HRjobs: Asia's only regional recruitment website 100% dedicated to HR jobs. Just this weekend, automotive company Ford made headlines for investing US$1 billion during the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company. Artifical intelligence, safe to say, is taking over all facets of marketing today – from streamlining process, injecting creativity, decoding the consumer behaviour and of course, decoding data. While just a few years ago, data scientists were deemed to be the coolest kids on the block, today it seems they too are fast being replaced. Today, there are still amongst us, brands which have expended great lengths to gather data, who do not yet know what the next step is.

Employing IBM IBM 0.26 % 's artificial intelligence technology has become a popular move for brands seeking to make better use of data in their marketing efforts. Havas HAV 0.33 % Group this week is officially unveiling Havas Cognitive, a new practice in partnership with IBM Watson, to help clients develop tailored marketing campaigns and products. Separately, startup Equals 3 on Wednesday is launching a new software product dubbed Lucy that utilizes Watson's cognitive computing capabilities to make the media planning process more efficient for marketers and agencies. That follows earlier announcements by Turner Broadcasting, which earlier this year signed a deal to incorporate Watson into its ad sales efforts, and Kia Motors, 000270 -0.11 % which used Watson to select social media influencers for its Super Bowl ad campaign. Watson, which gained fame after beating top human competitors on "Jeopardy" five years ago, analyzes troves of data to uncover patterns that humans might miss.

Consider all the information about your likes, dislikes, wants, needs, and behavior that are out in the world. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, apps, games, or any other digital interaction, it amounts to a giant pile of data just about you. So, in this world of big data and targeted advertising, why do you still see diaper ads when you don't have a baby? It's a silly example, sure, but the point is, as much as brands know about us, there are still far too many irrelevant marketing messages poisoning our eyeballs. But a new partnership between IBM and Havas Group aims to change that.