Solving for the Customer
You might remember Garry Kasparov, the last chess grand master to beat a computer. That was about 20 years ago when he went up against Deep Blue, the IBM megaframe that is the direct ancestor of Jeopardy!-winning Watson. A re-match between Deep Blue and Kasparov a year later did not go so well for the […]
Disrupting Today’s Workplace – Part Three
Technology is one part of the impetus for change in the workplace and has historically been a lever in major transitions like the one we’re currently experiencing. There are new technologies like mobile, cloud and social that are a big part of this change of course, but there are some other specific technologies that are […]
Watson on Jeopardy! Big Data Analytics and User Experience
Last week five other VCs and I were invited by IBM’s Venture Capital Group to a private viewing of Jeopardy’s final round where Watson was competing. Following the show, and Watson’s win, we engaged in a very interesting conversation with Eric Brown, Watson’s technical lead, and Anant Jhingran, CTO of IBM’s Information Management Division, about […]
Beyond Jeopardy! with IBM Watson – Quick Analysis
Seeing a computer play two humans at Jeopardy! is a lot more entertaining than I thought it’d be. I’d been ignoring most of the hoopla around Watson figuring it for a big, effective PR campaign on IBM’s part. It is that for certain, and good on them for doing it. I’ve been more interested in […]
Three Lessons Watson Taught Us to Improve Customer Service
Well, I had to do it. I had to rip off the headlines and apply it to our customer service problems. In case you call a rock your comfortable abode (or have a life outside of the echo chamber of Twitter that does not include watching Jeopardy), the news is that IBM created a super-computer […]
IBM’s Watson: The Future of Business Analytics?
IBM’s Watson software is the subject of this week’s SmoothSpan InfoBoom-sponsored posting. In it, I discuss the ramifications of IBM’s remarkable Watson software for Business in the next 10 years. It’s amazing to watch the videos of IBM’s Watson participating in Jeopardy rounds against the human champions. Watson answers faster and more accurately, and it seemingly […]
IOD Keynote: Computational Mathematics and Freakonomics
I attended the keynote this morning, on the theme of looking forward: first we heard from Mike Rhodin, an exec in the IBM Software group, then Brenda Dietrich, a mathematician (and VP – finally, a female IBM exec on stage) from the analytics group in IBM Research. IBM Research has nine labs around the world, […]
