Companies have gotten the message that artificial intelligence should be implemented in a manner that is fair and ethical. In fact, a recent study from Deloitte indicates that a majority of companies have actually slowed down their AI implementations to make sure these requirements are met. But the next step is the most difficult one: actually implementing AI in a fair and ethical way. A Deloitte study from late 2019 and early 2020 found that 95% of executives surveyed said they were concerned about ethical risk in AI adoption. While machine learning brings the possibility to improve the quantity and quality of decision-making based on data, it also brings the potential for companies to damage their brand and reduce the trust that customers have placed in it if AI is implemented poorly.

Robotic process automation startup UiPath today announced it has closed a $225 million funding round, bringing its total raised to over $1.2 billion. While the new round is roughly half the $568 million UiPath raised last April, it catapults the New York-based company's post-money valuation to $10.2 billion, up from $7 billion in 2019 and $3 billion in 2018. CEO Daniel Dines says the funding will be used to scale UiPath's platform and deepen its investments in "AI-powered innovation" as it expands its cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. The round will also likely lay the groundwork for future strategic deals, following UiPath's acquisition of startups StepShot and ProcessGold last October. RPA -- technology that automates monotonous, repetitive chores traditionally performed by human workers -- is big business.

A business that leverages virtual process analysis to accelerate digital transformation through imitation learning is one of three startups to win ISG Startup Challenges at events hosted this fall by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm. FortressIQ, the San Francisco-based startup that uses AI-based computer vision to "learn" business tasks as they occur in real time, won the ISG Startup Challenge at the inaugural ISG Agile Enterprise Summit October 28 in Boston. Beth Bourg, FortressIQ's marketing director, delivered the winning pitch to an independent panel of judges, and was chosen the winner in a live audience poll. "The first-ever ISG Agile Enterprise Summit explored the benefits of becoming an agile organization and building a culture of continuous improvement," said Karen Healy, partner and global leader, ISG Events. "We were thrilled to hear compelling pitches on emerging solutions that increase efficiency and agility in new and exciting ways. The audience choice, FortressIQ, offers an innovative, automated solution to discover and document processes that are ripe for automation, saving both time and money."

Pankaj passionately believes in AI's ability to improve the human experience, and looks forward to a world bereft of mundane tasks, where people get to focus on being their best selves. Before founding FortressIQ, he was the CEO of ThirdPillar systems, where he designed and delivered lending platforms for commercial banks, processing billions of dollars in transactions. ThirdPillar was acquired by Genpact, the world's largest BPO company, where Pankaj went on to hold several senior management positions, culminating as a founding member of the company's AI lab in Palo Alto, California. Follow him on twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn or send him an email.