As industries across the world focus on innovation in all facets of their operations today, we inhabit an era of two progressive technologies leading a revolution. These, undoubtedly, are AI & Blockchain. The onset of artificial intelligence, which mimics human intelligence to complete complex tasks, has now seeped into how we function in our daily lives. With the ever so increased rush towards digitization – more and more applications are relying on the use of AI. In 2009, when Bitcoins were launched, Blockchain moved from being a theoretical concept to a real-world use case.

Artificial intelligence has been existed for more than half a century, and its commitment to reach highest results grows exponentially. Demand for AI is at its peak, so more and more companies from different industries are increasingly looking to AI to optimize processes in both management and finance. However, there is a term "weak" AI. A weak AI is designed to solve specific problems or limited number of actions. A great example of such an engine is the voice assistant "Alexa".

Organizations are increasingly looking to adopt blockchain technologies for alternative data storage. And with heaps of data distributed across blockchain ledgers, the need for data analytics with AI is growing. The combination of AI and blockchain is fueling the onset of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" by reinventing economics and information exchange. From healthcare to government, the potent combination of both AI and blockchain is slowly but surely transforming industries. Google DeepMind is developing an "auditing system for healthcare data".

I invest in early-stage technology startups, mostly at the Series A level, anywhere in the US and in Europe. I feel incredibly privileged to get to partner with outstanding entrepreneurs, and I work hard to help them succeed. I also believe in the power of community and try to do my bit to help inspire and connect people. I run two large and fast-growing monthly events: * Data Driven NYC: a 11,000 member group focused on Big Data and artificial intelligence * Hardwired NYC: a 4,500 member group focused on frontier tech and emerging computing platforms (Internet of Things, AR, VR, drones, 3D printing, robotics, etc.). I invest in early-stage technology startups, mostly at the Series A level, anywhere in the US and in Europe.

Verv, the Google-mentored energy tech startup behind the smart energy hub and green electricity sharing platform, recently announced that it has raised over £6.5 million (€7.5 million) in its Series A round led by environmental fund Earthworm. Earthworm has invested £5 million in Verv's pioneering IoT and renewable energy trading technology that could drive down household electricity bills and carbon emissions by over 20%. Other investors in the round include European innovation engine for sustainable energy, InnoEnergy, Crowdcube and international energy and services company, Centrica. Earthworm's investment is an important backing of Verv's vision to make millions of homes more green with a global network of smart hubs that offer a real-time breakdown of key appliance use and spend, as well as enable the trading of domestic renewable energy between communities. At Earthworm we are driven by sustainability and Verv represents a brilliant example of'enabling' technology.

Today I read about HTC's Exodus 1, new Blockchain smartphone that only people with crypto-currency can buy. SCMP described in very simple terms what this phone is for: Both HTC's Exodus and Sirin's Finney smartphones feature a built-in digital wallet application that will enable users to securely store and use cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, in daily transactions. Those smartphones are designed to replace the special memory sticks, which employ complex usernames and passwords to access, that cryptocurrency investors use to store their digital money. These investors typically store most of their cryptocurrencies in such hardware, which are kept offline as a means of security. "There are things that a phone manufacturer can do with a chip that nobody else can," said Chen. "We want to be safer than the existing hardware wallets … HTC has a track record of making trusted hardware."

Integrating Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a long, ongoing process that carries huge potential and the ability to disrupt many of the current, existing industries -- Some of the industries that are seeing success with this convergence of these technologies are medicine, semiconductors, and hospitality. And why is this integration and adoption crucial for corporations around the world? By definition, Blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, distributed public ledger (DLT) that maintains and records data in a way that enables multiple entities to move and share information permanently and securely. AI is the theory and development of building machines capable of performing specific and technical duties. Most well-known AI examples rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing.

At the kind invitation of Rob May and the Botchain team, I had the opportunity recently to keynote Brains and Chains, an interesting conference in New York exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and blockchain. This is both an exciting and challenging topic, and the goal of my talk was to provide a broad introduction to kick things off, and frame the discussion for the rest of the day: discuss why the topic matters in the first place, and highlight the work of some interesting companies in the space. Below is the presentation, with some added commentary when relevant. Scroll to the very bottom for a SlideShare widget, if you'd like to flip through the slides. My firm FirstMark has been active in both AI and crypto/blockchain.

At the kind invitation of Rob May and the Botchain team, I had the opportunity recently to keynote Brains and Chains, an interesting conference in New York exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and blockchain. This is both an exciting and challenging topic, and the goal of my talk was to provide a broad introduction to kick things off, and frame the discussion for the rest of the day: discuss why the topic matters in the first place, and highlight the work of some interesting companies in the space. Below is the presentation, with some added commentary when relevant. Scroll to the very bottom for a SlideShare widget, if you'd like to flip through the slides. My firm FirstMark has been active in both AI and crypto/blockchain. AI (machine learning) and blockchain are both experimental and much buzzed about.

Given the state of existing systems, CRE management teams struggle to make educated decisions quickly. They lack real-time analytics on their performance, industry benchmarks, valuation and cash flow analysis, investment and debt management. We have already seen that a lot of sensitive information (such as lease rates, sales comparables, rental values, etc.) is kept secret by CRE brokerages. This makes it more difficult to compile reliable forecasts and budgets and to project future market trends. Additionally, data analysis is predominantly time-consuming and manual.