Today's workforce and automation of key functions is moving us toward an unprecedented level of innovation. One recent study from KPMG found that about three out of every four U.S. tech industry CEOs believe automation and machine learning are likely to replace at least 5 percent of their manufacturing, technology, sales, and marketing workforce by 2019. Yet the same study found that over half of the executives expect their organization's headcount to grow by at least 6 percent. While some big businesses might assume A.I. is their ticket to paying less in labor costs, if we go this route we're selling our workforces short. The human brain possesses something computers still don't: mindfulness.

Last month, at the world's leading general management conference--the Drucker Forum in Vienna Austria--Julian Birkinshaw, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School and Director of the Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, declared provocatively that we are living in "the Age of Agile." The full text of Julian's important talk is set out below. He also has a new book coming out next year entitled Fast/Forward: Make Your Company Fit For the Future. Earlier this week, I discussed these issues with Julian. Steve Denning: In your talk, you spoke about three possible forms of organization: bureaucracy, meritocracy and adhocracy. Could you tell us more? Julian Birkinshaw: Bureaucracy is about and occupying roles and following rules. Meritocracy is a knowledge-based view of the organization, including big data and analytics. Adhocracy is an action-based view of the organization focused on capturing opportunities, solving problems and getting results. Denning: Where does "the age of Agile" fit into this scheme?

Delegates at an event hosted by Accenture last month in the Conrad Hotel in lower Manhattan were welcomed and registered by a smiling Amelia. But Amelia does not work only in events. She is a hologram -- a cognitive agent who can take on a wide variety of service desk roles, emulating human intelligence and capable of natural interaction with people. The age of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) has been predicted for decades -- and it may finally be arriving, thanks to the explosion in data, the fuel that powers the AI machines. Consulting firms are not only implementing automation and AI for clients but also using it to transform their own back-office functions and operations.

Will AI even the socio-economic playing field globally, or will it cause further divides? While we may not know the answer to this question for years to come, a recent study released by Accenture points to increased productivity in countries that have the infrastructure in place to take advantage of AI's economic boosting powers. TechEmergence had an opportunity to sit down with Accenture CTO Paul Daugherty and Global Technology R&D Lead Marc Carrel-Billiard, after the AI Summit in San Francisco this past September, to discuss the study outcomes and AI's economic impact across countries. The study, released this past summer and titled "Why Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Growth", was a joint effort between Accenture and Frontier Research. According to Daugherty, it was inspired by one seemingly simple question: "How will AI impact business and what may be its impact on the economy?""

Machine learning presents an opportunity for companies to efficiently and effectively complete structured back-office tasks. It also has the power to help managers perform their work at a higher level, and as a result, improve employee performance and engagement. People management is rife with trouble zones, according to a VentureBeat article by BetterWorks CEO and Co-founder Kris Duggan, from ineffective performance management processes to inherent biases that strain workplace relations and stagnate development and advancement for diverse employee groups. Smart machines could mitigate those issues. Duggan cited Accenture, SAP and Deloitte as companies that have done away with traditional performance management systems that included features like rankings in favor of technology to improve transparency around employee performance evaluations.

There is a lot of buzz these days on artificial intelligence (AI) in business intelligence products. At a recent tweetchat of my #BIWisdom group of users, vendors and consultants, a participant asked: Is AI becoming a part of everything we do, the way analytics have been added to apps of all shapes and sizes across the business and personal space? Although companies tend to overreact to emerging technologies, AI is not a new technology. One of the tweetchat participants commented that AI is crossing a chasm, either in awareness or approach and that perhaps its evolution to this point is due to the prevalence of data scientists. Another member of the group agreed, tweeting that the data scientists craze has helped more organizations embrace machine learning and AI to get deeper insights.

Marc Carrel-Billiard, Managing Director Global Technology R&D, AccentureBangalore: AI can double annual economic growth rates by 2035 by changing the nature of work and spawning a new relationship between man and machine, according to Accenture Research. The impact of AI technologies on business is projected to boost labour productivity by up to 40 percent by fundamentally changing the way work is done and reinforcing people's role to drive growth in business. In an interview with ETCIO, Accenture's Managing Director Global Technology R&D, Marc Carrel-Billiard talks about company's technology labs and its focus areas, new technologies and its impact and key tech trends that CIOs and businesses need to look for and much more. Marc is with Accenture for the past 18 years and currently oversees the Accenture Technology Labs, Accenture Open Innovation, Accenture's global technology R&D organization which explores new and emerging technologies, across seven locations around the world. Which are the key technology domains that you are trying to focus on?

The ongoing evolution in advanced analytics and other emerging technologies is transforming the operational processes in government and public service agencies throughout the world. With the help of these technologies, such organisations are trying to address citizen demands, helping to overcome persistent challenges such as regulatory compliance, outdated legacy IT infrastructures and organisational cultures, according to a new study report from Accenture. In its latest report titled, Emerging Technologies in Public Service, Accenture surveyed nearly 800 public service technology professionals across nine countries to identify emerging technologies being implemented or piloted. The technologies include advanced analytics/predictive modelling, the IoT, intelligent process automation, video analytics, biometrics/identity analytics, machine learning, and natural language processing/generation. The survey found that while more than two-thirds, (70%) of public sector agencies are evaluating the potential of emerging technologies, only a small percentage (25%) is moving beyond the pilot phase to full implementation.

Not long ago, audits could be performed only by teams of accountants manually scouring reams of financial information. But given the explosion of data in today's digital world, it's critical that the audit profession evolves its traditional processes and embraces advanced technology tools--including robotics, automation and cognitive technology. By doing so, it can uncover insights that allow the audit to continue to be relevant and effective in helping investors make important financial decisions. Learn how cognitive technology is changing the financial statement audit. Cognitive technology--also known as artificial intelligence--can go through a vast amount of data faster and more precisely than any person.

Artificial intelligence is the yin and blockchains are the yang of digital business. Artificial intelligence is the yin and blockchains are the yang of digital business. While AI helps us assess, understand, recognize and decide, blockchains can help us verify, execute and record. While the machine learning methods that are a part of AI help us find opportunity and improve decision making, smart contracts and blockchains can automate verification of the transactional parts of the process. AI and blockchains in that sense are complementary and synergistic.