Fewer technologies are hotter than artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which mimic the behavior of the human mind to help companies improve business operations. Even Uber, weathering several legal challenges, has made time to reveal Michelangelo, an internal ML-as-a-service platform, that "democratizes machine learning and makes scaling AI to meet the needs of business as easy as requesting a ride." For the past several months, he has been using Salesforce.com's Einstein AI/ML technology to increase personalization across the bank's small business, wholesale, commercial wealth and commercial banking units. Key advice: Using ML to identify patterns is the key to creating self-healing capabilities.

Current AI applications can be broken down into three loose categories: Transformative AI, DIY (Do It Yourself) AI, and Faux AI. Transformative AI turns data into insights and insights into instructions. While there is indeed a finite set of actions involved in driving, the data set the AI must process shifts every single time the passenger gets into the car based on road conditions, destination, route, oncoming and surrounding traffic, street lanes, street closures, proximity to neighboring vehicles, a pedestrian stepping out in front of the car, and so on. DIY AI is any artificial intelligence platform whose end goal is to make you, the user, more informed so that you can then do the remaining work yourself.

He invites this version of Einstein, called Einstein Guidance, to his Monday morning staff meetings, where up to 30 top executives update him on their progress. Einstein Guidance is designed to do forecasting and modeling. And we then have a piece of Einstein now that we've not yet rolled out to our customers, called Einstein Guidance. Most CEOs likely will one day have a so-called AI executive listening in on meetings and keeping everyone honest with the data.

All of this is made possible by artificial intelligence (AI)–complex and highly technical solutions such as natural language processing, deep learning and machine learning that when applied to everyday actions in our personal lives make us smarter and more productive. But in keeping with Albert Einstein's dictum that the definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple, Salesforce Einstein is removing the complexity of AI, enabling any company to deliver smarter, personalized and more predictive customer experiences. Salesforce Einstein is a set of best-in-class platform services that bring advanced AI capabilities into the core of the Customer Success Platform, making Salesforce the world's smartest CRM. Powered by advanced machine learning, deep learning, predictive analytics, natural language processing and smart data discovery, Einstein's models will be automatically customized for every single customer, and it will learn, self-tune, and get smarter with every interaction and additional piece of data.