The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) launches tomorrow, January 5th, the first time the world's largest technology exhibition has been properly running for two years. If you're not 100% sure CES is, it's a global tech trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), held every year (apart from when Covid messes it up) in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's widely considered one of, if not the, influential technology trade show in the world. The show attracts companies and professionals from around the globe, showcasing the latest and greatest in consumer electronics, including smartphones, laptops, TVs, home appliances, and much more. CES also features keynote speeches, panel discussions, and other events, giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the latest trends and innovations in the technology industry.

AI is having an impact in business, government and healthcare. But nowhere is it having more impact than for the biggest companies with the most resources. Advantages big companies have include access to lots of data and funds to buy smaller companies with the expertise to do something innovative and profitable with the data. Each company has had to decide on the best way to leverage AI for their business. "The question is how do you use AI right or use it wisely," stated Ed McLaughlin, Chief Emerging Payments Officer for Mastercard, at the recent EmTech Digital event on AI and big data, as reported in MIT Sloan Review.

If you are reading this article, then you are probably already convinced that AI can have a significant impact on your business's bottom line. It's not a question of'Should I implement AI?', but rather'How can I use AI to stay ahead of others?' You are not alone in your quest. AI is one of the technologies companies like yours are using as a tool to gain a competitive advantage. According to Deloitte, 71% of businesses are planning to increase their investment in AI. It's no wonder, as AI is becoming more accessible for everyone.

At a time when companies are increasingly embracing technologies such as robotic process automation, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence, and as companies' automation efforts mature, findings from our second McKinsey Global Survey on the topic show that the imperatives for automation success are shifting. The online survey was in the field from February 4 to February 14, 2020, and garnered responses from 1,179 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent's nation to global GDP. Two years ago our survey found that making business-process automation a strategic priority was conducive to success beyond the piloting stage. 2 2. We define business-process automation as the use of general-purpose technologies (for example, bots and algorithms) to perform work that was previously done manually, in order to improve the functionality of a company's underlying systems. In the survey, automation did not include the use of automation that was custom built (for example, Excel macros and custom scripts) for organizations.

Bindu Reddy wants to give more people access to artificial intelligence. The former Amazon Web Services and Google engineer, wants small and medium sized companies to be able to use AI in the same way that large companies do, and make sure big tech companies aren't dominating the sector. Reddy previously started the AI verticals division at AWS, creating AI for particular domains or use-cases. Earlier in her career she was the Head of Product for Google social apps, where she helped build Google, Blogger Google Video, Google Docs and Google Sites. She said during her time at Google and Amazon Web Services she noticed that big companies had a gap between the research being done in AI and the products being developed.

As I noted last week, I'l be talking at CBIA's Employment Law Conference on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence & Analytics for HR: Recruiting, Retention & Engagement" next month. Joining me on the panel is Doug Smith, the SVP Client Delivery at Tallan, which has offices in the Greater Hartford area. I thought it might be enlightening to ask Doug a few questions about AI and Analytics in the Workplace before our talk. He was gracious enough to humor me with answers to my questions. Is there really a place for data analytics in HR?

Would you trust an Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tell you how to become more effective and successful at your job? How would you feel if you knew your HR department uses AI to determine whether you are leadership material? Or that an AI just suggested to your boss that she should treat you better or else you might soon quit and join a competitor--well before the thought of jumping ship entered your mind? Meet Yva, introduced by her creator David Yang in this fascinating podcast discussion. David Yang is an impressive serial entrepreneur: he has launched twelve companies, beginning when he was in fourth grade.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is thrown into conversations about the future of business tech with increasing frequency. Many enterprises now have programmers beavering away on bespoke algorithms to automate tasks or services, which they hope will give them a competitive advantage. These algorithms are trained on vast data sets and eventually learn how to correctly identify common patterns without human intervention. They take time to design, and they don't come cheap. But that doesn't mean AI is purely for the big beasts of the business world.

Robot lenders are increasingly seen as the future of finance, especially when it comes to loans for smaller companies. Automated algorithmic systems can make credit decisions in an instant, and should be much less hassle for the borrower. But a key question about their widespread adoption is whether small businesses owners used to talking about money matters face-to-face with bankers will trust the digital replacement. Take Royal Bank of Scotland, for example. The company's NatWest unit is rolling out a service for working capital loans for smaller companies, ranging between £25,000 ($31,200) to £300,000.

Rapid technological advances have created opportunities for smaller companies to serve customers around the world and effectively compete with larger companies for new customers. These smaller companies are rapidly going global, deploying a variety of technology-enabled solutions such as automated call centers, customer service bots, and digital marketing intelligence. But these advances, designed to facilitate customer interaction and service in new ways, can present a danger. Companies that embrace the various forms of new customer-focused technology risk losing a personal connection with their customers and a nuanced understanding of their needs. When it comes to understanding how your company can better serve customers, email surveys are no substitute for real human contact.