A senior official responsible for driving technological innovation at the U.S. Department of Defense has resigned, saying the Pentagon needs "structural change" and should behave more like SpaceX, Elon Musk's satellite company that has shaken up rocket launches. "We're falling behind the commercial base in key areas, so we've got to catch up," Preston Dunlap, the first person in the U.S. Department of Defense to fulfill the role of chief architect officer, said in an interview. As a result the U.S. risked losing its technological edge against potential adversaries, he said. Dunlap, who handed in his resignation on Monday after three years in the post at the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force, was responsible for pushing more technology into a $70 billion budget for research, development and acquisition. He plans to start a space software company focused on the nexus with satellites, data and artificial intelligence.

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Integrating the data and using artificial intelligence and machine learning "would be very helpful to farmers making the best decisions every single …

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military wants to expand its use of artificial intelligence in warfare, but says it will take care to deploy the technology in accordance with the nation's values. The Pentagon outlined its first AI strategy in a report released Tuesday. The plan calls for accelerating the use of AI systems throughout the military, from intelligence-gathering operations to predicting maintenance problems in planes or ships. It urges the U.S. to advance such technology swiftly before other countries chip away at its technological advantage. "Other nations, particularly China and Russia, are making significant investments in AI for military purposes, including in applications that raise questions regarding international norms and human rights," the report says.

Artificial intelligence can help businesses identify new clients and streamline back office operations, but so far, only the largest companies have found the data-heavy tech practical. Early adopters of artificial intelligence are expecting substantial increases in profitability in 2018, according to the Nationwide's Advisor Authority survey of 1,700 advisors. But, those that used big data were also more likely to have sizeable assets under management, over $250 million in AUM and incomes of more than $500,000. That's because, for more modest firms, fewer clients mean less reliable data. "Wealth managers are still struggling to get a consistent line of sight on customer data and that includes things like demographics and transaction data," says William Trout, senior analyst at the consulting firm Celent.

It was only over the last 10 days that there were serious murmurs about Vishal Sikka -- Infosys's rockstar CEO, as described by a company founder -- hanging up his boots. But none who know N R Narayana Murthy expected an outcome any different than this. "Mr Murthy quoting independent directors as having said Sikka'is not CEO material but CTO material' suggests loss of confidence. It seems he bought into their assessment. Hitherto, there was comfort within the company's leadership team that Mr Murthy's battle was essentially with the current board," said a senior Infosys executive of two decades.