There is a war a-brewin’, but this war will be fought with wits and not brute strength. Ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration that “the nation that leads in AI (Artificial Intelligence) will be the ruler of the world,” the press and analysts have created hysteria regarding the ramifications of artificial intelligence on everything from public education to unemployment to healthcare to Skynet.

Note: artificial intelligence (AI) endows applications with the ability to automatically learn and adapt from experience via interacting with the surroundings / environment. See the blog “Artificial Intelligence is not Fake Intelligence” for a more detailed explanation on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Fast Company article “How to Stop Worrying and Love the Great AI War of 2018,” projected that the AI battle would ultimately boil down between the “AI Big 6”:  Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. However, there are other contenders worthy of consideration including GE, Tesla, Netflix, Baidu, Tencent, and Albaba.

But what are the characteristics of organizations that will be the ultimate winners in this Great AI War? What are the behaviors and actions that will distinguish those organizations that capitalize on this AI gold rush while others “fumble the future”?

I believe that the AI winners will have the following characteristics:

1. Users, not purveyors, of AI technology
2. Embrace open source for technology agility (independence)
3. Mastery of Big Data (and no, Big Data is not dead)

Let me state my case.

#1 Users, Not Purveyors, of AI Technology
The Market Capitalization Leaderboard shown in Figure 1 offers important clues as to which organizations will likely be the AI winners. What will set these organizations apart will be not the selling of technology, but their ability leverage AI for “value capture.”

Figure 1: Marketing Capitalization Leaders as of May 26, 2017.

By the way, I think Kleiner Perkins was lazy in classifying “Industry Segment.” The market leaders are less purveyors of AI technology than they are users of AI technology.

• Less than 10% of Amazon’s revenue comes from technology (cloud); $12B in cloud revenue out of a total revenue of $136B in 2016. So what Industry Segment are they in?
• Google had quarterly revenues (Q1, 2016) of $26B of which digital media/advertising (search) represented $23B. Their “other” businesses (including Google Cloud) were only $3B. So what Industry Segment are they in?
• Apple’s most recent quarterly (Q3, 2016) revenues were $42B out of which the iPhone (personal communications, information and entertainment) and the associated iPhone ecosystem (iTunes, Apple Music, App Store) comprised an aggregated $37.5B.
• Finally, I’m not aware of any AI or data technologies that Facebook sells to the general market. Facebook generated $9.3B in revenue in Q2, 2017 of which $9.16B came from Ad revenue. So what Industry Segment are they in?

Mastering Value Capture. Just having the technology is not sufficient; it’s how you use the technology to derive and then drive new sources of customer, business, operational, and financial value that matters. Ultimately, the AI war is about “value capture.”

The companies listed in Figure 1 are trying to dominate markets, not technology. For example:

• Apple (#1) seeks to dominate personal communications
• Google/Alphabet (#2) seeks to dominate digital media, advertising and personal communications
• Amazon (#4) seeks to dominate online commerce
• Facebook (#5) seeks to dominate social media, and advertising

Each of these AI leaders seeks to extend their value capture capabilities into new markets, including transportation (autonomous vehicles), healthcare, finance, media, and entertainment.

Other market leaders are also moving aggressively to exploit the power of AI to capture more customer, products and operational value. JPM Morgan (#11) is focused on building an AI platform (see “JPMorgan Takes AI Use to the Next Level”) that will allow JPMC to dominate financial trading. And GE (#16) has made a strategic bet with their Predix platform (see “GE’S Big Bet on Data and Analytics”) as the platform for dominating the Industrial Internet of Things.

Microsoft (#3) is the one exception as Microsoft is a purveyor of technology. But even Microsoft is branching beyond just selling technology into trying to dominate markets such as digital media, entertainment, and social media where their AI “chops” can give them competitive advantages (see “The Jewel of Microsoft’s Earnings”).

#2 Embrace Open Source for Technology Agility (Independence)
AI leaders will exploit open-source business models to establish platform dominance/standardization, and create technology agility and independence. They will develop an enabling technology, and then give it away via open source. This enables them to encourage the growing community of developers, especially those up-and-coming developers in universities and research labs, to build out and create de facto standards around their enabling technologies.

Open Source Leaders. The Global AI winners are significant contributors to the artificial intelligence and machine learning open source communities. This includes developments such as Amazon Machine Learning, Google TensorFlow, Facebook Caffe2, Microsoft Azure ML Studio, Microsoft Distributed Machine Learning Toolkit, Facebook GraphQL, and Facebook Torch.

