Altify aims to bring AI to the fore in sales management with latest launch

Altify, a company which provides enterprise sales management software, has announced the latest iteration of its platform, which aims to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to assist the sales process with a raft of new features. The company, which counts Salesforce, BT, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise among its customers, has in its summer release added a relationship map, helping salespeople understand with whom to best spend their time, capability for supporting every Salesforce standard...

2 August 2017 | Applications

How AI will ‘ineluctably change customer dynamics and modus operandi’ of South African firms

AI will ‘ineluctably change the customer dynamics and modus operandi’ of many organisations in South Africa, according to a new report from Accenture and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). The study, called ‘Responsible AI’, argues that as capital and labour, the primary traditional factors of production, are declining in their ability to drive economic growth, a new factor is needed. Step forward AI. “There’s no longer any doubt that artificial intelligence has...

2 August 2017 | Applications

Australian businesses noting AI, IoT to help stay competitive

Research firm Telsyte says it has noted a sharp increase in Australian enterprises adopting the latest technologies to stay competitive by creating new products and services – including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). According to its Telsyte Australian Emerging Enterprise Technology Study 2017, more than 50% of the organisations are in the midst of investigation, planning and roll out of emerging technologies. The firm foresees IoT becoming a critical...

1 August 2017 | Applications

Liulishuo gets $100 million in series C funding to develop existing smart teaching platform

China's leading AI and education company, Liulishuo, has achieved a series C funding of $100 million in a round of funding led by China Media Capital ("CMC") and Wu Capital with participation also coming in from its earlier investors, such as Trustbridge Partners, IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Hearst Ventures, to enable AI-infused teaching. Liulishuo has a vast data collection of Chinese people speaking English that has led to the company to develop automatic assessment...

28 July 2017 | Applications

Clarifai launches mobile SDK to help make AI available on devices

Clarifai, a visual recognition AI company, has launched its mobile SDK, which enables mobile users to install machine learning capabilities into their devices. The SDK does not require large computing power in the mobile device or continuous internet connectivity increasing the reach of latest AI technology to everyone. It is powered by Clarifai’s Custom Training that enables machine learning algorithms to learn new concepts from very few examples. The mobile SDK enables mobile devices...

28 July 2017 | Healthcare

New chatbot launches show enterprise and consumer expertise

A couple of recent examples of chatbot software has revealed some interesting use cases in both the enterprise and consumer arenas. The new AmplifyReach Catalyst Platform for live chat and chatbot, announced at the end of last month, enables Freshdesk customers to develop and deploy human-like conversational chatbot, without any coding, to provide 24/7 services across web, mobile, social, messenger, and email channels. The solution helps streamline the problem of business scale by automating...

10 July 2017 | Bots

AI to help boost global GDP by $15.7 trillion in 2030, says PwC

A new study conducted by research firm PwC suggests that AI will add $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030. Over the period of 2016-2030, labour productivity improvements are likely to account for over half of all economic gains from AI, whereas the increased consumer demand resulting from AI-enabled product enhancements will account for the rest. China and North America are the two regions that will witness the greatest economic gains from AI. The former will provide 26% and the...

10 July 2017 | Enterprise

Exscientia partners with GSK to further drug discovery through AI

UK-based drug design company Exscientia has announced it has entered into a strategic drug discovery partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Under this partnership, Exscientia will use its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled platform, combined with the expertise of GSK, to discover novel and selective small molecules for up to 10 disease-related targets, nominated by GSK across multiple therapeutic areas. It will receive research payments from GSK in lieu of this. Exscientia will also...

6 July 2017 | Healthcare

IEEE examines prospects of ‘generation AI’ through robot pets and self-driving cars

A new report from the IEEE has shed light on what it calls ‘generation AI’ – those born in 2010 and through 2025 – and their development through the technology. The study, called “Generation AI: A Study of Millennial Parents of Generation Alpha Kids”, finds that 31% of parents would be afraid of their child driving the car alone for the first time as compared to 25% of them who said there was a risk in their child travelling in a self-driving car. Around two thirds (63%) of the...

5 July 2017 | Applications

CognitiveScale raises $50 million to bring in new advancements in its AI products

CognitiveScale has announced it has raised an additional $15 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, The Westly Group and USAA, bringing the company's total to $50 million. CognitiveScale will be bringing in further advancements in the state of its two flagship products Engage and Amplify, which are built on its open and extensible Cortex OS. Engage aims to provide an exceptional customer experience, accessible through any digital touch point,...

15 June 2017 | Funding