At Inbound 2016, HubSpot's co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah entertained 19,000 attendees with their take on the past and future of marketing. Here's what I learned from their keynote presentation and a brief interview. So predicts Halligan, adding "in five years, you will do a lot less navigating through apps and more just asking questions and chatting back and forth with bots… the next thing you know, we like it and it's easier and more efficient than waiting for the sales rep to call you back." Shah notes that businesses started building websites in the 1990s so they can answer customer questions 24/7. "Soon," he says, "they will start building bots. They won't replace the websites, but they will power them. The shortest time between a customer question and the answer will be a bot. It's not human vs. bot, it's human to the bot powered."

In Pressed Data, my Forbes.com In 2016, I covered artificial intelligence--the 60-year-old new new thing, big data--the most recent hottest trend and a catalyst for the new-found popularity of the new one, the fading away of former tech leaders, a number of startups, and a number of influential business and tech innovators. When Artificial Intelligence Started To'Change The World' A review of ENIAC in Action: Making and Remaking the Modern Computer, "a nuanced, engaging and thoroughly researched account of the early days of computers, the people who built and operated them, and their old and new applications," contrasting it with "history as hype, offering a distorted view of the past, sometimes through the tinted lenses of contemporary fads and preoccupations." Hype is on full display in "The Human Face of Big Data" of which I wrote: "…in our technology-obsessed world, new technologies and new technology applications tend sometimes to become buzzwords that are hyped, celebrated and often discussed irresponsibly by technology vendors and the media. Unfortunately, 'The Human Face of Big Data' by and large falls into this trap, the fascination (self-delusion?) with the idea of we are living a momentous time in history thanks to technology."

Nintendo Reports Second Quarter Losses But 3DS Sales Are Up Thanks To'Pokmon GO' At Inbound 2016, HubSpot's co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah entertained 19,000 attendees with their take on the past and future of marketing. Here's what I learned from their keynote presentation and a brief interview. So predicts Halligan, adding "in five years, you will do a lot less navigating through apps and more just asking questions and chatting back and forth with bots… the next thing you know, we like it and it's easier and more efficient than waiting for the sales rep to call you back." Shah notes that businesses started building websites in the 1990s so they can answer customer questions 24/7. "Soon," he says, "they will start building bots. They won't replace the websites, but they will power them. The shortest time between a customer question and the answer will be a bot. It's not human vs. bot, it's human to the bot powered."

At Inbound 2016, HubSpot's co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah entertained 19,000 attendees with their take on the past and future of marketing. Here's what I learned from their keynote presentation and a brief interview. So predicts Halligan, adding "in five years, you will do a lot less navigating through apps and more just asking questions and chatting back and forth with bots… the next thing you know, we like it and it's easier and more efficient than waiting for the sales rep to call you back." Shah notes that businesses started building websites in the 1990s so they can answer customer questions 24/7. "Soon," he says, "they will start building bots. They won't replace the websites, but they will power them. The shortest time between a customer question and the answer will be a bot. It's not human vs. bot, it's human to the bot powered."

At Inbound 2016, HubSpot's co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah entertained 19,000 attendees with their take on the past and future of marketing. Here's what I learned from their keynote presentation and a brief interview. So predicts Halligan, adding "in five years, you will do a lot less navigating through apps and more just asking questions and chatting back and forth with bots… the next thing you know, we like it and it's easier and more efficient than waiting for the sales rep to call you back." Shah notes that businesses started building websites in the 1990s so they can answer customer questions 24/7. "Soon," he says, "they will start building bots. They won't replace the websites, but they will power them. The shortest time between a customer question and the answer will be a bot. It's not human vs. bot, it's human to the bot powered."