We believe in using space to help life on Earth. Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one. Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world's toughest obstacles.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new concept. The term was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, who defined it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines." Since then, AI has made tremendous advances, and we're still seeing even more growth today. Fortune Business Insights projects the global AI market will grow from $387 billion in 2022 to $1.4 billion by 2029. The movie iRobot was set in 2035 and told the story of a future where highly intelligent robots fill public service positions. Unfortunately, the robots in this movie turned out to be a more significant threat to humanity than expected.

Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning are expressing incredible potential in various application fields; however, very few companies engaged in a 4.0 transition path can successfully implement these technologies in business processes. What needs to be done to make such applications profitable? Artificial Intelligence represents a set of studies and techniques, typical of information technology but with significant philosophical and social implications, which has as its purpose the realization of programs and technological systems capable of solving problems and carrying out tasks normally attributable to the mind and human capabilities. Given recent progress, it is possible to identify Artificial Intelligence as the discipline that deals with creating machines (hardware and software) capable of operating autonomously. The growing attention created in this discipline is motivated by the results that can be achieved thanks to the technological maturity achieved, both in the computational calculation and in the ability to analyze in real-time and in a short time of huge amounts of data in any form [Big Data Analytics].

Organizations are looking deeper into data to gain a competitive advantage, implementing machine learning and artificial intelligence to achieve new business objectives and to move ahead of competitors in the industry. The adoption of AI and machine learning is critically impaired by the necessity of high-quality data. Changes must be made organization wide to identify and reduce pouches of bad data and create mechanisms that allow the organization to adapt quickly to the data needs and embrace the full potential of these technologies. From starting to being able to deliver a successful AI strategy goes a distance. The capability to build a secure, centralized, and scalable data repository, being able to combine large volumes of disparate data from multiples data sources, is the first challenge to overcome.

With Artificial Intelligence playing a central role in the era of digital transformation, sharing information and knowledge about the advancements and the opportunities brought by AI is becoming crucial. The influencers presented in this list are actively sharing information and knowledge about AI and disruptive technologies. They are the co-founders of AI ventures, machine learning professors, data scientists, and tech and digital transformation leaders. We want to thank the influencers who took part as evaluation committee members in the TOP 25 Initiative 2018, including Spiros Margaris, Alvin Foo, and Vinod Sharma, and we can officially announce that applications are open to join the evaluation committee of the TOP 25 Initiative 2019. My new book #ArchitectsofIntelligence reveals the truth about #AI from the people building it.

We are very excited to be hosting the world renown Tamara McCleary, international technology futurist, emerging technology guru, sci-fi writer, marketing digital strategy consultant and Thulium CEO. Tamara is ranked in the Worlds Top 5 in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Internet of Things (IoT), the WorldsTop 15 Machine to Machine (M2M), the Worlds Top 50 Blockchain, Digital Transformation and Big Data. Tamara is rank in the Top 1% of Global Social Media Influencers (Klear) and listed as one of the Top 50 Social Influencers of 2015, 2016, 2017 (Onalytica). Tamara was named Number 1 Most Influential Woman in MarTech (B2B Marketing) and ranked the 2nd most mentioned person on Twitter by Chief Marketing Officers (LeadTail). Tamara is an IBM Futurist and creator of the trademarked RelationShift method.

The Digiday AI Marketing Summit is coming up in April and will cover how brands can understand and use AI and machine learning in their marketing. If you're a brand marketer figuring out how to use AI for customer service, content creation, internal data organization and more, apply for a complimentary pass here. Cars aren't the only thing Volkswagen wants to automate. Artificial intelligence is managing the brand's media buys in Germany and proving to be more effective than its media agency. Whenever Volkswagen uses the recommendations from Blackwood Seven, a Danish media agency that uses AI and predictive analytics to forecast ad spend decisions, it sells more cars than it would have if it had gone with its media agency's recommendation, according to Lutz Kothe, the head of marketing for Volkswagen's passenger cars in Germany.

Two decades ago, Artificial Intelligence was a major topic in the world of Sci-Fi. Primarily driven by big blockbusters, such as The Terminator and The Matrix, the idea of computational power becoming sufficient enough to simulate the human brain has been around since the 1940s. Yet, philosophers have theorized the possibility of how the human mind can be explained through mathematics and symbols much earlier. Nevertheless, in 2018, our societal definition of the term has been tweaked. Based on its prevailing significance today in the online tools we use constantly, making the assumption that AI will change social media marketing with a swing is not too far off.

In the past few years, machine learning (ML) has revolutionized the way we do business. A disruptive breakthrough that differentiates machine learning from other approaches to automation is a step away from the rules-based programming. ML algorithms allowed engineers to leverage data without explicitly programming machines to follow specific paths of problem-solving. Instead, machines themselves arrive at the right answers based on the data they have. This capability made business executives reconsider the ways they use data to make decisions.

Earlier this year, we ran an article explaining why machine learning is much bigger than Google and RankBrain. The technology isn't just making our search engines and devices more intelligent; it's transforming the way we approach and manage our marketing campaigns. The machine learning revolution has already begun and things are going to get a lot more exciting over the next few years. So, to give you a taste of what's to come, here are five ways machine learning will transform your marketing workflow. As things stand, most marketers are swimming in more data than they can handle.