As the hype settles, practical AI emerges.  The use of AI in various forms is gaining traction.  Who can benefit from AI and how? Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft VP of AI and ISV, joins us in the Mobile Studio at CES 2019.  He shares his thoughts on CES and how AI is taking shape. The cool AI of last year gives way to the practical AI of today.

CES 2019: Electronics and More

Steve, like myself, is a CES veteran.  He’s been coming to the show for years.  What has stood out about CES 2019? Clearly, it’s no longer just about electronics.  In fact, technology has taken over with just about every industry represented. Yet, for Steve, there hasn’t been a clear theme for CES 2019 above the din.  A noticeable change over the years is the companies represented. Among the TV manufacturers that have dominated in the past, new companies and relatively recent ones are taking center stage.  From Amazon and Google to startups and new Chinese companies, CES 2019 is quite different from that of 15 years ago. Some of the trends Steve noticed were smart homes, AI, Mixed Reality, and quantum.

Besides the displays, one of the biggest benefits of CES is the side meetings.  CES brings all the right people together. It’s the perfect chance to schedule meetings with customers, clients, partners the world over without having to travel all over the world.

Overhype, Disillusionment, and the New Wave

Although some things are overhyped, companies are less prone these days to hype their products.  Things get notice and tracked. As Steve puts it, he sees “less of companies sticking their necks out.”  The hype is still there and often it’s propagated by press with limited tech savvy. With too much hype raising expectation, the trough of disillusionment looms.  

Both Steve and I have done vision videos.  Rather than hype, vision videos convey the work of innovation and how it can play out in the future.  Innovation takes investment, commitment, and time. Overhype doesn’t factor that.

The building blocks of yesterday – compute, storage, networking – are not the building blocks of today.  IoT, blockchain, AI are the new wave of building blocks. People need to get out of the hype cycle and see the horizon.

 

AI and ISV

At Microsoft, Steve works with ISVs.  Steve helps line of business ISVs move towards SaaS.  

In addition, his focus is on AI.  As AI is becoming a hardened layer in the stack, cognitive services research is moving into APIs.  This is the work of the Microsoft Azure team.

Of the basic elements of AI – the cloud, data, the algorithms – the rate of change for the algorithms has “accelerated immensely.”  The innovation in machine learning comprehension tool sets is “superfast”.

AI from the Front Row

AI is multi-faceted.  Some areas of AI are picking up quickly.  Others are slower. While the more complex, integrated AI takes more time, some AI aspects that are gaining traction include:

Virtual Agents – bots that are proactive, reactive and conversational

AI enhanced tools for professionals – lawyers, doctors, marketing

Knowledge management – making a broad set of information easier to graph

Autonomous systems

Combining computer vision and other tools to digitize a physical space

The practical AI Steve promotes requires a logical approach.  For building a long-term asset, BI must come before AI. The questions he asks steer towards purposeful A...