THE FUTURE OF BIG DATA AND AI, by far one of our favorite panels at SXSW, brought to light persuasive commentary on the applications of AI and how data has renewed these functions. Being the retail aficionados that we are, we couldn’t help but tie those topics right back to retail and eCommerce.

Amongst the four panelist, Dr. Doug Lenant, CEO of Cycorp, affirmed that deep learning technology has been around for about 30 years. That said, only now “the machine” has access to better data – a lot of data: “Data is available to machines, not people. Understanding all the data is incredibly daunting. All this data is useless without method. Machines can understand data and extract from it,” he explained.

He went on to elaborate the profound missing elements of AI - common sense and the ability of the AI to be introspective on it’s own line of reasoning. Thusly, perhaps it is striking the proper blend of science and positioning data savvy people to enable better decisions. Here, we observe a symbiotic relationship where the decisive resolution should ultimately be made by the team leaders with the information that has been computed by technology. That is, AI will complement a data enabled team to make your business smarter, nimbler and your people more capable.

As the retail industry has reached the data-overload tipping point, one can’t help but associate Big Data with AI. In fact, those have been topics frequently discussed by our own Chief Scientist and Co-Founder, Michael Ross, who has always held that the future is semi-automated commerce, “the right balance of computers to help retailers make sense and make the right decisions, at the right time, in the right way with the right data.”

Awareness and focus on data have evolved from a tactic for competitive advantage to a requirement for survival. That is, if in the past, data-oriented decision-making meant going an extra mile, now it is the only way to stay in the game at all. Much of the overwhelming availability of data is a result in a shift of the economics of retailing, which is largely a result of consumer’s ever-changing behavior and how retailers are attempting to engage with them directly.

A key example frequently delivered by Ross, is that profit no longer correlates with revenue, as retailers now are facing new costs. He explains that they are now driven by a new set of variable marketing costs (per impression, per click, per transaction) and variable “per order” costs (picking, packing, postage, returns), replacing the more fixed costs of staff and rent.

Additionally, Ross attests that retailers are now able to personalize and optimize all interactions with their customers and products across all channels: web site, apps, operations, stores and marketing. All of that leads to the inevitable need for atomized decision making throughout the operation. The only sustainable way to stay on top of the omnichannel interactions with customers, Ross explains, is utilizing technologies that will allow retailers to synergistically engage with their comprehensive data.

As proposed by Dr. Lenat, retailers should not fear or ignore the use Big Data platforms to assist their decision making because of their unhuman-like ability to assimilate data generate information. However, to make these platforms truly work for you “It is crucial to deploy solutions that include explanatory capabilities to act as partners, not black boxes,” concluded Kris Hammond Chief Scientist Narrative Science, who was also part of the panel.  Only then are retailers able to look at the information holistically across all silos to determine its validity, relevance and viability to implement for the business as a whole, based on their common sense and overall industry experience.

To view the entire panel discussion please click here. To continue to read all of our musings on our blog, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.