment over last 2 years, artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a transformative effect on consumer, enterprise, and government markets around the world. While there are certainly obstacles to overcome, consumers believe that AI has the potential to assist in medical breakthroughs, democratize costly services, elevate poor customer service, and even free up an overburdened workforce. We dug deeper into those perceptions through an online survey of consumers and business decision makers, and an expert salon with thought leaders in the field. This original research unpacks key ways AI may impact our world, delving into its implications for society, service, and management.

Business decision makers are optimistic about artificial intelligence and the impact it will have on their businesses, according to a new study by PwC. "A Revolutionary Partnership: How AI Is Pushing Man And Machine Closer," a survey of 2,500 U.S. consumers and business decision makers, found that business leaders, specifically, believe AI is going to be fundamental in the future. In fact, 72% termed it a "business advantage." Business decision makers said they are most optimistic about AI's potential to increase efficiencies with automated communications and alerts to enable more proactive approaches (70%) and to improve big data analytics (59%). Additionally, PwC found, AI has the potential to minimize customer service pain points, with consumers beginning to prioritize AI service experiences over human contact.

Accenture and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) have formed an alliance to make the most out of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Accenture will get access to DFKI research results, AI tools, and its "Living Labs". Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wahlster, CEO of DFKI, says it is seeing a "high degree of maturity for applications in the areas of smart data and services, deep learning, human-robot-collaboration and AI-based retail". According to Accenture, AI is a major growth and productivity factor for the economy, and is projected to boost labour productivity by up to 40% through "fundamentally changing how we work and reinforcing the role of people to drive growth in business". The firm adds that AI has the potential to more than double Germany's annual growth rate of gross value added from 1.4% to 3% by 2035.

Artificial intelligence (AI) software start-up Airts has landed a six-figure contract with accounting giant PwC for its system that helps to manage the workload of employees. The Edinburgh-based firm, which launched in 2013 and has an eight-strong team, is now preparing to roll out its software, dubbed Braid, to more clients across the UK and overseas on the back of the deal with the PwC service delivery centre in Poland. Its software aims to ease the burden on employers and staff of managing their workloads by using AI to automate schedules and allocate tasks depending on factors such as their capacity and skills. Chief executive and co-founder Andrew Bone said: "Major professional services firms like PwC constantly have to decide how best to allocate staff to client engagements in a way that balances the competing needs of the customer, the wellbeing of staff and, ultimately, the bottom line. Braid supports companies to overcome this challenge at scale by optimising the schedule as circumstances change." Airts, co-founded by chief technology officer Dr Alastair Andrew, has been supported by business accelerator programme Entrepreneurial Spark and last year raised £300,000 of seed investment from Scottish angel investors to fund its growth.

Results like these are the good news about analytics. But they are also the bad news. While many such projects generate eye-popping returns on investment, banks find it difficult to scale them up; the financial impact from even several great analytics efforts is often insignificant for the enterprise P&L. Some executives are even concluding that while analytics may be a welcome addition to certain activities, the difficulties in scaling it up mean that, at best, it will be only a sideline to the traditional businesses of financing, investments, and transactions and payments. Analytics can involve much more than just a set of discrete projects.

Frustrated with automated answering machines before you finally get to speak with a customer service representative? When it comes to insurance, you'll just as likely end up dealing with a robot as a human within three years, according to a survey by Accenture Plc. About two-thirds of insurers already use artificial intelligence-based "virtual assistants," the consulting firm said in the report, which was published on Wednesday. Of the executives who took part in the survey, 85 percent said they plan to invest "significantly" in AI in the next three years. "It's coming pretty quickly," John Cusano, global head of Accenture's insurance practice, said in a telephone interview.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be the single most important enabler of digital success. It will become the public face of an organisation's digital brand and a key differentiator in an ever more crowded, complex and unpredictable business and social environment. That is the view of leading global professional services company Accenture in its Technology Vision 2017 report, Technology for People: The Era of the Intelligent Enterprise. Those organisations that effectively embrace AI will thrive, while late adopters will, almost certainly, fail, says Accenture. The report, however, is not about spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Accenture Labs and Akshaya Patra Use Disruptive Technologies to Enhance Efficiency in Mid-Day Meal Program for School Children "Million Meals" project applied artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain to drive efficiency and timeliness of lunch program in government schools across India BENGALURU, India; Apr. 20, 2017 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Akshaya Patra, the world's largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal Program, collaborated on an innovative project that used disruptive technologies to exponentially increase the number of meals served to children in schools in India that are run and aided by the government. The "Million Meals" project revolutionized Akshaya Patra's supply chain and operations, resulting in improved food quality and expanded service reach. Rooted in a vision to eliminate child hunger, the "Million Meals" project demonstrated how disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain can help address significant challenges in mass meal production and delivery. Accenture Labs, the research and development arm of Accenture, executed the project over a period of six months in Akshaya Patra's Bengaluru kitchen. An analysis of the project indicated a potential to improve efficiency by 20 percent, which could boost the number of meals served by millions.

Get the big picture of how machine learning works, its relationship to artificial intelligence, and where companies are putting it to work. Machine learning brings humans and machines closer by enabling humans to "teach" machines. Machines learn by processing a valid training set that contains the features necessary to tune an algorithm. The algorithm enables machines to execute specific tasks, such as classifying email. But the benefits go beyond what was possible with email filtering a decade ago.