In so many ways, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping both Fortune 500 companies and tiny start-ups improve their engagement with people and optimize their consumer processes to grow their brand and increase their chances of success. Marketers can no longer afford to be ignorant about AI. They can no longer reject AI simply because they don't yet understand it or they don't know how to incorporate it into their strategic marketing plans. Marketers also don't need to become experts in AI. If they want to continue to be relevant to consumers, marketers simply need to understand the role that AI plays in consumers' lives.

Companies across industries are adopting Artificial Intelligence to scale up and improve their business operations. Advances in Deep Learning are helping drive the business success from e-commerce to national security. Data is the most important ingredient to a successful recipe of an AI model. Unlike traditional coding models, the outcome of an AI algorithm is very dependent on the data used to train it as it infers results based on what it has been trained on. When a toddler sees an Alaskan husky, its parents help to identify it as a "dog".

If you want to see data being put hard at work, look no further than artificial intelligence and machine learning – never before has timely, accurate data been so critical. A recent survey released by Narrative Science finds 61 percent of enterprises have already implemented AI within their businesses. At least 71 percent said AI was part of their enterprises' innovation strategies. At the same time, 90 percent of respondents in the business intelligence function reported that they would be interested in incorporating AI to make their data and analytics tools smarter. At the same time, AI and machine learning are not overnight projects in themselves – they take considerable time and expertise to get rolling, and constantly need refreshing and updating.