AI Foundations: Building Blocks to successful AI Solutions

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As our clients prepare with excitement for a world of pervasive Artificial Intelligence, one thing becomes very clear very quickly…. The implementation of AI solutions is a whole new world.  It requires new skills, new roles, new technologies and new processes.  Even clients that have been on the road to AI for some time, still experience pain points at different stages of their AI journey. Some of the most common struggles are:

• Understanding AI technological capabilities and what those capabilities can help them accomplish
• Prioritizing AI projects and allocating the right number of resources to the right projects
• Updating data collection and governance strategies in the context of AI
• Developing the organizational culture change needed to support and nurture AI projects
• Managing AI models in production
• Implementing the orchestration needed between the business side and the technical side in a world that is probabilistic in nature and in which processes are iterative and focused on experimentation

The lack of AI skills is the #1 barrier to AI adoption. And the skills needed are not just centered on the technology to implement AI solutions. To help our clients through these challenges, we built a 2-day course: AI Foundations: Building blocks to successful AI Solutions. This course targets clients that are early in their AI Journey and is delivered Face to Face – at an IBM facility or at the client’s site – by an experienced AI practitioner. The client can have up to 20 people in the course and we suggest they bring a mix of business and technical participants.

What is the course structure?

1. Day 1 is focused on learning the foundational elements to building successful AI solutions:

• Translating abstract Artificial Intelligence concepts into concrete technological capabilities through the use of different use cases: prediction using supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement and deep learning models, natural language processing, visual recognition, speech recognition, tone and emotion inference, text processing, and robotics
• Discussing organizational critical success factors such as alignment with business goals, culture, data centric strategies, bias mitigation, ethics, diversity and inclusion, skills, and business/technical orchestration
• Exploring the AI ladder and the implications and changes in the workflows needed in the Collect, Organize, Analyze and Infuse stages on the journey to AI
• Explaining the process to build AI solutions and how different business and technical roles collaborate at different stages in the process
• Using design thinking and a real-world scenario to ground the conversation and facilitate cross-functional collaboration

2. Day 2 is focused on hands-on exercises. The morning includes several Design Thinking for AI exercises where we have business and technical participants simulating a design session for AI and discussing both business and technical considerations.  The afternoon includes the creation of a chatbot and we pair up business and technical stakeholders to collaborate in that process.

What makes this course valuable?

In the world of AI you can never underestimate the value of bringing business and technical stakeholders in an organization to work together, develop a common language, and a common understanding of the building blocks to successful AI solutions. However, the value of this course is not only in the content delivered, but more importantly is in the conversation generated as clients discuss their most pressing needs and the instructors can provide guidance to address those challenges.

To learn more or schedule this training for your clients, please email natrning@us.ibm.com