Artificial intelligence and machine learning are two of the key tools for the digital transformation of many businesses. From Amazon Alexa to autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence is progressing at a very fast rate. However, there remain many technological limitations in terms of what machine intelligence technology can deliver in the short-term. The company Conversica is a leader in conversational artificial intelligence for business, and Conversica Chief Scientist Dr. Sid J. Reddy has shared with Digital Journal readers four things are unlikely to happen with artificial intelligence during 2018. Dr. Reddy refers to these as "unpredictions", turning the common approach for analyst's to make predictions on its head.

John Schwarz, co-founder and CEO of Visier, is responsible for the company's overall strategy, culture and organization development. In an earlier interview, Schwarz explained the risks of corporate toxicity in the digital age, what companies can do to address this and the services that his company can offer. In a follow-up interview John Schwarz focuses on the most interesting technological developments for business. Digital Journal: In the previous interview you explained how Visier Workforce Intelligence is a cloud-based business analytics solution that lets large enterprises analyse and plan their workforce. What other services does Viser offer?

There are several drivers for the growth of artificial intelligence in the travel sector; these range from cost saving for travel agents to a preference by millennials to work with artificial intelligence and chatbots. As to what artificial intelligence can deliver, this ranges from answering questions about amenities, services and local attractions through to managing the booking process. To gain a clear insight into how artificial intelligence is being applied and what future disruption has in store, Digital Journal caught up with Anil Kaul, CEO of Absolutdata (a consulting-oriented Analytics & Research firm based out of San Francisco, California). Digital Journal: What are the major trends in the travel sector? Anil Kaul: There are many.

One company pioneering technological innovations in travel is KAYAK, and the company is taking a self-declared bullish approach to using artificial intelligence to forward the next phase of travel planning. For example, KAYAK recently was the first in the travel industry to launch of a hands-free booking capabilities on Alexa for hotels. KAYAK assistants currently are also found on platforms like Facebook Messenger, Microsoft Teams, Apple TV, Google Home, and Slack. To understand how travel bookings and planning are changing, Digital Journal caught up with Matthias Keller, the Chief Scientist at KAYAK. Digital Journal: What are the main challenges facing the travel sector in terms of AI? Matthias Keller: One challenge we're facing is that voice transactions are brand new and people are not yet used to spending money on these platforms.

Rajeev Behera, CEO of Reflektive sees artificial intelligence as catalyzing the adoption of machine intelligence in recruiting. This is by helping to match people to more accurate job opportunities. To understand how this type of technology can assist recruiters spot and take on the best talent, Digital Journal interviewed Behera. AI and machine learning enables employees at all levels and across industries to focus on higher-value work, to grow new skills, and make better decisions based on greater access to and use of data-driven insights and tools. Similar to prior periods of innovation including the past two decades of computing, software and the internet – new industries and technologies will emerge and continue to stimulate job growth.

This is in order to give personalized probability of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) success. A secondary aim is to bring more transparency to the success and cost of IVF. Moreover, by using Univfy patients can learn about the costs of IVF treatment and their probability of success after one, two or three IVF cycles. The platform, therefore, also helps couples to make better financial decisions. To discover more about this combination of artificial intelligence and predictive technology, we spoke with the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mylene Yao.

Employment Foresight has a number of uses for human resources and legal teams in businesses. The software uses machine learning to identify hidden patterns in judicial rulings, enabling users to navigate difficult areas of employment law and reach more informed decisions around issues such as reasonable notice, employee drug testing, worker classification and exemptions to overtime. The platform collects and analyzes the facts and findings from thousands of previous employment cases, and uses the information to predict how a court might rule in new circumstances. This achieved through statistical methods based on machine learning, focusing in the identification of relationships between different factors like the industrial sector; length of employment; and employee's position. This is to gain an insight into the industrial relations process.

Jones was the founder of Travelocity.com This has helped to place Jones as a powerful voice in the world of entrepreneurship and matters relating to travel and transport. As CEO of Travelocity for seven years, Jones helped transform it into a public company with three billion dollars in travel sales. He left Travelocity to help found Kayak.com, a company that altered the way travel was purchased. Today Jones is the chairman of Wayblazer and managing principal of ON Inc, a consultancy he founded to help companies in their transition to the digital economy.