Shamayita Acharya

There is no doubt that business organizations and educational institutions are now embracing the millennial evolution. Traditional leaders or those who were “schooled” from the top-down, military-like management style are beginning to understand that the needs, characteristics, and behaviors of the current and future workforce have changed significantly and therefore, they must adopt new leadership styles that would make them genuinely effective. That said, here are five modern leadership styles that every traditional manager must know.1. Innovative leadershipThis is the frontrunner in modern leadership styles that immensely surpassed the traditional, top-down, linear approach by thinking “outside of the box” and finding more than a thousand ways to achieve the organisation’s goals. Innovative leadership can be seen as the exact opposite of the conventional management style that was stuck in the idea that a once-proven-and-tested solution can lead to a one-size-fits-all formula when in

As we wrap up this year and going ahead in a new decade, the future of work is purpose-driven and people-focused. Over the course of the 2010s, the space of human resources has extended and progressed alongside changes in how organizations function, how teams are managed, and how employees set their expectations when it comes to working.As we enter the next decade, HR must put their prime focus on elements like- people management and human resources to providing- engaging and exceptional work experiences for their people. Here are five HR trends for 2020 that will transform the workforce and the workplace in 2020.Trend #1 Using People analytics for decision-makingWe all know that big data analysis has a wide-reaching potential that can quickly drive any branch of an organization. In HR, applying a data-driven approach to people analytics enable employers to come up with valuable insights on- employee performance and satisfaction and that influences their motivation and productivity. In

Nowadays, Agile has a tremendous potential advantage over businesses, it's important not to get lost in some of the hype that exists about Agile management style. One must also need to take more time to understand what problem Agile can potentially solve and how it will benefit your business.Agile can pose challenges for many companies and project managers. Many organizations have an existing management system or a project management approach that is based on a traditional, plan-driven method or what is sometimes called the “Waterfall model”. Once the Project managers are in, they revolve around different choices like whether to continue with the traditional approach which has an emphasis on managing costs and schedules or move with the Agile management approach which can offer many benefits including faster time-to-market and higher business value. However, both have their risks associated with either losing control of projects or less focus on managing costs and schedules.The maj

Most businesses today are trying to implement a conversational solution to help improve overall Customer Experience. And if you are a Customer Experience or Digital Transformation professional looking for one, you might be a little confused about the difference between ‘chatbots’ and ‘virtual assistants’, among a host of other terms used for such solutions.  Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) is a term that has entered common usage over the past year as a means of discerning ‘good chatbots’ vs’ bad chatbots’. Broadly speaking, the term ‘chatbot’ is typically used for a solution that can handle only simple, routine queries and FAQs. ‘Intelligent Virtual Assistants’, on the other hand, are more advanced conversational solutions – equipped with NLU (Natural Language Understanding), NLG (Natural Language Generation), and Deep Learning, that enables them to understand and retain context and have more productive conversations with users.  While the terms ‘chatbot’ and ‘Intelligent V

By AI Trends Staff A team of researchers from Stanford University, MIT and the Toyota Research Institute have used AI to dramatically speed up the time required to test and optimally charge batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). As recently reported in Nature, Stanford professors Stefano Ermon and William Chueh sought ways to charge an EV battery more quickly while maximizing the overall battery life. The study showed how a patented AI program could predict different ways batteries would react to charging methods. The software also decided in real time what charging approaches to focus on or ignore. The researchers cut the testing process from two years to 16 days by reducing the length and number of trials. Stefano Ermon, Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University The machine learning system was trained on data of batteries that failed. It was able to detect patterns for predicting how long batteries would last. This resulted in a new fast-charging protocol, which sh

By AI Trends Staff As the US steel industry looks for ways to lower costs in a global market facing slowing demand, a modern steel plant in Arkansas is using AI to help it become more competitive. The Big River Steel Mill, which began operating in January 2017, melts scrap metal and produces steel for more than 200 customers, including four automakers, according to a recent account in  WSJPro . The plant’s AI system has been designed by Noodle Analytics of San Francisco, which uses deep learning and neural networks to continually train algorithms on data captured by thousands of sensors. “We’re using the best available technology and pressing that technology farther, we think, than anyone in the steel industry,” stated Big River Chief Executive David Stickler, a veteran of the steel, mining and recycling industries. “Any future steel facilities that are built will try to capitalize on what we’ve done and replicate it.” An environment of falling steel prices and a decline in deman

