China set a record high in terms of venture capital (VC) investments in 2016, despite a global slowdown. The strong performance is expected to continue with artificial intelligence (AI) an additional focus for investors, finds latest KPMG analysis. Investment by VCs in China increased 19 percent year on year to USD31 billion in 2016, although deal volumes declined 42 percent to 300 from 513 a year earlier, according to Venture Pulse, KPMG's quarterly global report on VC trends. The strong performance is attributed to a number of mega-deals recorded early in the year. The report highlights that artificial intelligence and cognitive learning are poised to transform almost every aspect of people's lives.

Artificial intelligence (machines doing things instead of humans) and augmented intelligence (machines helping humans do what they need to do better) are vogue concepts but what's the relevance to professional services organizations? In this free webinar, we will discuss how machine intelligence can be applied to help drive performance in consulting. John Ragsdale, VP Research, Technology and Social for TSIA will explain where TSIA members see the most opportunity and Kimble will talk about how Kimble customers are using intelligence and gamification to drive behaviors that speed up and improve the impact of positive decision making in selling, resourcing, delivery and operational management.

Thanks to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) software drones are able to perform flights without a human pilot. The new software was introduced by a start-up Exyn Technologies and allows drone navigation through dark, indoor and off-grid environments. The sensor fusion and AI provide drones with a situational awareness. Multiple sensors enable drone to create a 3D map and update it after take-off. Human engagement during the flight is limited only to giving drone a goal and starting location.

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.