by Alison DeNisco, ZDNet (Excerpt)

Is your business exploring AI and machine learning? Here’s how to integrate new technologies into your digital transformation plans to drive value and profits.

AI and machine learning promise to not only improve the customer experience, but also change the way companies operate. For this reason, enterprises should consider integrating these technologies into digital transformation plans to stay competitive.

By 2019, 40 percent of all digital transformation initiatives will be supported by cognitive/AI capabilities, according to IDC. […]

Tools like IBM Watson “introduce machine learning to understand what human beings have a hard time seeing in the context of their work,” said Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter. “Machine learning will allow companies to see things they wouldn’t otherwise, because of the cognitive bias that exists in the relationship between humans and the data they collect.”

These tools can help companies learn in ways that accelerate innovation, Solis said. “AI and machine learning will be really helpful tools in companies getting closer to customers and objectives,” he said. If you better understand the context of the customer’s world, you can better help them accomplish their goals, and base digital transformation efforts on that information. “Use those insights to reverse-engineer new ways to apply AI to create value,” Solis said.

Companies can also use AI internally to study productivity and employee engagement. “Employee experience is the next customer experience,” Solis said. “A lot of that is gaining insight into ways to introduce operational models they couldn’t see before.”[…]