What does it mean to be a cognitive business?

A cognitive business takes advantage of recent developments in cognitive computing to improve the overall effectiveness of its people, processes and technology. Data is starting to be pulled from more and more sources today to help solve problems in diverse fields – from health care to national defense and from daily operations to setting the right metrics that measure progress towards strategic and tactical goals. In 2016, the amount of global data being collected and analyzed is unprecedented--and growing. Working with that data in smarter ways is the key to future business success. For example, IBM's Watson relies on deep learning algorithms and neural networks to process information by comparing it to a teaching set of data in research hospitals to diagnose symptoms and recommend better patient treatment plans. As Internet of Things (IoT) sensors expand to new areas, and as artificial intelligence becomes more and more of a reality over the next two decades, businesses will rely on a new mix of real-time data, analytical processing and cutting edge alternative solutions to transform the way services are delivered. The right data will be collected and processed faster--yielding improved results for clients. Bottom line: a cognitive business is an increasingly smarter, data-driven business.