The leadership role that the “Great AI War” combatants are playing can be seen in many open source projects. For example, Torch is an open source machine learning library and scientific computing framework. The “official maintainers” of Torch are:

• Research Scientist @ Facebook
• Senior Software Engineer @ Twitter
• Research Scientist @ Google DeepMind
• Research Engineer @ Facebook

Training and Education. Another strategy from the Global AI leaders the creation of community or industry training and education opportunities around their open source technologies. For example, Google is committing $1 billion to train American workers to build new businesses with Google’s AI tools (see “Google Commits $1 Billion in Grants to Train U.S. Workers for High-Tech Jobs”).

Avoiding Technology Lock-in.  But equally important is that these AI leaders are seeking to avoid technology and architecture lock-in. They have watched old school organizations struggle with proprietary software packages that took months if not years for upgrades and bug fixes, while paying a burdensome annual maintenance fees (33% of list price means you’re buying the entire software package again every 3 years). In a world where the enabling data and analytic technologies are changing nearly daily, technological and architecture agility (at scale) and independence is mandatory for organizations looking to win the Great AI War.

#3 Mastery of Big Data
Everyone knows about the astounding growth of big data over the last decade as organizations focused on capturing detailed customer, product, operational and market data. Initially fueled by commerce, web and social media data, big data has accelerated with the growth of video, wearables, and the Internet of Things. (See Figure 2).

However, organizations have struggled to monetize this wealth of data. Enter artificial intelligence.

Figure 2: Fueling the Insatiable Appetite for Data

More Data = Better AI. Artificial intelligence can exploit massive data sets to identify patterns on a scale that flummox traditional Business Intelligence “slice and dice” and query technologies. Data is the food that feeds AI. The more data the AI models consume, the smarter AI gets. For example, Facebook is mastering facial recognition via its DeepFace Deep Learning application by virtue of owning the world’s largest repository of photos.

To illustrate the symbiotic relationship between big data and AI, let’s look at autonomous vehicles (AV). AV require enormous quantities of data to feed the AV machine learning algorithms. It would take tens of thousands of hours of real-world driving data across a variety of driving scenarios to teach cars how to navigate on their own. To address this data volume problem, AV companies are using the video game “Grand Theft Auto” to help generate enough data in order to train Autonomous Vehicles (see “GTA is Teaching Self-Driving Cars How to Navigate Better in the Real World”).

Data Lake. Leading AI organizations are exploiting the data lake concept to not only store the growing wealth of structured and unstructured (internal and publicly-available) data, but to provide an elastic, scalable, self-provisioning data science platform for “collaborative value creation” in building the machine learning and artificial intelligence models (see “Data Lake Business Model Maturity Index” for more details on data lake business model maturation).

Exploiting the Economic Value of Data. Leading AI organizations realize that data and analytics are unlike any traditional corporate assets. Data and analytics are digital assets that never wear out, never deplete, and can be used simultaneously at near-zero marginal cost across an infinite business and operational use cases. Understanding the true economic value of the organization’s data can help to prioritize technology and business investments that accelerate value capture from these data sources (see University of San Francisco research paper “Determining the Economic Value of Data” for more details).

Conclusion: How to Become an AI Winner
As has been discussed many times in my blog series, and explored in detail in my book, “Big Data MBA: Driving Business Strategies with Data Science,” AI winners will ultimately be those organizations that are the most effective at leveraging data and analytics to power their business models (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: How Effective Is Your Organization at Leveraging Data and Analytics to Power Your Business Models?

Ultimately, AI winners will master three key characteristics:

• Focus on Value Capture by identifying, validating and prioritizing the organization’s key business and operational use cases (see “Use Case Identification, Validation and Prioritization”).
• Avoid technology and architecture lock-in and create technology independence via an open source technology strategy
• Mastery of Big Data and the Data Lake to exploit the unique economic value of the data and analytic digital assets (see “Data Lake Business Model Maturity Index”).

So in conclusion, let’s have some fun with this blog and think outside of the box about some hypothetical scenarios in which companies exploit this AI gold rush:

• What would be the business model ramifications to GE if they were to open source Predix and offer Predix training to universities and third party developers?
• What would be the business model ramifications to JPMC if they were to open source their trading platform to universities and third party developers?
• What would be the business model ramifications if IBM moved out of the technology purveyor business and instead acquired companies in financial services and healthcare where their Watson AI platform could create market dominance?

As the world prepares for the impending great AI war, now is not the time for organizations to be shy or to cling to old, outdated business models.

