Capturing Value with Cognitive Computing at Data Summit 2018

While artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing hold great promise, there are also practical considerations that must be considered in order to leverage its transformative effect, according to Hadley Reynolds, managing director, Cognitive Computing Consortium, who will present a keynote at Data Summit 2018 titled "Capturing Value with Cognitive Computing: Executing on Data Challenges."

Data Summit will take place this year at the Hyatt Regency Boston, May 22-23, with pre-conference workshops on Monday, May 21. Cognitive Computing Summit will also be co-located at the event.

Cognitive computing and AI have garnered a great deal of attention particularly in the last year and a half, says Reynolds. There is a lot of interest among executives spanning a range of industries in the potential for change they pose in terms of the ability to get meaningful answers to vexing questions faster and improve the business, as well as the possible disruption of their existing business models.

But, he notes, according to research by the Cognitive Computing Consortium it is also clear that there is some confusion about the terminology and the technology it represents. AI is seen as having broad implications for everything from self-driving cars to improved diagnostics in medical research, says Reynolds, who notes it is almost as if it’s a Swiss army knife and where one person sees a corkscrew, another sees a can opener.

To be effective, the application of AI and cognitive computing must be rooted in an organization identifying its goals and the business value that will come out of the implementation, says Reynolds. In addition, there are also a host of “really practical challenges” that must be overcome since AI requires a multitude of different data types and technologies such as unstructured data such as video, text, Twitter feeds, and structured data in databases. Overall, AI puts a much greater weight on unstructured data and requires the ability to merge data across silos, with governance and security added in.

All of this involves a higher level of data integration and data understanding than most companies are able to deliver now, notes Reynolds, who will present an open reference framework jointly developed with Babson College’s technology management program. The framework gives executives and operating managers a tool to evaluate the impact and behaviors of potential AI applications.

Reynolds will present his keynote on Wednesday May 23, at 8:45 am.

For more information about Data Summit 2018, and to register, go here.

To review the Data Summit program, go to www.dbta.com/DataSummit/2018/Program.aspx.