As intelligent technologies continue to mature and proliferate, companies need to learn how best to navigate a fast-changing competitive landscape. That challenge was the topic of the recent HARMAN Technology Forum, a Las Vegas event that gathered leading thinkers from the technology, automotive, retail, marketing, and cybersecurity communities to talk candidly about the future of intelligent technology--both its promises and its pain points. Data is the fuel propelling intelligent technologies forward. Technologies such as AI and machine learning require data--in massive, mind-bending amounts--to reach their fullest potential. But the sheer volume of that data threatens to overwhelm us unless we can figure out how to decipher what it all means.

Paul Zikopoulos, vice president of Big Data & Cognitive Systems, IBM speaks during the annual Tallahassee Chamber Conference at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. AMELIA ISLAND – Tech years are a lot like dog years -- they go very quickly, said one of the nation's top Big Data experts during the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference on Saturday. Companies can transform their delivery services and business models by the "one percent rule" over time and reap catalytic results, said Paul Zikopoulos, vice president of Big Data and Cognitive Systems for IBM. Zikopoulos is the author of 19 books and a leading authority on Big Data. According to Leading Authorities Inc., he was named one of the "50 Big Data Twitter Influencers" by SAP, Zikopoulos has served as a consultant for 60 Minutes and multiple universities and has been named an expert on big data by publications such as Big Data Republic, Technopedia, and Analytics Week.