What's Next: Artificial Intelligence & Cognition in the Experience

"Don't you know who I am?" Yes, your Uber driver or AirBnB host may see your star rating and past reviews, but how they combine that data with the context of their current experience with you may vary. According to the 2015 Gartner Hype Cycle, machine learning, internet of things, natural language processing and hybrid cloud computing should have all matured past the "peak of inflated expectations" at roughly the same time. The 2016 Gartner Hype Cycle shows this trend continuing (plus drones). This confluence seems to be driving the emergence of cognitive systems, which thrive on context and help businesses recognize customers and solve for their unique needs at scale. Without the aid of machine learning, the process of providing context needed for humans to leverage data in a personalized way does not scale.