It takes bravery nowadays to predict the future. Indeed, if the events of 2016 have taught us anything, it's that unlikely outcomes can easily become a reality. This year marks the 20th year of our CEO Survey and it's been fascinating to look back over the surveys to see how the thinking of CEOs has developed, reflecting the environment around them. To their credit, CEOs saw a lot of the turmoil coming; back in 2009, 76% predicted a rise in political and religious tension and even then 46% believed that governments would become more protectionist. But successful predictions are relatively rare - and that's a salient lesson for people strategy. In 2015, our CEO survey showed that a third of business leaders were increasing their reliance on contractors and freelancers – signalling the emergence of the'gig economy'.

Can artificial intelligence do the work of high-powered consultants? A Munich-based startup founded by a math major is doing just that. His fast-growing software startup offers companies like 3M, Cisco, and General Electric better results at a fraction of the cost -- and he's grabbing market share in a $15 billion market from consulting powerhouses like IBM and Accenture. Should investors in those incumbents be worried? Before getting into why, let's take a trip down my memory lane.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is so last year, according to some experts. Scientists at MIT this week claimed a breakthrough in how human intuition can be added to algorithms. And in a separate, unrelated report, Deloitte Consulting is chastising the business community for not comprehending fully that new, cognitive computing technology should be exploited. "Artificial intelligence is only the beginning," researchers write in a Deloitte University Press article about Deloitte's February study. "Advanced cognitive analytics" is just one of the "fast-evolving" technologies businesses need to get a handle on, they say.

An emerging trend promises to bring the power of machine learning to mobile devices, opening the door to a plethora of valuable new applications. Machine learning--the process by which computers can get better at performing tasks through exposure to data, rather than through explicit programming--requires massive computational power, the kind usually found in clusters of energy-guzzling, cloud-based computer servers outfitted with specialized processors. But recent developments may enable machine learning to be embedded into mobile devices, thus greatly expanding applications for its use and providing new opportunities for marketers. Neural networks--computer models designed to mimic aspects of the human brain's structure and function, with elements representing neurons and their interconnections--are an increasingly popular way of implementing machine learning. They are particularly well suited for performing perceptual tasks such as computer vision and speech recognition.

Conventional wisdom holds that artificial intelligence is the next great horizontal technology that will unleash future waves of innovation. Yet AI is not a single type of technology. It takes many forms and encompasses many, many uses. And to focus on AI is to miss the forest for the trees. The forest here is machine intelligence, or MI, according to Deloitte's annual Tech Trends report, which was released today.

Episode Summary: Accenture is a leading global professional services company in the tech space, providing services to many of the Fortune 500 and their global equivalents. The company recently conducted a study, combined with expertise from economists and AI researchers, about the longer-term economic impact of artificial intelligence around the world. In this episode, I spoke with Chief Technology Officer Paul Daugherty, who has been with Accenture since 1986, and who was joined by Global Technology R&D Lead Marc Carrel-Billiard. We met up at a coffee shop after an AI Summit in San Francisco, and I asked Paul and Marc about what they had learned from this newly-published study and what they consider to be the significant impacts of *AI and automation on the future job market. Brief Recognition: Paul Daugherty is Accenture's CTO and leads the company's Technology Innovation & Ecosystem group.

Public Sector Agencies Must Adopt Emerging Technologies Like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to Effectively Compete for Talent, Accenture Report Finds ARLINGTON, Va.; Feb. 2, 2017 – Public sector agencies must adopt emerging technologies – including machine learning, artificial intelligence and biometrics – to attract and retain more technically adept employees. This approach is critical to addressing a widening skills gap and strong competition from a better financed private sector, a new report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) shows. The report, Emerging Technologies in Public Service, examines the adoption of emerging technologies across agencies with the most direct interaction with citizens or the greatest responsibility for citizen-facing services: health and social services, policing/justice, revenue, border services, administration and pensions / social security. As part of the report, Accenture surveyed nearly 800 public service technology professionals across nine countries to identify emerging technologies being implemented or piloted. These technologies include advanced analytics/ predictive modeling, the Internet of Things, intelligent process automation, video analytics, biometrics/ identity analytics, machine learning, and natural language processing/ generation.

Public sector agencies must adopt emerging technologies – including machine learning, artificial intelligence, and biometrics – to attract and retain more technically adept employees, a new report from Accenture recommends. It said this is critical to addressing a widening skills gap and strong competition from a better financed private sector. According to the report, "Emerging Technologies in Public Service," the need to attract technically proficient employees is becoming even more urgent as the existing workforce continues to age, creating an irrevocable loss of institutional knowledge unless action is taken now. The report emphasized that hiring and developing people with the necessary skills, including the need for emerging technology specialists, is one of the top three challenges across all industries and countries today," the report noted. "The very concept of work is being redefined as different generations enter and exit the workforce in a rapidly changing technological landscape," said Terry Hemken, who leads Accenture's Health & Public Service Analytics Insights for Government business. "Government leaders must make every effort to reskill their people to be relevant in the future and ready to adapt to change." Survey respondents said emerging technologies will augment existing roles rather than replace them. Automating tasks, whether through artificial intelligence, machine learning or other technologies, frees up employees to focus on activities that are more critical and more closely aligned with citizen needs, according to the research. In fact, eight in 10 respondents said that implementing emerging technologies will improve job satisfaction and can aid staff retention, partly by automating certain repetitive tasks and making others more aligned with citizens' direct needs. Nearly 60 percent of respondents also said that being able to implement projects using emerging technologies would require significant investment in reskilling existing staff. "Responsive and responsible leaders must ensure that their people are relevant and adaptable to keep pace with technology," Hemken said. "Creating the future workforce now is the responsibility of the very highest levels of an organization.

We at AIBusiness are officially launching our new series'AI Innovators' this January. This is a series dedicated to featuring interviews with relevant spokespersons across a range of businesses that have entered the world of artificial intelligence. AI Innovators aims to provide our readers with a broad insight into how artificial intelligence is implemented within different industries, anything from finance to medical research. The fourth company to feature in these series is EY, a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. EY is one of the largest professional services firm in the world and is one of the "Big Four" accounting firms.