Amazon’s continuous innovation has developed products integrated with machine learning and artificial intelligence, allowing these systems to be accessible to everyone. Bratin Saha, Amazon’s VP of Machine Learning, has helped to constantly advance the major brand’s AIML services along with work on their product strategies in order to better serve consumers.
##Amazon’s goal is to make machine learning available to all customers through their products
Amazon continues to make machine learning and AI accessible for its consumers in the products it launches. Because of Amazon, AIML is accessible at home, adopted by organizations for productivity and continuously advancing since its investments into tech.
##Amazon has been investing in AI for more than 20 years
The major brand invested in AI and machine learning more than 20 years ago. This move has allowed them to bring thousands of engineers and create products their consumers use daily including Alexa, Amazon Go and Prime.
##Machine learning and AI are being adopted across all spectrums of business
There isn’t an industry that hasn’t invested somewhat into AIML. With continuous innovations and growth, AIML will be consumed by everyone in any organization in the years to come.

Saha shares his thoughts on where machine learning and AI are headed with Amazon’s developments, why the brand’s services are the best in the business and more, on this week’s episode.

Key takeaways:

• Amazon’s goal is to make machine learning accessible to all consumers with their products
• AIML will become an aid to how people get insights as well as how to get more proactive recommendations to customers
• Machine learning is having a very broad uptick as it is being adopted across all spectrums of business

Uber, the innovative rideshare company that has taken transportation to new levels of accessibility, is continuously developing ways to make the world move more efficiently through technology. Acknowledging the importance of artificial intelligence, Uber appointed Zoubin Ghahramani, the brand’s Chief Scientist and VP for AI, to steadily focus on how AI can advance people’s daily needs.
##A lot of start-ups and tech companies started getting interested in AI about 10 years ago
Ghahramani started his career in academia focusing on artificial intelligence. As he noticed AI’s impactful transition from academia to the tech industry, he began to advise start-ups and big tech companies into understanding AI’s industrial landscape. Within this transition, he started his company, Geometric Intelligence, that was acquired by Uber.
##Uber has a different strategy than other brands when it comes to AI
A lot of major companies invest in AI for the virtual world whereas Uber invests in the physical world. The decisions machine learning is helping with really matter to people including whether they’re going to get to one place to another on time, can they make income off of Uber’s platform and are trips safe.
##Academia focus and industry focus are different
A challenge Ghahramani faced once working with Uber was learning if his focus in academia would be useful in the tech industry. Once learning he had to change his ideas of how AI could be impactful, he was able to help develop cutting edge ideas and implement them to deliver high-value products.

Key takeaways:

• To Uber, anything that goes from data to models and algorithms that makes predictions and optimized decisions counts in some way as a form of AI or machine learning
• The use of AI for the physical world is continuously developing to help make people’s lives safer and more efficient while optimizing the world, creating income opportunities and more

Data and decision making go hand in hand in today’s economy, making it important to gather desired information quickly to make the right moves. Amit Prakash, co-founder and CTO of ThoughtSpot, knows the importance of obtaining analytics from his times at Microsoft and Google. Now, Prakash and his team are advancing how analytics are generated and how quickly they can be obtained. ThoughtSpot, a technology company that produces business-intelligence analytics search software, is on track to becoming the analytics engine of the world.
##A search and data-driven analytics engine
ThoughtSpot automates the interesting insights a business needs. Data is a big deal in this economy and ThoughtSpot’s system is making it more accessible at a faster rate with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
##ThoughtSpot has rethought what the architecture of a modern BI tool should be
Now, businesses are able to obtain data and make decisions much faster because of this system. Previously, systems took weeks to months to compile data whereas ThoughtSpot uses AI and machine learning to obtain data in minutes.
##ThoughtSpot has gotten really good at solving large problems at large enterprises
ThoughtSpot is being used in very meaningful ways at pretty much any large enterprise in any vertical. For example, one of the world’s largest retailers is using ThoughtSpot to optimize its decision cycles. Before, they would make decisions once a month making it harder to compete with Amazon where decisions were made much faster. After introducing ThoughtSpot, the retailer’s decision cycle went down from a month to less than an hour.

Listeners interested in learning more about ThoughtSpot can follow their progress on their site, ThoughtSpot.com.

Key takeaways:

• As more and more companies enter the digital age, competition becomes fiercer and more cutthroat. Companies are required to adapt faster and faster to stay ahead, thus it is becoming imperative to be able to search across company databases for instantaneous answers to important questions.
• ThoughtSpot is building a category-leading analytics and search platform for companies to ask questions in natural language and retrieve immediate answers. For example, with ThoughtSpot you can ask, “what are the quarterly sales by brand and by store?” without having to run complicated queries across multiple data sources.

