The thing I like the most is when I don't even know that I'm interacting with intelligent technologies because the people providing them have done such a great job of making them a natural part of my work flow. Whether it's voice recognition, advanced image analysis, sentiment analysis, or document processing, I love having it baked in to the products and applications that I use every day. It can be as simple as a conversation with Alexa to understand the weather and traffic for the day, or getting recommendations for articles I should be reading or presentations I should be watching. It can be as sophisticated as gaining insights into how I can better manage my team by analyzing how they're thinking and feeling through the employee engagement platform which we use. Either way, I'm looking for the little ways to be more efficient and effective. It's changed in so many weird and wonderful ways, some of which seemed obvious to me on my own journey, and some that took me completely by surprise.

Bullhorn, the cloud computing company that helps staffing and recruiting organizations transform their businesses, found that 84 percent of global recruitment firms feel the need to embrace digital transformation -- defined as the integration of technology into all areas of their business for the purposes of improving operations and the way they deliver value to customers -- to remain competitive. According to Bullhorn's 2019 Global Recruitment Insights and Data research, 55 percent of respondents believe that artificial intelligence -- one aspect of the digital transformation journey -- will have a positive impact on candidate and customer engagement. While firms see digital transformation as an opportunity, they also acknowledge it as a challenge. Forty-nine percent of them rank embracing digital transformation to improve operations as their top operational hurdle, ahead of pricing pressure and margin compression (44 percent) and increased competition from freelance and gig platforms (27 percent). Bullhorn's Global Recruitment Insights and Data research also illuminates overall optimism for 2019, despite persistent concerns and challenges related to tight talent pools, candidate-driven market and economic conditions, and macroeconomics and politics.

Accenture has announced plans to launch a new Applied Intelligence Studio for Mining in Johannesburg. The studio will apply the latest in data science and artificial intelligence technologies with new data sources for real-time co-creation of innovative digital solutions that can help mining companies solve some of their hardest analytical problems. It is expected to open in February 2019. "They are increasingly looking to apply advanced analytics to reimagine processes, unlock trapped value, and drive operational excellence in their businesses today and position themselves for growth tomorrow." "Volatile commodity prices, rising input costs and changing global demand for commodities require mining companies to rethink their strategies and business models to remain competitive," said Rachael Bartels, a senior managing director who leads Accenture's mining business globally.