Industry and academia – the recipe for AI innovation

Academia and industry at first glance appear to be strange bedfellows. One focuses on the theoretical and conceptual, whilst the other is driven by the practicalities of deadlines, goals and ultimately, profit. I have worked on AI in both of these roles, and throughout my 20 year career I've come to the realisation that, when it comes to driving innovation, these two distinct spheres need to work together. AI promises to be the most important technology of the future, and if the lofty ambitions and out-of-the-box thinking of academia can find synergy with the can-do attitude, urgency and resources of industry, we'll see an explosion in its applications. In fact, I believe that AI and ML technology won't just be a nice feature but will be a requirement for all applications go forward. This collaboration between industry and academia has been growing for some time and, like most things in technology, it all boils down to the data.