There are many steps that go into building start-ups, with legal work being a huge component in the foundations of their success. As legal reaches more into the digital age, transparency with services and costs is needed, especially for these types of brands. Atrium, a tech-enabled law firm for high growth companies, is providing that need. Founded by serial entrepreneur Justin Kan, Atrium is in the hands of a CEO who has a history of successful start-ups.
##Atrium helps bring legal services into the modern age
Atrium not only offers lawyers that provide legal services and expert advising but also innovates around the start-up process. The company finds what can be automated, like sales, marketing or technology components, so the attorneys can focus on higher leverage tasks and advise clients.
##Kan chose to work with start-ups because of his history with them
Kan’s serial entrepreneurship has allowed him to accomplish some big wins and also learn from his losses. Prior to Atrium, he was the co-founder of Twitch, a live gaming platform Amazon acquired for $1B. Not only does his voice resonate with start-ups, but as these start-ups grow, his company can also grow with them.
##Customers receive a different experience with Atrium compared to big law firms
Atrium offers a different talent and client experience. They provide a transparent and predictable monthly subscription instead of project-based billing, so start-ups aren’t met with fluctuating prices each month. They also help automate and move as many tasks online as possible, leaving time for more important and creative jobs.

Listeners interested in learning more about Atrium can follow its Twitter page, @atrium. Listeners can also follow Kan on Twitter, @justinkan, where he shares many honest and personal insights into what it takes to be a serial entrepreneur.

Key takeaways:

• Atrium is building a tech-enabled law firm that is initially serving start-ups but has even larger ambitions
• One of the many ways Atrium is improving the legal experience is by switching to predictable monthly subscriptions as opposed to lumpy, project-based billing
• Atrium already has hundreds of clients including the scooter company, Bird, our former InnovAItors podcast guest, Sift, and direct consumer contact lens business, Simple Contacts

Finding the best solutions for generating leads and building revenue online doesn’t have to be as challenging as it was in the past. With the help of conversational marketing, obtaining customer information and sealing deals is less of a challenge.

David Cancel, CEO of Drift, has helped many companies generate revenue through conversational marketing. With the help of AI, Drift can help generate more leads, collect desired information and create the entry point for sales. Cancel has a philosophy on company building and knows why AI is so important in Drift’s success. Inspired by the internal pains companies endure to find the best methods for lead generation and customer experience, Drift has recently been named to the Forbes Cloud 100 and the LinkedIn Top 50 Start-up list.
##Drift is the world’s leading conversational marketing and sales platform
Drift allows customers to instantly start chatting with a bot or a sales representative to get their questions answered quickly. The company serves up to 150,000 businesses and is the fastest-growing SaaS company.
##Drift is a trend-focused company
Cancel used a very different approach when starting Drift. The company focused more on the macro-changes it saw, behavioral changes and the momentum the world was already picking up on, and used those factors to resegment existing markets.
##Drift uses chat as an entry point for sales
Conversational marketing is how Drift shortens the path to revenue for their clients. With the help of AI, Drift’s software can chat with potential consumers, collect desired information and create more leads for their clients.

Listeners interested in following the process of Drift can visit their website, LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Key takeaways:

• The average website only converts 2% of its traffic. Drift is helping its customers generate more leads, convert more traffic and book more meetings
• Drift is much more than a chatbot, in that it is a seamless platform to coordinate and manage all customer conversations
• Cancel believes that AI will be in every application over the next decade. The goal is to never build an AI-powered company but to build the best product that serves customers needs

It can be a pain to constantly maneuver throughout different systems in order to find needed information, but UiPath is eliminating this laborious and manual issue with robotic process automation (RPA).

Param Kahlon, Chief Product Officer of UiPath, has helped many companies transform their processes quickly without having to rip and replace multiple applications they already have. With the help of RPA, robots work on behalf of humans so businesses and employees can focus on providing better customer experiences and lowering the amount of time committed to finding certain information.