Fortune Favors the Brave.

Sources

Figure 1: ScoopNest “2017 global market capitalization leader board: tech is 40% of top 20 companies and 100% of top 5” and Consultancy UK “Market capitalisation of world’s 100 biggest companies hits $17.4 trillion”

The post 3 Keys to Winning the Great Artificial Intelligence (AI) War! appeared first on InFocus Blog | Dell EMC Services.

CloudExpo | DXWorldEXPO have announced the conference tracks for Cloud Expo 2018, introducing DXWorldEXPO.

DXWordEXPO, colocated with Cloud Expo will be held June 5-7, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, and November 6-8, 2018, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA.

Digital Transformation (DX) is a major focus with the introduction of DXWorld Expo within the program. Successful transformation requires a laser focus on being data-driven and on using all the tools available that enable transformation if they plan to survive over the long term.

A total of 88% of Fortune 500 companies from a generation ago are now out of business. Only 12% still survive. Similar percentages are found throughout enterprises of all sizes.

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 New York
(June 5-7, 2018, Javits Center, Manhattan)

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 Silicon Valley
(November 6-8, 2018, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA)

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

DX World EXPO, LLC., a Lighthouse Point, Florida-based startup trade show producer and the creator of DXWorldEXPO® - Digital Transformation Conference & Expo has announced its conference agenda, with three major themes:

* Technology - The Revolution Continues
* Economy - The 21st Century Emerges
* Society - The Big Issues

"DX encompasses the continuing technology revolution, and is addressing society's most important issues throughout the entire $78 trillion 21st-century global economy," said Roger Strukhoff, Conference Chair. "DXWorldExpo has organized these issues along 10 tracks with more than 500 of the world's top speakers coming to Istanbul to help change the world."

There are 10 tracks running throughout the event and following the major themes. More than 500 breakout sessions will be featured, along with keynotes and general sessions from some of the world's top technology, business, and societal leaders. The event will be held over five days in Istanbul, reflecting the global nature of Digital Transformation and the city's long and historic role as a key business and intellectual center and linchpin between East and West.

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

DX World Expo's Global Themes and Tracks are as follows:

Technology - The Revolution Continues

DX Tech: Data-Driven Global 2000
DX Tech: The Blockchain Challenge
DX Tech: AI and Cognitive
DX Tech: The Global Cloud

Economy - The 21st Century Emerges

DX Econ: Software is Rewriting the World
DX Econ: Smart Cities, Nations, and Regions
DX Econ: FinTech and the Token Economy
DX Econ: The Industrial Internet and Industrie 4.0

Society - The Big Issues

DX Society: Environment
DX Society: Education
DX Society: Agriculture
DX Society: Health Care

Call for Papers -speaking opportunities- as well as sponsorship and exhibit opportunities will open on November 1, 2017.

World's Most Important Tech Event
DXWorldEXPO® will be the world's most important tech event with 1,000 exhibitors in its first year and 2,000 exhibitors in its second year, as it guides Global 2000 companies through their Digital Transformation journey for the next two decades. The global event is set to launch September 17-20, 2018 in Istanbul. It will be sponsored by Fortune 50 companies, and more than 30 international banks will be among sponsors of its FinTech/InsurTech track.

Gaining a better understanding of customers and acting upon this information is the foundation of Digital Transformation (DX) in the enterprise. Applying the latest technologies in this area is the key to driving new topline revenue opportunities.

Global 2000 companies have more than US$40 trillion in annual revenue - more than 50% of the world's entire GDP. The Global 2000 spends a total of US$2.4 trillion annually on enterprise IT. The average Global 2000 company has US$11 billion in annual revenue. The average Global 2000 company spends more than $600 million annually on enterprise IT.

Governments throughout the world spend another US$500 billion on IT - much of it dedicated to new Smart City initiatives. There are more than a dozen Global 2000 companies in Turkey, including Isbank, Garanti Bank, other financial institutions, Turk Telecom, Turkcell, Turkish Airlines, and ENKA.

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 New York
(June 5-7, 2018, Javits Center, Manhattan)

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 Silicon Valley
(November 6-8, 2018, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA)

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

More Management Quotes
"For the past 10 years at Cloud Expo, we've helped drive the migration to modern enterprise IT infrastructures, built upon the foundation of cloud computing. Today's hybrid, multiple cloud IT infrastructures integrate Big Data, analytics, blockchain, the IoT, mobile devices, and the latest in cryptography and enterprise-grade security," said Fuat Kircaali, Chairman and founder of DX World Expo, LLC.

