Artificial intelligence (AI) is seemingly everywhere today. Whether it's using a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa, improving sales insights through analytics, or hiring the best talent with AI-based recruiting software, many businesses have already started incorporating this technology into their everyday processes. While you may not necessarily need to make artificial intelligence the core of your operations right now, most experts agree that AI's role and importance in business will only continue to grow. Nine members from Forbes Technology Council each shared a way that companies can begin preparing for AI right now. I think for smaller companies, it is too early to create a plan, but I do think it is important to stay updated on AI and how it is being implemented in an applicable industry.

There is no doubt the search industry has evolved. Just one look at how search engine results pages are currently laid out shows how things have changed. We have come a long way from 10 blue links. But have we gone far enough? At SXSW earlier this month, information access was a hot topic.

In a popularity battle that isn't unlike a high school prom court, Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google's, uh, Assistant, are the four front-runners to be queen. With Samsung about to add a fifth candidate -- Bixby -- soon, it seems the A.I. voice assistant catfight is reaching its apex. This is good for us, the consumers, because when billion collar companies compete -- we win. But it's also stressful and annoying having to deal with so many different platforms right now. One Hong Kong-based company -- Vicartek -- is looking to streamline the process with a bluetooth headset that is natively compatible with Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana, all accessible via a tap or two on the device's touch panel, without the need for the user to pull out their phone.

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Tomorrow's most effective individuals will combine their personal capabilities with customized digital boosters. Technology now touches and transforms every aspect of personal productivity in the workplace. Mobile devices, bots, and digital assistants are ubiquitous, while managers increasingly use key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards to monitor and measure employee performance. In industry after global industry, effectively collaborating with technology is as important as effectively collaborating with people. Continually boosting the value of employees in this environment -- especially knowledge workers -- poses a difficult design challenge.

Picture shows IBM Watson robot on the third day of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2016. There is no way to spell "retail" without AI. The power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the consumer journey dominated the conversation at Shoptalk this week. In its second year, Shoptalk brought together 5,000-plus players across the full ecosystem to better understand the continuous evolution of how consumers discover, browse and buy in the digital era. AI, which refers to technologies capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence, goes back centuries.

These days, job hunting looks a lot like online dating: Seemingly infinite scrolling, a few messages that lead to nowhere, and even fewer human interactions that--more often than not--don't turn out the way you thought they would. Recruiting startup WayUp hopes to convince job searchers that it doesn't have to be such "a miserable process," says co-founder and CEO Liz Wessel. WayUp offers a "smart" platform that uses data to match seekers with potential employers. Wessel says that the site collects about 40 data points per applicant and, armed with that information, is able to suggest "the right jobs to the right people" better than job sites like Indeed and Monster, or professional social network LinkedIn. On Thursday, the company announced that it has raised a $18.5 million series B funding round, led by Trinity Ventures, with participation from WayUp's existing investors, including General Catalyst, BoxGroup, Lerer-Hippeau Ventures, Index Ventures, SV Angel, and Female Founders Fund.

Following the Wikileaks March 7 Vault 7 data dump, which allegedly details a host of CIA hacking tools, people have started looking at their internet-connected devices with just a tad bit more skepticism. With that in mind, people have taken to asking their digital assistants about the CIA. The results, well, are a bit baffling. SEE ALSO: Google Home is now playing unprompted ads for'Beauty and the Beast' "Okay Google," a man asks his Google Assistant in a video posted to YouTube by Michael Hraba. "Do you know what the CIA is?"

We cover many emerging markets in the startup ecosystem. Previously, we published posts that summarized Financial Technology, Internet of Things, Bitcoin, and MarTech in six visuals. This week, we do the same with Artificial Intelligence (AI). At this time, we are tracking 855 AI companies across 13 categories, with a combined funding amount of $8.75billion. To see all of our AI related posts, check out our blog!

Microsoft's push into the connected car space has moved up a gear with a new patent licensing agreement with Toyota. The world's second-largest auto maker will have access to a range of Microsoft patents as part of the deal announced this week. Rather than trying to build a high-tech automobile of its own, Microsoft is focusing on providing carmakers with the tools they need to create smarter vehicles and the Toyota deal is the first of what it hopes will be a series of such agreements. Microsoft offers an entire suite of cloud services aimed at aiding the development of internet-enabled automobiles and is also integrating its Cortana virtual assistant into cars alongside PCs, phones and other devices. In the future, a connected car could become a rolling extension of a user's office, with Office 365 integrations.