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider Too smart for their own good. Smarter than their britches. Egghead. Pointy head. An Einstein. These are the kinds of semi-polite insults that are sometimes used to take down someone that seems to be highly intelligent. This can be especially used whenever the person evokes the know-it-all kind of stance and tries to lord over others with their professed smartness and smarty-pants attitude. Not everyone that might be in the intellectual high-end rankings is necessarily the type that wants to make sure that you know they are the mental giant in the room, but it does seem to happen with great regularity and presumably to the delight of the brainy colossus that is overtly full of their own boastfulness. How shall we weigh the brainiac in terms of gauging their peak-level intellectual power? I suppose you could remove their brain, place it on a scale, and see how much it weighs. Probably not very conducive though to their continuing capacity

By Caleb Danziger Technology has opened up a world of possibility, for good and for bad. Some enable criminals to operate on a level previously unseen, but the solution to stopping them often also lies in tech. At today’s rapid pace of development, catching the bad guys is usually a matter of having the most advanced tools. Some of the most pressing criminal concerns have moved to the digital sphere. As a result, cyber justice can take the form of a technological arms race. Clever implementation of technology may have allowed criminals to avoid capture in the first place, but as security tech improves, it may prove to be their downfall. Human trafficking is one crime that has proved historically challenging to address. Those guilty of this heinous activity have repeatedly slipped the grasp of law enforcement, but thanks to new tools like artificial intelligence (AI), that may be changing. A Growing Global Concern Also called modern slavery, human trafficking is a widespread and g

By AI Trends Staff Hospitals and doctors’ offices collect vast amounts of data on their patients, everything from blood pressure to genetic sequencing. While the data may be digitized, using it to help in patient treatment can be challenging. But the healthcare industry is getting better at using AI to find patterns in data that can help in patient care. “I think the average patient or future patient is already being touched by AI in health care. They’re just not necessarily aware of it,” stated Chris Coburn, chief innovation officer for Partners HealthCare System, a hospital and physicians network based in Boston, in an account in WebMD . The application of AI to patient care is in an early stage and is spreading. “I could not easily name a [health] field that doesn’t have some active work as it relates to AI,” stated Coburn, who mentioned pathology, radiology, spinal surgery, cardiac surgery, and dermatology as examples. And of course entrepreneurs see a business opportunity. GN

An important decision all organizations need to make regarding their data is whether to store it on-premise or to host it in the cloud. As of 2019, more than 94 % of them have found the answer to this question and rely on the cloud for storing their data. Others are still questioning the impact that such a decision will have on their business model. But one of the most frequent questions asked relates to data security: “What about the security of our data in the cloud?”Below is a list of 7 aspects that make cloud storage more secure than data warehousing centers: Data Redundancy & Crash ResilienceLet’s start with the obvious: the safety of your data relates directly to the safety of the physical data-center(s) where it is stored.Since cloud vendors store data redundantly, multiple copies of your files reside on a number of data centers spread across the globe. This gives you the certainty that in case of the worst failure (e.g. a physical server is destroyed by a natural disaster)

There is not a single industry that has not been touched by artificial intelligence. One of the fields that has been most affected is the marketing profession. Most marketers appreciate the benefits that AI offers. A 2017 report by Salesforce found that 51% of marketers are using AI in some capacity. My own anecdotal experiences suggest that figure has increased to around 80% this year. However, many marketers are still unclear about the capabilities of AI. They also aren’t entirely sure what technology should be classified as artificial intelligence. The most competent marketing companies are seeking greater clarity from vendors that use technology based on machine learning algorithms. Companies that use AI to facilitate marketers should provide better explanations. Marketers must also familiarize themselves with the opportunities and constraints of artificial intelligence. Otherwise, they risk overpaying for solutions, getting duped by “AI snake oil salesman” or setting unreali

The launch of Bitcoin in 2009 kickstarted the cryptocurrency revolution. This new digital asset was not affiliated to any central authority and allowed users to conduct transactions in an anonymous as well as secure fashion. It was not long before other cryptocurrencies emerged, each targeting a niche industry or boasting of an elaborate consensus algorithm. However, cryptocurrencies being virtual resources could not be swapped on traditional physical platforms. Thus, the requirement for specialized trading platforms was highlighted and cryptocurrency exchanges were born.Cryptocurrency exchanges conduct business the same way forex trading functions, i.e. one currency is exchanged for another currency. For example, just like how the US Dollar is traded for the Indian Rupee, a Bitcoin can be exchanged for Ripple and vice-versa. These platforms sustained themselves by levying a small fee on every transaction. Soon, these cryptocurrency exchange development were divided on the basis of the