"As a report from the World Economic Forum and Accenture recently stated, 'Companies need to fundamentally change the way they identify, develop and launch new business ventures.' We agree," said Carmen Gonzalez, president of DX World Expo, LLC.

"Digital Transformation is the key issue driving the global enterprise IT business," said Roger Strukhoff, Conference Chair and Executive Director of the Tau Institute for Global ICT Studies. "DX is most prominent among Global 2000 enterprises and government institutions. Our new event in Istanbul brings together the top companies and delegates from around the world, who are transforming the world."

2018 Conference Agenda and Tracks, June 5-7, Javits Center

Track 1 | Cloud Expo - Enterprise Cloud
Track 2 | DXWorld Expo - Digital Transformation (DX)
Track 3 | The API Enterprise | Mobility & Security
Track 4 | DevOps | Containers & Microservices
Track 5 | Cognitive Computing | AI, ML, DL
Track 6 | Big Data | Analytics
Track 7 | IoT | IIoT | Smart Cities
Track 8 | Hot Topics | FinTech | WebRTC

Cloud Expo covers all of these tools, with the most comprehensive program and more than 120 top world-class speakers throughout our Industry presenting Keynotes, General Sessions, Breakout Sessions along eight focused tracks, as well as our signature Power Panels. Our expo floor brings together the world's leading companies throughout the world of Cloud Computing, DX, and all they entail.

As your enterprise creates a vision and strategy that enables you to create your own unique, long-term success, learning about all the technologies involved is essential. Companies today not only form multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures, but create them with built-in cognitive capabilities. Cloud-native thinking is now the norm in financial services, manufacturing, telco, healthcare, transportation, energy, media, entertainment, retail and other consumer industries, as well as the public sector.

Cloud Expo is the world's most important, independent event where technology buyers and vendors meet to experience and discuss the big picture of Digital Tranformation and all of the strategies, tactics, and tools they need to realize their goals.

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

Only Cloud Expo brings together all this in a single location:

• Cloud Computing
• Big Data & Analytics
• Software-Defined Infrastructure
• Industrial IoT
• Industry 4.0
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cognitive Computing
• Microservices
• Machine Learning
• DevOps
• WebRTC
• FinTech
• Digital Transformation

Attend Cloud Expo. Build your own custom experience. Learn about the world's latest technologies and chart your course to Digital Transformation.

21st International Cloud Expo, taking place October 31 - November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.

Download Show Prospectus ▸ Here

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS - software, platform, and infrastructure as a service.

With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing Cloud strategies, now is the perfect time to attend 21st Cloud Expo, October 31 - November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-14, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is on the right path to Digital Transformation.

2018 Conference Agenda and Tracks, June 5-7, Javits Center

Track 1 | Cloud Expo - Enterprise Cloud
Track 2 | DXWorld Expo - Digital Transformation (DX)
Track 3 | The API Enterprise | Mobility & Security
Track 4 | DevOps | Containers & Microservices
Track 5 | Cognitive Computing | AI, ML, DL
Track 6 | Big Data | Analytics
Track 7 | IoT | IIoT | Smart Cities
Track 8 | Hot Topics | FinTech | WebRTC

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 New York
(June 5-7, 2018, Javits Center, Manhattan)

Cloud Expo | DXWorldEXPO 2018 Silicon Valley
(November 6-8, 2018, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA)

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

Download Show Prospectus ▸ Here

Every Global 2000 enterprise in the world is now integrating cloud computing in some form into its IT development and operations. Midsize and small businesses are also migrating to the cloud in increasing numbers.

Companies are each developing their unique mix of cloud technologies and services, forming multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures and deployments across all major industries. Cloud-driven thinking has become the norm in financial services, manufacturing, telco, healthcare, transportation, energy, media, entertainment, retail and other consumer industries, and the public sector.

Cloud Expo is the single show where technology buyers and vendors can meet to experience and discus cloud computing and all that it entails. Sponsors of Cloud Expo will benefit from unmatched branding, profile building and lead generation opportunities through:

• Featured on-site presentation and ongoing on-demand webcast exposure to a captive audience of industry decision-makers.
• Showcase exhibition during our new extended dedicated expo hours
• Breakout Session Priority scheduling for Sponsors that have been guaranteed a 35-minute technical session
• Online advertising in SYS-CON's i-Technology Publications
• Capitalize on our Comprehensive Marketing efforts leading up to the show with print mailings, e-newsletters and extensive online media coverage.
• Unprecedented PR Coverage: Editorial Coverage on Cloud Computing Journal.
  
