Episodes

Today’s buzz: Predictive. IBM’s Watson beat Mensa on Jeopardy. Target knows your family. Match.com picks mates. How are they so smart? The experts speak. John Elder, Elder Research: “Humans and machines have very different strengths and weaknesses. The best decisions come from combining their two types of wisdom. Greta Roberts, Talent Analytics: “When a predictive approach is added to the hiring process, cost-benefit models sometimes show it is more powerful to screen out potential bottom-perfor...

Today’s buzz: The city. Your city is a complex vital entity with the power to impact your local quality of life as well as national and global economies. How is your city running? Is innovation part of its DNA, spirit, budget and capabilities? The experts speak. Sean Patrick O’Brien, SAP: “What defines a best run city, how can you measure this, what do you benchmark against, and is this the same way citizens, businesses and officials make such a judgment?” Meghan Cook, Center for Technology in G...

Today’s buzz: Bribery and corruption are alive and well. The global economy continues to bring great opportunities and great risks. Wherever you do business, do you have measures in place to detect and thwart clever bribery and corruption fraud schemes, especially those cooked-up by trusted staff or consultants? Perhaps technology can help. The experts speak. Thomas Fox, attorney, independent consultant: “GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in China will be a complete game-changer in bribery and corruption en...

Today’s buzz: Corporate responsibility (CR). How’s yours? William Newman, Newport Consulting: “Disney’s decision to pull out of Bangladesh based on the government’s slow response to the building collapse illustrates CR isn’t just for branding anymore. Lives are at stake.” John Edelman, Edelman PR: “Sustainability has moved from license-to-operate to license-to-lead...companies public or private, big or small, should start activating around these issues.”” Mark Delisi, CSC: “Character cannot be d...

Today’s buzz: Sports. Whether you play sports or just watch, you may already be seeing the impact of an exciting new ‘player’ on the court, the field, the track, the pool, the television. Its name is technology and it’s enhancing how players play, coaches coach, equipment runs, teams collaborate, fans enjoy, and lots more. The experts speak. Michael Gliedman, NBA: “A man of my mind can do anything” (Steely Dan, Don’t Take Me Alive, 1976). Marcus Baur, Sailing Team Germany: “We ain’t seen nothing...

Today’s buzz: Caregivers. In April, we discussed how technology is being developed to help 65 million U.S. caregivers, and others around the world, who provide weekly care to the ill, disabled and aged. Now, half a year later, we’ll examine the realities of this technology – benefits, limitations, negatives, challenges – and a wish list for the future. The experts speak. Jayne Dixon Weber, National Fragile X Foundation: “Technology can help you when you get a diagnosis. It can help you get infor...

Today’s buzz: Manufacturing. Reality check: manufacturers must adapt or die. Survival means automating your shop floor, deploying M2M technology, leveraging Big Data. What else? What is government’s role? The experts speak. Brian Raymond, National Association of Manufacturers: “We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there (East Bound and Down, Smoky and the Bandit theme song, sung by Jerry Reed, 1977). Mike Walton, Atos: “If the leader is filled with high ambition and he pursues his ...

Today’s buzz: SMEs. A recent Oxford Economics study of 2,100 small to mid-size enterprises in 21 countries found that those leveraging technology to boost innovation, strengthen customer relationships, improve agility and expand business, are able to compete effectively against multinationals. How? The experts speak. Steve Freeman, Decision First Technologies: “To achieve an agile and competitive enterprise, SMEs require the individual within flatter organizations to make better, more timely dec...

The buzz: CRM. Has your company’s CRM evolved to keep up with today’s digitally-empowered, brand-controlling customers – or is it stuck in vanilla call-center mode? If the latter, wake up! Your audience is seizing the power moment-by-moment via smartphones, 4G networks, social networking – and defying traditional CRM tools. The experts speak. Brent Leary, CRM Essentials: “When it comes to building lasting relationships with customers living in The Millisecond Economy, ‘speed thrills and the lack...

The buzz: Things. Your POV on The Internet of Things and M2M (machine to machine) technology: Real or vapor? Now or futuristic? Listen up! Companies that fail to implement M2M will fall behind their competitors, say a majority of IT decision makers in six countries surveyed by Harris Interactive for SAP. The experts speak. Don Peppers, Peppers & Rogers Group: “When devices begin to join the Internet of Things in vast numbers (as will happen over the next ten years), they won’t just talk to you, ...

The buzz: Millennials are here. Retailers, watch out. Tom Julian, Doneger Group: “A celeb today has more impact and influence as a player in fashion and the retailer than an award-winning young designer.” Greg Girard, IDC: Get off of the catwalks and on the sidewalks to see what's coming next. Pinterest is the newest sidewalk. Sarah Austin, Pop17.com: “Micro-celebrities, fashion bloggers, and Hollywood celebrities are the new trendsetters. They embrace technology blogging platforms, social media...

The buzz: Millennials are here. Retailers, watch out. Tom Julian, Doneger Group: “Millennials have become the most racially diverse, most educated, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat generation to date. They have impacted shopping/commerce, the work environment, social media platforms, and lifestyle behavior around technology.” Greg Girard, IDC: “Savvy retailers are evolving and melding digital and physical omnichannel assets to engage millennials, the vanguard of a pervasive digital persona touch...