  Blockchain and cryptocurrency have always been associated with the concept of decentralization. However, when it comes to the cryptocurrency exchanges, the concept of decentralization needs to take a backseat. Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanges, commonly abbreviated as P2P crypto exchange, present themselves as perfect solutions to this challenge. Let us learn about these P2P crypto exchanges and the benefits that they bring. The Classic Crypto Exchange Usually, when it comes to cryptocurrency exchanges, there is always an intermediary involved in executing the trade and transactions. Users who wished to exchange cryptocurrency would post an order with details such as the quantity and unit price. These details would be added to a shared ledger called the order book. On the other side, users who would like to buy those listed coins would select an order that matched their commercial requirements. The trading process begins only after the buyer and seller requirements match. Th

Excess of everything is harmful, and it stands true for data as well. While organizations are finding meaningful ways to leverage mountains of data; bad or poor-quality data is creating equal and hindrances. Staying organized or keeping your data healthy and running is critical to business. Duplicate, outdated, inaccurate, incomplete or inconsistent data can have grave impact on your efforts to grow profitably. 69% companies claim that their bad data hinders them providing an enriched customer experience.About 29% organizations believe that their data in accurate and the biggest culprit in this case is manual errors.89% of businesses struggle with managing data quality. Why your company should cleanse dirty data? Data is the new oil, but we are living in an era of data explosion or data disaggregation. And data accuracy is the life line for your business. For example, Ola or Uber are required to optimize their fleet program by charting out routes for drivers. Their routing al

This article has been penned by Swapan Rajdev, Co-Founder & CTO of Haptik Chatbots and virtual assistants have been in the news in a big way for the past few days. The reason? One word: Meena. In a research paper titled Towards an Open Domain Chatbot, Google presented Meena, a “conversational agent that can chat about…anything”. According to the Google researchers’ who worked on the project, Meena stands in contrast to the majority of current chatbots, that tend to be highly specialized within a particular domain, and perform well as long as users do not stray too much from expected usage. Open-domain chatbots, on the other hand, theoretically have the ability to converse with a user about anything they want.  In practice, however, most current open-domain chatbots often simply do not make sense. At worst, they say things that are inconsistent with what has been said previously, or which indicate a lack of common sense or basic knowledge about the world. At best, th

Global spending on cognitive and AI systems will reach $57.6 billion in 2021, as per different industries’ market share.                                                             Looking ahead at 2020, enterprises become laser-focused on AI value and leap out of experimentation mode, and ground themselves in reality to accelerate adoption.Here are the top 10 trends in AI that are likely to continue or emerge in the year 2020: ... Read More on Datafloq

Traditionally, real estate prices have been determined mostly by the number of people moving in and out of an area, along with the availability of jobs, shops, and other opportunities for families. These factors then were summed in simple mathematical models and used by real estate agents to decide home values. But in reality, it’s a mix of factors that work in delicate balance with each other to determine trends in real estate markets. Technology and software development companies have recognized the complexity of the real estate market and seen it as an opportunity to bring innovative solutions to one of the oldest markets in the world. In the short amount of time that these data-based companies have entered the real estate industry, they’ve fundamentally changed how market analysis is performed. Here, you’ll find some of the key ways that big data - and the companies processing this data - are impacting the real estate industry. Micro-trends Shaping Local Markets One of the

Cyber security teams should stay at the front foot to protect their company data and IT structure. This means watching out for all new mutations and similar attacks is important for organizations. With cyber-attacks constantly increasing, let’s have a look at the latest attacks that organizations and their cyber security testing teams should look out for:More Cloud, More HacksThe cloud is the most common platform for companies to store their data while utilizing their large capacities. However, most of the latest cyber-attacks are increasingly targeting the cloud. Individual applications are a bigger target for hackers. Data breaches are expected to directly target applications that have access to the database. In public cloud environments, new cyber-attacks will gain access to data while decrypted. Weaponized 5G Technology As 5G technology is used in our daily lives, some experts predict that the network could be used by cyber-criminals as civilians mobile users. The advent of 5G may

