Too often, machine learning requires a massive investment of time and terabytes of data before it can deliver meaningful insights. But that doesn't have to be the case. A well-configured machine learning analytics tool can rapidly provide initial results -- a key advantage for developers who can then start using those results to create value. To understand this dynamic, companies have to start taking a data approach that embraces the fact that what is driving companies in today's connected world is not data, but insight. And the volume of data being created in today's connected world is not just what powers this insight…but also blocks you from finding it.

The audience at this year's IoT World Conference (Santa Clara Convention Center, May 10-12) was estimated to be 10,000. It grew rapidly from 750 in 2014 and 5,800 in 2015, according to IoT World founder Gavin Whitechurch. Ushered in by the fast-paced beat of La Roux's "Bulletproof," Gavin Whitechurch, founder of IoT World, stepped up to the stage to deliver his welcome address. The audience -- a stream of IoT believers, investors, and developers -- packed the ballroom. "It's been an amazing journey over 3 years," said Whitechurch. "We started three years ago on a street in Palo Alto.