In the rapidly changing world of technology it's hard to make predictions. Here's a prediction that's likely to come true: Machine learning is poised to transform businesses, industries, and yes, the entire economy. Mobile devices are disrupting your customers' IT strategies, leading to lots of problems that need solving. Find out where the best opportunities lie and get advice from experts on how to approach the market, including what not to do. You forgot to provide an Email Address.

In the rapidly changing world of technology it's hard to make predictions. Here's a prediction that's likely to come true: Machine learning is poised to transform businesses, industries, and yes, the entire economy. Mobile devices are disrupting your customers' IT strategies, leading to lots of problems that need solving. Find out where the best opportunities lie and get advice from experts on how to approach the market, including what not to do. You forgot to provide an Email Address.

A recent Accenture survey found that 85% of business executives plan to invest heavily in AI-related technologies over the next three years. Most investments, according to the report, will be in major business processes, underpinning a company's finance and accounting, marketing, procurement, and customer relations activities. Ruchir Puri, an IBM fellow and chief architect of IBM Watson, certainly thinks so. "There are many opportunities for AI across front, middle, and back office process, throughout lines of business and within various verticals," Puri noted. "AI capabilities, such as conversation, vision and language technologies, can be used to solve a range of practical enterprise problems, boost productivity and foster new discoveries across any area it is applied to."

A recent Accenture survey found that 85% of business executives plan to invest heavily in AI-related technologies over the next three years. Most investments, according to the report, will be in major business processes, underpinning a company's finance and accounting, marketing, procurement, and customer relations activities. Ruchir Puri, an IBM fellow and chief architect of IBM Watson, certainly thinks so. "There are many opportunities for AI across front, middle, and back office process, throughout lines of business and within various verticals," Puri noted. "AI capabilities, such as conversation, vision and language technologies, can be used to solve a range of practical enterprise problems, boost productivity and foster new discoveries across any area it is applied to."

Artificial intelligence has already affected the marketing industry in significant ways, but marketers themselves will tell you that what we've seen so far is just the beginning. "We're still at the dawn of AI adoption," said Jean-Luc Chatelain, chief technology officer at Accenture Analytics. "Brands have yet to fully understand all the ways in which AI will change the marketing game. The practical applications we already see today in precision targeting, dynamic ad creation [and] marketing automation … are just the tip of the iceberg." According to new research from Accenture Interactive, a majority of marketers in the retail sector are using AI-driven personalization to drive growth across channels.