Remote employees are not like their office-based counterparts. Unlike those at the office, remote workers are less supervised and are flexible in their time. Such “freedom” can result in issues such as unfair workload distribution or failure to meet company expectations. To prevent such occurrences, try tools and techniques for a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of project management processes. As a beginner trying to acquire a basic knowledge of how to manage remote employees, try the following tips: Photo Courtesy of freestocks.org via Unsplash1. Install workload management toolsWorkload planners are among the essentials for any business, whether it’s for remote work or for a physical company. However, you need to determine which apps or software you need. For example, you can go for casual communication tools such as Slack and Skype. For workload distribution, you can pick project trackers, like Asana or Trello. Once you’ve picked the workload apps that you need, eva

Remote employees are not like their office-based counterparts. Unlike those at the office, remote workers are less supervised and are flexible in their time. Such “freedom” can result in issues such as unfair workload distribution or failure to meet company expectations. To prevent such occurrences, try tools and techniques for a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of project management processes. As a beginner trying to acquire a basic knowledge of how to manage remote employees, try the following tips: Photo Courtesy of freestocks.org via Unsplash1. Install workload management toolsWorkload planners are among the essentials for any business, whether it’s for remote work or for a physical company. However, you need to determine which apps or software you need. For example, you can go for casual communication tools such as Slack and Skype. For workload distribution, you can pick project trackers, like Asana or Trello. Once you’ve picked the workload apps that you need, eva

The number of infants that die before their first birthday is still a pressing concern in America. Infant mortality is on the decline, but more can be done to prevent infant deaths – especially among black women.Nearly 300,000 women died from needless complications during pregnancy and childbirth in 2017, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of those deaths occurred in developing countries. Globally, governments and public health agencies have made maternal mortality a priority as part of their work to improve the well-being and the quality of life of constituents.American Infant Mortality by the NumbersInfant mortality occurs when a child passes away before their first birthday. Researchers measure the infant mortality rate by recording the number of infant deaths compared to every 1,000 live births.This metric gives physicians and other healthcare stakeholders vital data about the health of mothers and their babies. It’s a measure of the overall health of the popula

Excess of everything is harmful, and it stands true for data as well. While organizations are finding meaningful ways to leverage mountains of data; bad or poor-quality data is creating equal and hindrances. Staying organized or keeping your data healthy and running is critical to business. Duplicate, outdated, inaccurate, incomplete or inconsistent data can have grave impact on your efforts to grow profitably. 69% companies claim that their bad data hinders them providing an enriched customer experience.About 29% organizations believe that their data in accurate and the biggest culprit in this case is manual errors.89% of businesses struggle with managing data quality. Why your company should cleanse dirty data? Data is the new oil, but we are living in an era of data explosion or data disaggregation. And data accuracy is the life line for your business. For example, Ola or Uber are required to optimize their fleet program by charting out routes for drivers. Their routing al

Traditionally, real estate prices have been determined mostly by the number of people moving in and out of an area, along with the availability of jobs, shops, and other opportunities for families. These factors then were summed in simple mathematical models and used by real estate agents to decide home values. But in reality, it’s a mix of factors that work in delicate balance with each other to determine trends in real estate markets. Technology and software development companies have recognized the complexity of the real estate market and seen it as an opportunity to bring innovative solutions to one of the oldest markets in the world. In the short amount of time that these data-based companies have entered the real estate industry, they’ve fundamentally changed how market analysis is performed. Here, you’ll find some of the key ways that big data - and the companies processing this data - are impacting the real estate industry. Micro-trends Shaping Local Markets One of the

This article has been penned by Swapan Rajdev, Co-Founder & CTO of Haptik Chatbots and virtual assistants have been in the news in a big way for the past few days. The reason? One word: Meena. In a research paper titled Towards an Open Domain Chatbot, Google presented Meena, a “conversational agent that can chat about…anything”. According to the Google researchers’ who worked on the project, Meena stands in contrast to the majority of current chatbots, that tend to be highly specialized within a particular domain, and perform well as long as users do not stray too much from expected usage. Open-domain chatbots, on the other hand, theoretically have the ability to converse with a user about anything they want.  In practice, however, most current open-domain chatbots often simply do not make sense. At worst, they say things that are inconsistent with what has been said previously, or which indicate a lack of common sense or basic knowledge about the world. At best, th