Inspired by efficiency, UiPath has become the biggest growth category in the enterprise office space.
##UiPath’s technology can be applied to any industry
Generally, UiPath gets most of its traction from businesses in finance, customer service and human resources because of the high volume of repeatable processes that happen in their systems. However, UiPath’s tools can be used in any industry that needs automation applied to business processes.
##UiPath helps improve the customer experience
UiPath’s robots can shorten the amount of time needed for an employee to find customer information. For example, a robot can help banks consolidate all of their customers’ files across different systems so bankers can be better prepared for meetings. Robots can confirm an appointment with the customer hours ahead of time and then go into the bank’s systems and extract all the information about the customer the banker would need. This delivers a better customer as well as employee satisfaction experience by lowering the time needed to find this information manually.
##UiPath’s robots have certain skills to process information
UiPath’s robots can process applications and data on multiple platforms at once. Developed in four categories, the bots are able to collect and consolidate data by its ability to view, analyze, understand and predict information like a human using machine learning.

Listeners interested in UiPath’s products are able to sign up for a free version on their website or contact by email at community@uipath.com.

Key takeaways:

• Robotic process automation, commonly referred to as RPA, is helping digitize and automate manual processes inside the enterprise saving money and time
• UiPath is the market leader in RPA having grown to a $7B company in 14 years
• There is a massive global opportunity ahead of UiPath as almost all enterprises have multiple processes which could be automated

Retailers, banks and airlines can see up to 90% of fraudulent logins attempting to steal some form of value in their systems. How are they protecting themselves against attacks?

Derek Smith, co-founder and CEO of Shape Security, has created a patent botwall service that protects many of the world’s largest banks, airlines, retailers and government agencies against cyberattacks, blocking more than a billion fraudulent login attempts daily.

During his time working on cybersecurity policies at the Pentagon, Smith discovered that fraudulent login attacks were a massive problem and would eventually hit corporate America. Smith’s vision with Shape Security is to develop core technology that sits in front of web and mobile technologies to help distinguish if logins are from consumers or computers, preventing fraudulent attacks.

##Shape Security doesn’t just prevent fraud but removes friction out of the consumer experience
Smith shares that he’s proud of the ability to increase their client’s revenue, not just decrease fraud. Shape takes the friction out of the consumer experience, making it easier for users to maneuver through web pages and even transactions without being disrupted by continuously re-entering passwords or other security measures. Smith’s goal is to see a day where there are no passwords and usernames needed because his system can guarantee that the person is who they say they are online.
##Attackers come from different parts of the world
It’s found that attackers who are searching for points of value or currency are usually from Russia or Eastern Europe, whereas attacks seeking information are usually from China and attackers trying to cause disruption usually come from the Middle East.
##Shape Security invests relentlessly on what attacks look like
Shape applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to stop attackers. As the company's software analyzes examples of the most sophisticated attacks, it learns how to identify and block new attack techniques, preventing breaches and online fraud.

Listeners interested in learning more about Shape Security and their progress may follow their blog for updates and new information.

Key takeaways:

• Shape Security is helping more than 50% of the country’s largest airlines and banks as well as retail businesses like Starbucks by continuously - defending against fraudulent login attempts
• Shape prevents over a billion fraudulent login attempts every day
• Hackers continue to become more sophisticated, but Shape is using advanced machine learning techniques to counteract the ever-improving hacking methodologies

Is your job safe as automation advances?

HyperScience CEO Peter Brodsky shares his views on how machine learning and automation will affect data entry in the future. With software now able to eliminate the need for time-consuming, manual data entry, will these jobs become obsolete?

Brodsky also speaks on how AI will impact future software development, how jobs will be affected by automation, and entrepreneurial tips for anyone considering starting a startup.

##HyperScience is eliminating manual data entry
HyperScience uses machine learning and automation to read and enter data, allowing for faster input and removing costly, manual processes. More insurance, major world governments, and Global 3000 companies have begun using this tool to eliminate the need for manual data entry.
##The Future of software development
The way software is written will fundamentally be changed by artificial intelligence and machine learning. Within the next five years, there may be software that still doesn’t use AI, we ask how development will be affected.
##Jobs an automation
There’s a belief that automation will destroy jobs, but Brodsky disagrees. He says the right to a job doesn’t supersede thousands of people’s rights to good service, but never in history have we been able to make jobs go away.

We discuss how automation will remove the need for manual data entry, but should not affect people’s ability to find jobs.

Listeners who are interested in HyperScience, a company that removes the need for manual data entry by automating handwritten data, can follow their blog for announcements and more information.

Key takeaways:

• The way future software will be written will mostly be impacted by machine learning and AI.
• You don’t need to understand the “how” in machine learning, just the result you want to achieve.
• Although automation will remove the need for manual data entry, it doesn’t mean job demand will decrease.