Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2018. In 2017, the rapid growth and uptake of machine learning within enterprise software was impressive to say the least, with adoption accelerating in speed from initial research to implementation. Even as machine learning was predicted by many to be impactful this year, the speed of innovation is what was surprising. As we move into 2018, we will continue to see rapid growth in machine learning and AI as well as bigger investments in big data and analytics, with voice-activated digital assistants surfacing as a core user front-end for these technologies. IDC says that by 2019, 40 percent of digital transformation initiatives will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) services.

In the 21st century, industries that remain adamant to integrating new technological revolutions are most likely to regress in their course of development. Businesses across the globe have realized how important it is to include contemporary digital technology to drive constant growth and revenue. The last decade has seen incredible innovations and breakthroughs in the landscape of digital solutions. One of such compelling technologies is called Artificial Intelligence (AI). Often misconceived as a replacement for human power, the concept of AI as a technological aid is much larger, wider and pervasive.

You've probably interacted with a number of artificial intelligence technologies today, whether you've asked your Amazon Echo for the weather report or used a virtual agent chatbot on a retailer's website. With every interaction, you leave breadcrumbs of data, which create trails that companies can use to gain insights into your preferences, buying habits and much more. This new reality means companies have access to a gold mine of customer data, but they are only using about 12% of it for insights, explained Forrester Research vice president Srividya Sridharan, during a recent AI Trends webinar called "Drive Innovation in Customer Insights with 12 Artificial Intelligence Technologies." "Time and time again, we hear from our clients, 'we are drowning in data and starving for insight,'" said Sridharan, who specializes in customer data research. She added that companies have made tremendous strides in using data in daily decision-making, but there are only pockets of excellence.

According to a study published by eMarketer in 2016, the ecommerce sector will experience double-digit growth until 2020, when sales are expected to exceed $4 trillion. Few industries can boast such a bright future, which makes looking forward to what's next in the world of ecommerce all the more exciting. Today, we'll be taking a look at seven of the most significant and potentially disruptive ecommerce trends that marketers and consumers alike can expect in 2018. We'll be examining the current state of each of these areas, as well as taking a speculative look forward for the rest of the year to see what opportunities – and challenges – ecommerce retailers are likely to encounter in 2018. Looking beyond the idiosyncrasies of specific ecommerce platforms, one of the very few remaining genuine differentiators in the ecommerce sector is that of shipping times and delivery logistics.

You can already use Google Assistant to play Netflix, but it becomes a hassle if you have more than one Netflix profile. You probably don't want to muck up a partner's recommendations just because you couldn't bother to reach for the remote. Well, you won't have to risk it from now on: Google has revealed that Assistant can now match your voice to a specific Netflix profile. You don't have to do more than link the profile in the Google Home app's video settings. So long as you use voice matching in the first place, this should make hands-free Netflix control reatively painless in a busy household.

SAN FRANCISCO – After missing the critical holiday shopping season, Apple Inc. has jumped into the voice speaker wars with the HomePod smart speaker, a device that will use its Siri voice assistant and compete against offerings from Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google. Apple said on Tuesday it will start taking online orders for its HomePod smart speaker on Friday in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, just over a month later than initially planned. The $349 voice-controlled speaker, introduced in June and originally scheduled for a December release, can make music suggestions and adjust home temperatures. The speaker also will be able to send messages and play news updates from National Public Radio and CNN, Apple said in a release. Analysts have debated the impact of the shipping delay on the HomePod's eventual success.

Apple's HomePod smart speaker finally has a launch date. After missing its original December debut, Apple announced Tuesday that the HomePod will begin shipping on Feb. 9, with preorders beginning this Friday. That means Apple will finally join one of the most popular areas of consumer technology today. It also means that we'll finally find out how Apple fares against incumbents, such as Amazon and Google, who have had smart speakers available more than a year (and more than three years, in the Echo's case). Apple is late to the game and will face some significant challenges ahead.

Investment in artificial intelligence grew an estimated 300 percent in 2017, as adoption of AI-powered assistants like Alexa and Siri continued to skyrocket -- and, unsurprisingly, the trend was very much in evidence at this years' CES. As customers have come to expect the "personal assistant" level of service from a diversity of devices, "the bar is [just] being continually raised for consumer expectations in the level of intuitive service and response that is available to them," said Devon MacDonald, Chief Strategy Officer, Mindshare Canada. "People are always looking for things that are faster, easier, safer, and just more frictionless." Following CES, MacDonald talked to GeoMarketing about approaching AI from a'human first' perspective -- and how AR integrations are finally a tangible reality for brands. GeoMarketing: At Mindshare, you've spent a lot of time thinking about artificial intelligence.

It's long been rumored that Apple may be planning to kill off the MacBook Air, but it looks like the laptop's death may be more imminent than we thought. Apple could soon release a brand new, 13-inch laptop to replace the aging MacBook Air, according to Digitimes. Taiwanese touch screen supplier General Interface Solution is expected to receive a big order from Apple for LCD displays. Apple may use the displays to introduce a totally new 13-inch MacBook toward the end of 2018, Digitimes noted. Now that Apple's MacBook Air is ten years old, the iPhone maker may be preparing to kill off the 13-inch model entirely.