Today’s buzz: Diversity. Inclusion now covers race, age, gender, religion, impairments, skills, viewpoints and more. How will it benefit your company? The experts speak. Paul Albert, Albert Investments: “Outstanding women directors I know would rather see the primary emphasis on their qualifications to contribute, with their label as a woman irrelevant to their board nomination.” Nola Masterson, Science Futures Management: “The pressure to fit in or ‘lean in’, as the current crowd likes to quote...

Today’s buzz: Insurance industry. Do you gnash your teeth every time you deal with insurers? Do they even know the meaning of ‘customer experience’? The experts speak. Mark Breading, Strategy Meets Action: “The insurance industry is in the midst of a long transition from paper to digital, affecting every part of the business, but especially the customer experience.” Nathan Golia, Insurance & Technology: “I had the good providence to stumble upon a plan of the city council. A construction plan of...

Today’s buzz: Corporate innovation. How often are your organization’s decision-makers really right? If not often enough, and their typical excuses wag a finger at your data – too much, too fast, too big, or just ‘bad’ – then take a closer look at the analytics tools they’re using. The experts speak. Elizabeth Hedstrom Henlin, TBR: “No matter where you are in your BI adoption journey, there has never been a better market to be a buyer of new technologies – especially within business intelligence ...

Today’s buzz: CMO. Who’s calling your marketing shots today – your MBA’ed CMO or hyper-vocal/social/mobile customers? A pop quiz to help you answer. Is your CMO (a) listening and responding to social sentiment? (b) a champion of memorable experiences with your legions of brand-owners? (c) using analytics to pull signals from your big and small data? Pencils down. Before deciding whether to hug your CMO or post their job, listen to the experts: Jonathan Becher, SAP: “Not everything that can be co...

Today’s buzz: Technology startups. Some entrepreneurs soar to success right from the get-go. How? They simply deliver something the world really needs - and they do it uniquely well. Our in-the-trenches start-up experts share first-hand insights on vision, planning, brains, teams, funding and other challenges. Frantisek Vrabel, Semantic Visions: “I can think. I can wait. I can fast. (Herman Hesse, Siddhartha, Chap. 6) Rick Dutta, Nextvisionix: “We should not only use the brains we have, but all ...

Today’s buzz: Banking fraud. Show me the money! Earlier this year, a band of “cashiers” swiped prepaid debit cards at ATMs in NY City and 25 countries – and made off with $45 million in cash. The problem: they didn’t own the cards or the money. What are we doing to detect emerging fraud patterns and stop these emboldened outlaws and their sophisticated cyber-criminal organizations before they dig even deeper into our pockets? The experts speak. Nuno Sebastiao, FeedZai: “Flash attacks are a new t...

Reality check: Health matters. More than your job, social status, money, car, house. But health is elusive. So much so that 65 million U.S. caregivers provide weekly care to the ill, disabled, aged. How can technology help? The experts speak. Robert M. Miller, National Fragile X Foundation: “Technology will never replace the caring spirit, but technology can provide the necessary tools for caring to make a real difference in the lives of those with special needs.” Louise W. Gane, MS, M.I.N.D. In...

Today’s buzz: Mobility. The world loves mobile devices. One could say wireless is the new de rigeur accessory for every hat you wear: business, consumer, personal. Your company can’t fight this trend, so you’d better know how to mobilize your workplace smartly and securely, and create loyalty-sustaining mobile customer engagement. The experts speak. Philippe Winthrop, VeliQ: “Dear MDM, we hardly knew you….” Sheryl Kingstone, Yankee Group: “It's not just about having an app for that -- it's about...

Today’s buzz: The IT Brain. Whoosh! Faster benchmarks. Hybrid cloud computing. Big Data. Analytics for the whole company. Wait a sec. Even the most exciting new technology is doomed to fail unless your IT department assesses its challenges and opportunities to develop a viable strategy and bring back office to front office. Think about it. The experts speak. Ben Kepes, Diversity Limited: The organization of the future will look radically different from that which has gone before. IT departments ...

Today’s buzz: HR. Talent, talent everywhere, yet so many candidates still can’t find a job. With droves of companies expanding their geographic footprint, the ongoing skills vs. talent paradox merits fresh examination since we covered it in Feb. 2013. What is HR doing about this? The experts speak. Dr. Katherine Jones, Bersin by Deloitte: “’Growing local’ when going global: skill gaps take on a whole new meaning for multinational companies seeking indigenous leaders.” China Gorman, CMG Group: “A...

Today’s buzz: Your health. When choosing a physician, hospital, insurance plan, or treatment, you must be a smart consumer. This means having the right information whenever, wherever, however you need it, so you can make informed decisions that yield the best possible outcome. Can mobility help? The experts speak. Devin Virta, SAP: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and move back toward the technology – not the other way around.” (Steven Jobs, Apple) David Delaney, MD, SAP: “The o...

Today’s buzz: SMEs - small and medium enterprises. Does size matter when it comes to data management? Besides an SME’s smaller budget and resources, their challenges are similar to larger companies’. So how can SMEs gain competitive advantage? Consider in-memory technologies. The experts speak. Jorge Garcia, TEC: “If the processing of data is going to drive better execution, higher performance, and increased profit for SMEs, an organization considering in-memory technology needs to acknowledge a...