Big Data is the unexpected resource bonanza of the current century. Moore's Law driven advances in computing power, the rise of cheap storage and advances in algorithm design have enabled the capture, storage, and processing of many types of data previously that were unavailable for use in computing systems. Documents, email, text messages, audio files, and images are now able to transform into a usable digital format for use by analysis systems, especially artificial intelligence. The AI systems can scan massive amounts of data and find both patterns and anomalies that were previously unthinkable and do so in a timeframe that was unimaginable. While most of the uses of Big Data have been coupled with AI/machine learning algorithms so companies and understand their customer's choices and improve their overall experience (think about recommendation engines, chatbots, navigation apps and digital assistants among others) there are uses that are truly industry transforming.

Some time ago when we talked about artificial intelligence we immediately thought of those futuristic films with technologies that seem impossible today. But just look around to realize that this area has evolved in such a way that it is already possible to integrate artificial intelligence into many of our day-to-day activities. Of course, because of the incredible possibilities that this type of technology brings, it has received attention from several industries, including marketing. By the way, did you know that artificial intelligence and marketing are already walking side by side? How does this partnership work?