Business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses have made it a priority to incorporate machine learning into customer-facing functions, integrating it into sales and marketing. For business-to-business (B2B) companies, however, translating data into actionable marketing strategies can be a more difficult proposition. Selling to organizations invariably requires embarking on a much longer and more complex journey, culminating in an order of much higher value than in the consumer realm. With hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars at stake, a misguided marketing investment could lead to financial losses. "The availability of data and the importance of having the focus on the full customer journey is coming a little later to the B2B world," says Laura Beaudin, a partner at Bain & Co. "A lot of expectations in terms of customers manifested themselves in the consumer world before they brought those expectations to their business-purchasing world."

Far from stealing jobs, robots and AI are most effective when they work side by side with humans. Organizations' next challenge is redesigning work accordingly. Enterprise adoption of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating dramatically. Almost half (47 percent) of the 11,070 respondents surveyed for Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report say their organizations are deeply involved in automation projects: 24 percent are using AI and robotics to perform routine tasks, 16 percent to augment human skills, and 7 percent to restructure work entirely. Expectations for the technology are also high: 42 percent of this year's respondents believe AI will be widely deployed at their organizations within three to five years--up from 38 percent last year.

With this ebook, Booz Allen's Peter Guerra and Paul Tamburello provide examples that demonstrate how integrating AI can make your cybersecurity operations more effective and efficient in risk analysis, threat monitoring, and detection. AI-automated cybersecurity processes will enable you to more swiftly and accurately identify new and emerging threats in this continually changing landscape. This ebook demonstrates a powerful tool for leveling the playing field.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd. (NSE: LTI, BSE: 540005), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company has acquired Ruletronics, a pure-play Pega consulting and implementation company with offices in the UK, USA, and India. "Pega is a leader in Intelligent Business Process Management segment with more than 3,000 customers globally. Ruletronics brings significant Pega and BPM expertise along with unique client relationships that will help us grow our digital business further. Ruletronics enables businesses to transform and evolve digitally by providing innovative BPM and CRM solutions leveraging Pega Platform. Their current industry strength lies across Insurance, Banking, Healthcare and Retail segments. The company offers unique product based offerings for Disability Claims management, KYC Bulk Remediation, and Insurance Sales & Service applications. The acquisition will strengthen LTI's rapidly growing digital business with a suite of capabilities in Pega implementation space around establishing BPM Roadmap & Strategy, Customer Services, RPA and Decisioning. Nachiket Deshpande, COO, LTI, said: "Pega is a leader in Intelligent Business Process Management segment with more than 3,000 customers globally.

There's a fear that AI is going to take over our jobs - and with the advent of everything from self-driving cars to artificial customer service agents, it's a valid concern. It's especially fair when McKinsey, one of the most trusted global management consulting firms, predicts that as many as 800 million full-time employees could have their work displaced by 2030 due to automation. Yes, that statistic is alarming. However, to use that data point alone is not reality. In fact, with the following statistics next to it, we can paint a much better picture for the future of work.

Three new industry heavyweights have signed on to support the Australian National University's Autonomy, Agency and Assurance Institute (3Ai) and its mission to evolve new ways of thinking about and teaching artificial intelligence. KPMG, Macquarie Group and Microsoft will now join the CSIRO's Data61 in partnering with the institute, which is led by former Intel executive and recent high profile CBA board appointee professor Genevieve Bell. Bell said 3Ai was established in September last year to tackle complex problems emerging around artificial intelligence, big data, technology and their impacts on humanity. The announcement coincides with the Labor National Conference, where the party is expected to announce a greater focus on the ethical impacts of growth and development, especially in regards to technology. It also follows the Australian Human Rights Commission's release of an issues paper at its Human Rights and Technology conference in Sydney earlier this, at which Bell spoke.

The year ahead will be an awakening after the reckoning of 2018--a time for fashion companies to look at opportunities and not just at surmounting challenges. The ones that will succeed will have come to terms with the fact that in the new paradigm taking shape around them, some of the old rules simply don't work. Regardless of size and segment, players now need to be nimble, think digital-first, and achieve ever-faster speed to market. They need to take an active stance on social issues, satisfy consumer demands for radical transparency and sustainability, and, most important, have the courage to "self-disrupt" their own identity and the sources of their old success to realize these changes and win new generations of customers. They also need to invest in enhancing their productivity and resilience, as the outlook is uncertain.

Artificial intelligence is one of the most popular technologies of this modern era. The technology has attracted the attention of most of the leading technology companies and nations across the globe including China and the United States. Nations and companies that have ventured or invested in this technology are currently competing to see who emerges as the leader in this space. As such, artificial intelligence (AI) was a no-brainer bet for most humans in 2018. According to a recent report from both CB Insights and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), venture capital financing of artificial intelligence companies increased by 72% last year, reaching a record of $9.3 billion.

Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world's leading futurists on global trends and innovation. The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in the highest demand as a speaker. He is a strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies, helping them to accelerate innovation and results by develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. His client list includes companies such as Microsoft, GE, American Express, Google, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, Honda, and IBM. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller Flash Foresight, and his latest book The Anticipatory Organization.

Perhaps as a counter to the panic that artificial intelligence will destroy jobs, consulting firm KPMG today published a list of what it predicts will soon become the five most sought-after AI roles. The predictions are based on the company's own projects and those on which it advises. While it's all very well to list the jobs people should be training and hiring for, it's another matter to actually create a pipeline of people ready to enter those roles. Brad Fisher, KPMG's US lead on data and analytics and the lead author of the predictions, tells Quartz there aren't enough people getting ready for these roles. Training in AI is increasing "fairly rapidly" at universities and other institutions, but not rapidly enough, Fisher says, meaning that demand will continue to outstrip supply for some time.