What does it mean to be a cognitive business?

Scott N. Schober

"Cognitive business not only conceptualizes digital knowledge and intelligence, but acts upon ‘big data’ from sources like IoT (Internet of Things), social media trends and mobile devices to experience rapid growth.

Instead of following traditional sales and marketing approaches to grow our M2M signal meter business, I decided to analyze all the efficiencies our tool afforded the customer. From there, I realized that by offering a set of niche sub-tools, our business would be able to penetrate more markets and serve more customers without disrupting our existing M2M product line."

Scott N. Schober is president and CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc., and a cybersecurity expert. @scottbvs

Leverage advanced analytics that perform at speed

Shahid Shah

"I think a cognitive business is one which effectively uses all its data generated through customer facing and transactional IT systems as its 'eyes and ears' into the world. Through sophisticated data acquisition techniques (via all its outward and inward facing systems) a cognitive business uses machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand its inward facing world to start with, but more importantly uses ML/AI to model how customers see the business from the outside.

A cognitive business uses the understanding gained from its inward and outward facing data to create a closed-loop and perpetual learning system that advises senior management about how to improve the business’s value to its customers, partners and staff. A cognitive business is only a cognitive business when it becomes a learning business that changes dynamically based on the world around it and the inputs it receives through sophisticated and sometimes automatic guidance generated via its ML and AI processes."

Shahid Shah is CEO, Netspective Communications, and a cybersecurity and risk management consultant. @shahidnshah

Identify the who and why behind cyber threats

Dan Lohrmann

"A cognitive business takes advantage of recent developments in cognitive computing to improve the overall effectiveness of its people, processes and technology. Data is starting to be pulled from more and more sources today to help solve problems in diverse fields – from health care to national defense and from daily operations to setting the right metrics that measure progress towards strategic and tactical goals. In 2016, the amount of global data being collected and analyzed is unprecedented—and growing. Working with that data in smarter ways is the key to future business success.

For example, IBM’s Watson relies on deep learning algorithms and neural networks to process information by comparing it to a teaching set of data in research hospitals to diagnose symptoms and recommend better patient treatment plans.

As Internet of Things (IoT) sensors expand to new areas, and as artificial intelligence becomes more and more of a reality over the next two decades, businesses will rely on a new mix of real-time data, analytical processing and cutting edge alternative solutions to transform the way services are delivered. The right data will be collected and processed faster—yielding improved results for clients.

Bottom line: a cognitive business is an increasingly smarter, data-driven business."

Dan Lohrmann is CSO at Security Mentor, Inc. and internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist, speaker, blogger and author

Transform data into actionable intelligence

Shep Hyken

"The Cognitive Customer Experience: What do you know about your customer? What can you predict he or she will do or buy next? The cognitive customer experience takes advantage of knowing your customers. Start with big data, which will give you insights into the major trends and expectations from a general group (demographic) of customers. Then add to it the concept of 'little data,' which will help you understand an individual customer’s preferences. Add to this the concept of predictive analytics, which helps you anticipate what your customer might want next, and even when they will want it. Using all of this data, you can create what appears to be a very customized experience where the customer says, 'Wow! They really know and understand me.'"

Shep Hyken, customer service/experience expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author of The Amazement Revolution  @Hyken

Increase customer loyalty and advocacy

Brett King

"In Financial Services, we see the ultimate potential of cognitive businesses. Smart contracts, predictive analytics, AIs and the use of Blockchain technologies all have the ability to completely reshape the fundamentals of advice, asset management and, indeed, products and services themselves. Cognition and AI will eliminate the need for more than half of the existing financial services workforce, but in doing so will create smart, responsive financial services that fit your life in real-time better than any human on branch ever could."

Brett King, Bestselling Author of Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane and host of Breaking Banks Radio Show @brettking

Discover insights and take actions to improve customer retention

Michael Krigsman

"Data, analytics and machine learning are the heart of a modern cognitive business. Building on the foundation of data, innovative organizations use predictive analysis to personalize and adapt their products and offerings to meet customer needs. Looking beyond the surface, machine learning can help telecommunications companies better understand the traffic going across their network and therefore provide services and plans tailored to more customer segments than was possible ever before. Done well, the results can combine efficiency and innovation to increase subscriber satisfaction and carrier revenue while reducing costs."

Michael Krigsman, industry analyst and founder of cxotalk.com @mkrigsman

Use predictive analytics to anticipate customer concerns

April Rudin

"A cognitive business in wealth management means having a deeper more meaningful understanding of each of your clients. Watson-enablement for wealth management means financial advisors can know, understand and verify their holistic view of a client's assets. For wealth management, it is a huge leap forward for the industry to benefit from analytics and technology to power and augment a financial advisor's ability to understand a client's needs, traits and values. Who wouldn't want a super-computer like Watson to inform our decision-making?"

April Rudin, Global Wealth Marketing Guru, #FinSvcs Compliant content = social + digital strategies. HuffPost blogger.

Leverage client insights to improve service, retention and profitability

Alex Tapscott

"The world of banking is undergoing its biggest transformation in at least a generation and possibly ever. Digital technologies like blockchain—the distributed ledger which promises to radically reduce the need for trusted intermediaries—promise to make the industry virtually unrecognizable in a decade. To survive, banks need to be cognitive business leaders, anticipating how digital technology will transform their industry and choosing to disrupt from within. To truly thrive in this era of digital disruption, banks must think strategically, not just opportunistically. Think hard about how fintech, blockchain and other forces could enable you to do the impossible."

Alex Tapscott, CFA, CEO, Northwest Passage Ventures and Co-Author (with Don Tapscott) of Blockchain Revolution, @alextapscott

Change the way you do business with banking analytics

Jim Marous

“A cognitive banking organization can provide highly personalized advice and contextual solutions that create a unique competitive differentiation. Financial institutions must become cognitive businesses to meet the increased expectations of the digital consumer. Data is the new oil for cognitive businesses hoping to use advanced analytics to integrate solutions within the daily lives of consumers”

Use cognitive to evolve quickly and increase customer profitability

Annette Franz

Being a cognitive business means that the company has adapted to the here and now, to the evolution that the inundation of customer data has forced upon companies. Cognitive businesses have put the customer and the  customer experience at the center of all they do. In doing so, they have incorporated the use of customer data into their every day in order to understand customers, to continuously learn about and to adapt based on and to customer needs and the jobs they are trying to do, and to remember customer preferences in order to design and to deliver the experience that the customer expects. These businesses also ensure they have the tools and the infrastructure in place to support this evolution.

 Deliver an exceptional customer experience