When it comes to digital transformation, humans--believe it or not--play an integral role. In fact, companies that make strong use of the combined human/machine workforce have a far greater chance of success in digital transformation. Accenture calls these combined people/bot workspaces "future systems" – systems that seamlessly integrate humans and robots to create business goals that are limitless, agile, and "radically human." I consider the companies that harness the power of humans and machines will be the ultimate winners of the future of work. The good news: these systems are already happening.

Dell Technologies predicts the key IT trends for 2018. Driven by technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality and the Internet of Things, the deepening of cooperation between man and machine will drive positively the digitization of companies. In the next few years, companies will increasingly use the opportunity to let artificial intelligence (AI) think for themselves. In the AI systems, they set the parameters for classifying desired business outcomes, define the rules for their business activities, and set the framework for what constitutes an appropriate reward for their actions. Once these sets of rules are in place, the AI systems powered by data can show new business opportunities in near real time.

Our research partners at The Institute for the Future recently forecasted that we're entering the next era of human machine partnership, and that between now and 2030 humans and machines will work in closer concert with each other, transforming our lives. We've worked with machines for centuries, but we're about to enter an entirely new phase – characterized by even greater efficiency, unity and possibility than ever before. Emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing - made possible through exponential developments in software, analytics, and processing power - are augmenting and accelerating this direction. This is evident in our connected cars, homes, business and banking transactions already; even transforming how farmers manage their crops and cattle. Given this dizzying pace of progress, let's take a look at what's coming down the pike next.

Humans have worked with machines for centuries, but the future holds an entirely new phase of human machine partnership characterized by even greater efficiency, unity and possibility than ever before. According to the Institute for the Future (IFTF), we are entering the next era of human machine partnership, Between now and 2030, humans and machines will work in closer concert with each other, thereby transforming our lives. This is evident in our connected cars, homes, business and banking transactions already; even transforming how farmers manage their crops and cattle. Given this great pace of progress, let's take a look at what's coming next in the near future. Prediction 1: We'll journey toward the "mega-cloud" One thing that I would want organisations to realise is that cloud is not a destination, it's an IT model where orchestration, automation and intelligence are embedded deeply into IT Infrastructure.

Our research partners at The Institute for the Future (IFTF) recently forecasted that we're entering the next era of human machine partnership, and that between now and 2030 humans and machines will work in closer concert with each other, transforming our lives. We've worked with machines for centuries, but we're about to enter an entirely new phase – characterized by even greater efficiency, unity and possibility than ever before. Emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing – made possible through exponential developments in software, analytics, and processing power – are augmenting and accelerating this direction. This is evident in our connected cars, homes, business and banking transactions already; even transforming how farmers manage their crops and cattle. Given this dizzying pace of progress, let's take a look at what's coming down the pike next.

Turing test or no Turing test, Intelligent Virtual Assistants are here to stay. As more and more of our daily interactions are between people and artificial intelligence systems, the demands for meaningful and effective interactions is increasing. Expectations from users of intelligent agents need to be the source of great attention, with the appropriate planning, modeling and measurement in place to guarantee the desired performance and results. Join us as we explore the topic of "Training the Robots" where our experts will discuss the elements needed to build virtual assistant capabilities including identification of target processes for automation/AI enhancement, capturing and organizing process knowledge, and contextualizing virtual assistant /human interactions.