Can deep learning help improve my bottom line?

In a meeting with a CIO and her team recently, I mentioned the term "deep learning" in the context of some big data and machine learning initiatives the CIO had asked me to investigate. This particular CIO is fairly savvy when it comes to big data, machine learning, and data analysis, but she stopped me mid-sentence to ask me to explain what I meant when I used the term "deep learning." We spent the next one-and-a-half hours walking through the basics of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and how this organization could incorporate these great approaches into their business. With the growth of big data and data science, I come across a lot of questions and discussions about machine learning, but I rarely come across discussions about deep learning and the value it can bring to an organization. First, it's important to understand the basis for deep learning.