Why the C-Suite Needs to Know about Machine Learning

Dateline: December 2, 2016

Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend.

Machine learning has become a major topic among executives as computing costs have decreased and AI and analytics capabilities have increased.  The next big frontier for extracting value from company data is an automated approach where the system learns as it processes data.  Authors and McKinsey Consultants Dorian Pyle and Cristina San Jose published an Executive’s Guide to Machine Learning that nicely lays out what the C-Suite needs to know about this new trend-and why,

…Machine learning is nothing like learning in the human sense (yet). But what it already does extraordinarily well—and will get better at—is relentlessly chewing through any amount of data and every combination of variables. Because machine learning’s emergence as a mainstream management tool is relatively recent, it often raises questions. … Now is the time to grapple with these issues, because the competitive significance of business models turbocharged by machine learning is poised to surge. Indeed, management author Ram Charan suggests that “any organization that is not a math house now or is unable to become one soon is already a legacy company.”

Is your C-Suite asking about machine learning?  How might you explain the value to be had by investing now in these technologies?

That’s a WRAP!  Have a great weekend.

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