The partnership of the Science Museum's Driverless: Who is in control? In this cutting-edge exhibition, you will get a glimpse of self-driving cars, autonomous flying drones to smart underwater vehicles. With PwC, understand the disruptive impact of these technologies and how they can be applied to your business model.

The digital revolution may be well into its prime, but the disruption is far from over. New and emerging technologies continue to shape (and reshape) how organizations operate and adapt to their customers. While these tools have opened the doors to new capabilities and market opportunities, they have also driven the need for stronger and more adaptive risk management strategies. No doubt, the pressure is on boards to ensure that adopting new technology does not come at the expense of the organization's security, efficiency, and bottom line. That includes the Audit Committee itself, which has the responsibility of overseeing that management has the right controls and processes in place (and they're being monitored) to safeguard the finance function from the technology risk.

Time to take a step back? Specialists in AI represent the fastest-growing job role in the United States over the last four years according to LinkedIn while in the UK, AI companies secured $1 billion in the first six months of the year. Stats like these lead you to believe that the world of business is well underway with the adoption of AI and the revolutionary potential the technology carries across industries. At the same time, when companies with nothing more than a chatbot claim that AI is central to their product, shadows of doubt are cast on that perception of progress. A new PwC report adds some clarity.

Promoting the company's culture was a top priority when KPMG was making preliminary plans for its new $450 million training facility. It emerges in different ways throughout the 800,000-square-foot facility, some more subtle than others. The hallway to the main conference space, for example, is lined with artifacts from KPMG's heritage, including a ledger from original founder James Marwick dating to 1898. In another area, a set of lights that hang over the cafeteria change colors -- a nod to the importance of diversity at the firm. "There are things that the physical representation here is designed to really reflect what we see as our core kind of cultural aspects," said chief financial officer David Turner.

Contrary to popular belief in China, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not destroy as many jobs as they feared. In fact, more jobs could be created with the rise of AI, according to a report by The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as well as consultancy firm PwC. The national think tank further added that during China's 14th Five-Year Plan, which starts in 2021, the rise of robots will not lead to "significant" job destruction. Read: Why Artificial Intelligence can't replace us China is the leading force in the global rise of AI, having installed 154,032 industrial robots in 2018 according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than the number of industrial robots installed in Europe and the Americas combined. Many restaurants, hotels and factories in China have already implemented the use of AI to serve its customers.

Artificial intelligence has evolved from an esoteric research topic--with its origins six decades ago in corporate and academic computer science labs--into a collection of powerful technologies with mainstream business promise and applicability. Deloitte's global AI study finds that, in organizations adopting AI, more than eight in 10 leaders see AI as "very" or "critically" important to their business success in the next two years.1 AI adoption and spending are surging globally. According to one report, 37 percent of organizations have now deployed AI--a 270 percent increase from four years ago.2 Analysts project global spending on AI to top US$35 billion in 2019 and more than double to US$79.2 billion by 2022.3 What is driving this tremendous upswing? Many foresee AI helping to spur enormous productivity gains over the next decade, making it essential to the competitiveness of national economies.4

Corporate America is increasingly using AI, and executives anticipate that they will use it even more in the years ahead. But they also have significant concerns, new research fromknowledge marketplace GLG finds. Sixty percent of executives surveyed do not feel that their organizations are fully aligned on how they should develop and use AI. And while more than 70 percent of executives say that their companies have adopted AI in the last three years, only a quarter say that they have taken steps to prevent bias that can result from AI. Artificial intelligence has sparked debates on everything from data privacy to bots taking jobs from humans to algorithms that perpetuate racial and gender bias. These issues have been widely reported, yet respondents in the survey reported that their companies have not taken steps to deal with them.

Second, the unfamiliar landscape of AI also means businesses can be tempted to fall back on their time-honored behaviors, reinventing the wheel and building from scratch. There are many proven, low-cost AI options to buy "off the shelf" and start using right away. It is key to leverage what already exists, customize as needed for the organization and start proving the value of AI as the first step to successful scaling. But don't get bogged down in the technology. Be driven by the business strategy and vision, and let that dictate the AI approach. Focus on finding the right way of working that will allow AI to flourish, diversifying skills and talent beyond the data scientists.

As AI becomes increasingly ever-present in the commercial sphere in the form of digital assistants, it's worth considering to what extent enterprise is keeping up. The enthusiasm for the implementation of artificial intelligence in a workplace setting may abate in the year ahead according to a report from professional services firm PwC. The third annual report in a series on AI predictions, one of its key findings is that only 4% of over 1,000 surveyed executives have plans to deploy AI across the enterprise, compared to 20% in the year before. That's due in part, PwC says, to a revising of expectations to focus on fundamental tasks rather than total overhauls. How do you make AI work for your business?

Outsourcing has played a key role in helping companies cope with large workloads at a fraction of the cost of recruiting in-house over the past 20 years. Despite visible changes in this direction, outsourcing companies are no longer benefiting from the desired result. Customers are becoming more knowledgeable and willing to look beyond cheap labor. Customers across all sectors want to take advantage of a personalized experience and feel cared about while quickly and efficiently managing requests and demands. Nevertheless, when people are needed to develop products or provide other services provided by a business, firing employees will not increase the profits of a company long term. This is where process automation makes the introduction.