Optimizing the performance of your blockchain
Time flies! The Think 2019 conference is almost here! With my colleague Jorge, I will be in San Francisco presenting our experience of running performance testing on the IBM Blockchain Platform. Through customer engagements and internal projects, we have gained some insight that we are looking forward to sharing. People can be intimidated by the […]
Black Friday and beyond – How omnichannel strategies deliver industry-leading growth rates
For retailers, heads of e-commerce, and any executive focused on transformation in the B2C and B2B worlds, Black Friday delivers illuminating insights. Here’s the stat that caught my eye: seven retailers outperformed Amazon in year-on-year growth during the Black Friday week. Given what we know about Amazon, this seems incredible. In Europe we saw some […]
The next level of collaboration between IBM and Vodafone
I’m excited to share the next level of our two decades of collaboration between IBM and Vodafone today, which accelerates our strategy to drive consistent and open Cloud management. Our two companies have entered a new strategic commercial agreement to provide clients with the open, flexible technologies they need to integrate multiple clouds. We’ve also […]
The Rise of Virtual Assistants: Lessons on Scale and Bias for Your AI Projects
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to remain a red-hot growth area. Research from the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that by 2022, global spending on AI projects will reach $77.6 billion: nearly three times the forecast for 2018. But as telco, media and entertainment companies press ahead with AI initiatives, significant challenges lie ahead. As […]
From hype to help – Making AI real for supply chain professionals
At this point, supply chain professionals might be getting a bit impatient with AI. You’ve likely heard how this technology is poised to revolutionise the supply chain. But as a supply chain professional, you’re not working in R&D; you’re responsible for P&L. The obvious question is: what’s in it for me and my bottom-line performance? […]
How to be a conversational bank – Seven steps to smarter customer service
In my previous blog post I discussed the emergence of conversational banking – the use of highly-capable virtual agents, underpinned by customer data and cleverly-applied AI, to make digital banking personal. So how do you get started – and what are the key things to focus on? Technology is already enabling conversational banking. Platforms such […]
Business Platforms: Rethinking your Experience
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou) A few years ago I was having breakfast on a small island in the Grenadines. One of the staff expressed his concern at the mosquito bites on my […]
Customer Experience vs Customer Engagement
With consumers wanting to experience media and content in new ways, Telco and Media & Entertainment companies must find new means to engage with existing and potential customers with the goal of developing new markets, new revenue streams and new business efficiencies. Earlier this year, I joined George Bevir, Editor, IBC365, to discuss the ever-growing trade-off of […]
Application Modernisation – Rewrite what’s necessary, but don’t necessarily rewrite!
I’m in a very fortunate position to speak to lots of customers from various industries, across the UK, lately the conversations have been about application modernisation and the choices available to businesses. In this first in a series of blogs I want to share the options that IBM brings to organisations who are embarking on […]
The moment is now: how HR will lead business growth in the AI era
Welcome to our HR Modernization Playbook: Tomorrow’s people – Why HR matters more than ever in the age of artificial intelligence. Digital transformation is happening faster than ever. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will redefine jobs, enhance employee productivity and accelerate workforce development. In fact, skills and culture – not technology – […]
The Power Systems plan has three prongs
There is a plan, which is always reassuring to know. Let me tell you about it. I was part of an event in Germany earlier in the year, and the plan was announced there. We have been saying a lot about Linux and AI in recent years, which are areas we are relatively new into […]
Banking with personality
The future of banking is conversational People don’t stand for inconvenience these days. We buy everything from shoes to fridge freezers at the swipe of a screen. We stream films on the day of release and watch entire boxsets in one sitting. We don’t wait to catch up with friends in person – we send […]
Engineering bias out of AI
Notorious examples of bias in facial recognition algorithms have received a lot of adverse coverage this year. It highlights the explosion of bias in AI systems and algorithms, but according to IBM Research, only unbiased AI will survive. To counter such bias, companies like IBM have been making data sets and toolkits available. An example […]
NHS England looks to the future
This year the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) turned 70, making it the ideal time to reflect on its many achievements, and also to look ahead, and consider how the NHS can continue to deliver quality care for all in the face of modern challenges such as an ageing population and a rise in lifestyle-related […]
Innovation through data – The Right Road Ahead
For the last few years, there has been considerable confusion amongst construction product manufacturers regarding how to make their “BIM” (Building information modelling) information available to the market. With a lack of standards and guidance, manufacturers are struggling to effectively communicate and keep their product information up to date. This represents a risk to the […]