This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, looks at the outlook for business leaders in 2020 and where they are spending their tech dollars. Companies that fail to scale innovation may lose up to $20 billion in revenue over the next five years as enterprises thrive or dive based on information technology decisions, according to Accenture. Accenture's report was based on a survey of more than 8,300 companies across 20 industries and 22 countries. Accenture scored companies on technology adoption, depth of technology adoption and cultural readiness. From there, Accenture segmented companies into leaders, defined as the top 10%, and laggards, which represent the bottom 25%.

Artificial intelligence can boost corporate profits by 38 percent by 2035, according to an Accenture report that gauges AI's economic impact across various industries. The report noted that AI could boost gross value added across 16 industries in 12 economies by about $14 trillion. Accenture's research team developed the report with Frontier Economics. When AI is integrated into the economy, growth rates can grow about 1.7 percent higher than the baseline. By industry, information and communication will get an AI growth rate boost of 4.8 percent by 2035, followed by manufacturing at 4.4 percent and financial services at 4.3 percent.

Seattle-based startup Mighty AI, recently rebranded from Spare5, has raised $14 million in a Series A1 round led by Intel Capital, with participation from new investors Google Ventures (GV) and Accenture Ventures. Existing investors Foundry Group, Madrona Venture Group, and New Enterprise Associates also contributed to the round. Founded in 2014, Mighty AI pays subject matter experts to fine-tune artificial intelligence (AI) engines so they can see, hear, talk, and "think" like humans. Businesses that are looking to use AI technology, but don't have the datasets required to set up effective AI software, are able to acquire the right datasets to train and scale their computer vision and natural language models. "In the future, we will count on AI to make every aspect of our lives better," said Mighty AI founder and CEO Matt Bencke.