• Tweetup to over 75,000 plus followers
• Press releases sent on major wire services to over 500 industry analysts.

For more information on sponsorship, exhibit, and keynote opportunities, contact Carmen Gonzalez by email at events (at) sys-con.com, or by phone 201 802-3021.

The World's Largest "Cloud Digital Transformation" Event

@CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo 2017 Silicon Valley
(Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA)

@CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo 2018 New York
(June 12-14, 2018, Javits Center, Manhattan)

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsors of Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo will benefit from unmatched branding, profile building and lead generation opportunities through:

• Featured on-site presentation and ongoing on-demand webcast exposure to a captive audience of industry decision-makers
• Showcase exhibition during our new extended dedicated expo hours
• Breakout Session Priority scheduling for Sponsors that have been guaranteed a 35 minute technical session
• Online targeted advertising in SYS-CON's i-Technology Publications
• Capitalize on our Comprehensive Marketing efforts leading up to the show with print mailings, e-newsletters and extensive online media coverage
• Unprecedented Marketing Coverage: Editorial Coverage on ITweetup to over 100,000 plus followers, press releases sent on major wire services to over 500 industry analysts

For more information on sponsorship, exhibit, and keynote opportunities, contact Carmen Gonzalez (@GonzalezCarmen) today by email at events (at) sys-con.com, or by phone 201 802-3021.

Secrets of Sponsors and Exhibitors ▸ Here
Secrets of Cloud Expo Speakers ▸ Here

All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - computers, smartphones, tablets, and sensors - connected to the Internet by 2020. This number will continue to grow at a rapid pace for the next several decades.

With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing Cloud strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo, October 31 - November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-4, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is on the right path to Digital Transformation.

Delegates to Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo will be able to attend 8 simultaneous, information-packed education tracks.

There are over 120 breakout sessions in all, with Keynotes, General Sessions, and Power Panels adding to three days of incredibly rich presentations and content.

Join Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo conference chair Roger Strukhoff (@IoT2040), October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-14, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, for three days of intense Enterprise Cloud and 'Digital Transformation' discussion and focus, including Big Data's indispensable role in IoT, Smart Grids and (IIoT) Industrial Internet of Things, Wearables and Consumer IoT, as well as (new) Digital Transformation in Vertical Markets.

Full Conference Registration "Gold Pass" and Exhibit Hall ▸ Here (Register ▸ Here via EventBrite)

Financial Technology - or FinTech - Is Now Part of the @CloudExpo Program!

Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 21st Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-14, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will find fresh new content in a new track called FinTech, which will incorporate machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and blockchain into one track.

Financial enterprises in New York City, London, Singapore, and other world financial capitals are embracing a new generation of smart, automated FinTech that eliminates many cumbersome, slow, and expensive intermediate processes from their businesses.

FinTech brings efficiency as well as the ability to deliver new services and a much improved customer experience throughout the global financial services industry. FinTech is a natural fit with cloud computing, as new services are quickly developed, deployed, and scaled on public, private, and hybrid clouds.

More than US$20 billion in venture capital is being invested in FinTech this year. @CloudExpo is pleased to bring you the latest FinTech developments as an integral part of our program, starting at the 21st International Cloud Expo October 31 - November 2, 2017 in Silicon Valley, and June 12-14, 2018, in New York City.

@CloudExpo is accepting submissions for this new track, so please visit www.CloudComputingExpo.com for the latest information.

Speaking Opportunities

The upcoming 21st International @CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo, October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-14, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY announces that its Call For Papers for speaking opportunities is open.

Submit your speaking proposal today! ▸ Here

About @CloudEXPO and @DXWorldEXPO
SYS-CON Media (www.sys-con.com) has since 1994 been connecting technology companies and customers through a comprehensive content stream - featuring over forty focused subject areas, from Cloud Computing to Web Security - interwoven with market-leading full-scale conferences. The company's internationally recognized brands include among others Cloud Expo® (@CloudExpo), Big Data Expo® (@BigDataExpo), DevOps Summit (@DevOpsSummit), @ThingsExpo® (@ThingsExpo), and DXWorldEXPO® (@ExpoDX).

@CloudExpo® and @ThingsExpo® are registered trademarks of CLOUD EXPO INC.

DXWorldEXPO® is a registered trademark of DX WORLD EXPO LLC.