What will the New Year hold for the world of AI and ML?

2018 was huge for technology, but now that we’ve rung in the new year, it’s time to turn our attention to 2019 and what this coming year will bring. As we are heading towards a world of driverless cars and smart cities, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is starting to impact almost every aspect of our lives. With this in mind, four IT and data experts have come together to share their thoughts on how these advances will further impact the technology landscape in 2019.

  • Monday, 28th January 2019 Posted 5 years ago in by Phil Alsop

“Each year we make advances in AI and, although the term is associated with driverless cars and robotics, we are starting to see it’s everyday advantages filter through to the way we work and live,” states Krishna Subramanian, COO at Komprise. “In 2019, this will be the same for the data management industry. AI is reliant on data and the ability to utilise this more successfully will in turn drive AI discovery.
 
“As part of this, we will see a more widespread adoption of AI-driven data management platforms that can think outside the box and analyse data patterns,” continues Subramanian. “With intelligent software, organisations can move away from the time intensive, and often inaccurate rule-based policy management, and set goal-based objectives. AI will also allow us to improve on search and discovery, paving the way for big data. However, one of the key differences is autonomous or automation management. While robotics, self-driving cars, and other AI based products have a certain goal, and automation can achieve this, data management is unique to each business need and therefore should remain within the control of IT. Taking advantage of AI benefits is key but organisations need to toe the line when it comes to fully automated management.”
 
Stephen Gailey, solutions architect at Exabeam agrees with Subramanian, affirming that, “analytics, AL and ML tools are already available, though their take up has often been delayed by a failure to match these new capabilities with appropriate new workflows and SOC practices. This year should see some of the pretenders – those claiming to use these techniques but actually using last generation's correlation and alert techniques in disguise – fall away, allowing the real innovators in this field to begin to dominate. This is likely to lead to some acquisitions, as the large incumbents, who have struggled to develop this technology, seek to buy it instead. 2019 is the year to invest in machine learning security start-ups demonstrating real capabilities.”
 
AI and ML certainly has a dominant role to play in the IT landscape, and as Alan Conboy, Office of the CTO at Scale Computing shows, this is only on the rise. “AI and ML insights have always been available,” he says, “but possibly leveraged a bit slower than needed over cloud platforms or traditional data centres. Now we can move the compute and storage capabilities closer to where data is retrieved and processed, enabling companies, organisations and government agencies to make wiser and faster decisions.
 
“We’re already seeing this in the way airlines build and service airplanes, government defence agencies respond to hackers and how personal assistants make recommendations for future online purchases. This year, thanks to AI and ML, someone will finally know if that special someone really wants a fruitcake or power washer."
 
While AI and ML is undoubtedly impacting the business landscape, it is also changing the way organisations target and integrate with customers. Nigel Tozer, solutions marketing director at Commvault looks at the direct impact this is making. “The consumerisation of software and services, driven by simplicity and analytics will increasingly define the way in which the enterprise operates in 2019 and beyond.”
 
“Additionally,” he continues, “the push to ‘do more with less’ will also increase demand for intuitive applications that make provision for self-service functionality, driven by technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Software vendors in the enterprise space who heed the change and modernise their approach to delivering technology underpinned by these capabilities will be in the best position to capitalise on these opportunities.”
 
Essentially, 2019 is looking to become the year that AI and ML comes into its own, and the advancements it makes will shake up both the world of technology and consumerism as we know it.