Middleware Consulting International

Global collaboration with IBM built on shared values around the importance of protecting client data, as well the responsible and transparent deployment of AI

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 22, 2020 — I.AM+, the technology company founded by global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, and IBM have joined forces aiming to accelerate the adoption of AI and responsibly manage customer data as AI goes mainstream.

I.AM+’s Omega AI platform provides businesses across industries with tools to develop human-like conversational experiences. As part of this global collaboration I.AM+ will deploy Omega using Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s most comprehensive enterprise Kubernetes platform, running on IBM public cloud, designed to provide I.AM+ customers the technology to get started with the platform faster and operate more efficiently, while taking advantage of enterprise-level data security that comes with IBM public cloud. The company will also tap IBM Services for its industry expertise in developing and implementing cloud and cognitive solutions that can create the personalized and innovative experiences today’s companies demand.

“Delivering AI solutions to industries like retail and entertainment, where personal data is everywhere, it was a top priority to find a cloud provider with deep roots in security, trust and transparency; we got that with IBM public cloud,” said will.i.am, founder of I.AM+. “Combined with Red Hat OpenShift, we have the right partners to help us scale the use of AI in a responsible and transparent way.”

IBM will benefit from offering I.AM+ technology to its customer base who are looking to build conversational experiences that are contextual and proactive. I.AM+ has created domain-specific applications using machine learning technologies built in-house, fusing voice and U.I. for an enhanced customer journey.

“Enterprises across industries, including the most highly regulated ones, have turned to IBM public cloud as their preferred destination to host mission-critical workloads and keep data secure,” said Jesus Mantas, Chief Strategy and Innovation officer, IBM Global Business Services. “The combination of Omega with Red Hat OpenShift on IBM public cloud, is designed to provide I.AM+ clients a faster way to add intuitive, context aware AI use cases to their business platforms, resulting in faster adoption and better experiences for customers.”

Businesses like I.AM+ need to seamlessly and securely connect data and workloads across hybrid IT environments. With Red Hat OpenShift, I.AM+ is able run its platform across multiple public cloud, private cloud and on-premises infrastructures, and can manage, maintain and scale its AI cloud with ease. By selecting IBM public cloud as its preferred cloud platform, I.AM+ clients can benefit from the industry’s most secure and open public cloud for business. IBM public cloud delivers enterprise-grade workload capabilities, data and app protection, and open source innovations that some of the world’s largest and most complex enterprises demand in order to protect sensitive data.

The collaboration between I.AM+ and IBM is built on shared values around the importance of protecting client data, as well as ensuring the responsible and transparent deployment of AI. For decades IBM has followed core principles, grounded in commitments to trust and transparency that guide its handling of client data and insights, and also its responsible development and deployment of new technologies, including AI.

First-to-Market Advertising Solution Leverages Artificial Intelligence to Predict Creative Elements and Classify Audiences to Help Drive Optimum Engagement for Clients

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 — At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), IBM today announced the launch of Advertising Accelerator with Watson, a first-to-market offering that leverages artificial  intelligence (AI) to predict the optimal combination of creative elements to help drive  high engagement and conversion for a given audience.

The predictive solution from IBM leverages Watson to create campaigns designed to understand and engage consumers while addressing industry pain points like targeting and personalization. IBM Advertising Accelerator with Watson makes AI more accessible to advertisers, to help drive faster predictive models, enhance creative performance, audience discovery and actionable insights. The new solution continuously learns and predicts, helping advertisers to better understand the composition and preferences of their audience to inform future media strategies.

“Ad targeting enables marketers to identify core customers, who are often overserved with messages that might not  drive immediate action,” said Jeremy Hlavacek, Head of Revenue, IBM Watson Advertising. “Advertising Accelerator with Watson aims to address this challenge head-on, arming clients with IBM Watson to help them better engage and understand their target audience.”

IBM Advertising Accelerator with Watson empowers advertisers to stop reacting and start predicting. By enabling hyper-personalized advertising, the solution offers capabilities that can help media buyers and brands, including:

• Anticipation: Predicts the creative elements to drive engagement
• Segmentation: Discovers new audience segments based on message resonance to help expand a message to untapped audiences.
• Revelation: Analyzes each campaign from a creative and audience perspective, extracting insights on the highest and lowest performing experiences.

Acknowledging the potential value that IBM Advertising Accelerator with Watson can bring advertisers, LendingTree, Potential Energy Coalition and other leading brands plan to implement the AI-enabled predictive audience solution in beta at launch.

“Matching creative iteration with audience segment is the next step in campaign optimization,” said Josh Eldridge, Senior Director of Marketing, LendingTree. “LendingTree is proud to implement IBM Advertising Accelerator with Watson at launch to improve advertising effectiveness.”