November 08, 2020

How Emerging Demands Of AI-Powered Solutions Help Gain Momentum Of Businesses

AI helps take the BI game leaps and bounds ahead with machine learning and deep learning. It empowers BI with the ability to analyze data coming from multiple sources, learn from this data in real-time, and provide accurate granular predictive insights for faster business growth. AI always stays one step ahead of humans in terms of analyzing large data sets at scale with speed and accuracy. The influence of AI is simply not limited to analytics but also to data engineering. Data coming from multiple structured, unstructured, and semi-structured sources, needs to be transformed from silos to unified data. AI can accelerate and automate this process creating a single view and saving data analyst's time and providing much-needed independence for business users. AI-powered NLP bots take BI altogether to the next level by enabling users to extract insights via voice or chat using any language. For example, these BI bots can easily answer questions like 'What is the sales forecast for the next two quarters?' With this, business users can skip any complex query and leave it up to the bots to process the analysis.

How to deal with the escalating phishing threat

“Working from home, where there are more distractions, makes it even less likely that people really pay attention to these trainings. That’s why it’s not uncommon to see the same people who tune out training falling for scams again and again,” he noted. That’s why defenders must preempt attacks, he says, and reinforce a lesson during a live attack. When something gets through and someone clicks on a malicious URL, defenders must be able to simultaneously block the attack and show the victim what the phisher was attempting to do. Harr, who has over 20 years of experience as a senior executive and GM at industry leading security and storage companies and as a serial entrepreneur and CEO at multiple successful start-ups, is now leading SlashNext, a cybersecurity startup that uses AI to predict and protect enterprise users from phishing threats. He says that most CISOs assume phishing is a corporate email problem and their current line of defense is adequate, but they are wrong. “We are detecting 21,000 new phishing attacks a day, many of which have moved beyond corporate email and simple credential stealing. These attacks can easily evade email phishing defenses that rely on static, reputation-based detection. 

The cryptocurrency sector is overflowing with dead projects

It’s a good question if the world really needs a blockchain-based information and trading platform for the pet market. I wouldn’t say there are many problems with over-centralization there. Pet shops are usually chosen by customers after analyzing brand reputation and online presence. Some problems that customers on this market may face include unreliable information about the acquired animal’s health or previous owners. However, these difficulties comprise not a technical, but a legal problem that is unlikely to be solved using blockchain technology. Moreover, since animal welfare laws vary between different countries, creating a unified international platform in this field is a legally challenging task, hardly suitable for a small technological startup. The Petchain project team consisted mainly of no-names who had no proven experience in any serious projects. It was not even possible to say for sure whether these were real people — some of the project advisors turned out to have been presented with fake photos. Despite some marketing efforts, no serious funding was attracted to the project. At the moment, the official website of the project is inactive and its social media accounts haven’t been updated for more than a year.

The Road to MicroProfile 4.0

The primary driver behind creating the MicroProfile Working Group is to close intellectual property gaps identified by the Eclipse Foundation for specification projects. So, there are more legal protections in place now that MicroProfile is a Working Group. A Working Group also places more processes on MicroProfile. Historically, MicroProfile moved quickly with minimal process and late-binding decisions. It was quite an agile project that delivered specifications at quite a quick pace. However, I personally feel like we were reaching a point where adding *some* process can benefit the project. For instance, we now have to put more thought and formality up-front into planning a specification, which requires a Steering Committee vote. Better planning gives implementors, tool vendors, and the community more up-front visibility into what is coming and prepare. However, we codified "limited processes" in the MicroProfile Charter to keep processes to a minimum. ... A big challenge was switching from being a fast-moving agile project to fitting into the process structure required by a Working Group. We wanted to maintain as much of our existing culture as possible because the community was consistently delivering three annual releases.

Blockchain adoption 2021: Going mainstream through enterprise use

According to Bennet, many of the blockchain-based systems that are live today share a common factor: less time involved to resolve discrepancies. In some cases, this could even be instant. Bennet noted this common factor applies to supply chain use cases as well as in financial services: “It’s not just about needing fewer people to accomplish certain tasks; it’s also about shortening elapsed time and freeing up liquidity. A key point is that it’s possible to make it happen today, in the context of existing processes and operating models.” While this may be, Bennet shared that the more long-term strategic projects in financial services tend to revolve around potential changes in market structure and operating models. Many of these cases also require regulatory adjustments. “This takes time, resource and effort. That’s the main reason why COVID-related volatility and uncertainty has led many banks to pull back from some of those more long-term DLT-related projects for the time being,” Bennet said. The report also states that almost all the initiatives set to go from pilot into production next year will run on enterprise blockchain platforms that utilize the cloud. These most likely will include solutions from Alibaba, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, OneConnect and Oracle.

How open source makes me a better manager

As an open source enthusiast, it was easy for me to transition my management style to the open management philosophy, which fosters transparency, inclusivity, adaptability, and collaboration. As an open manager, one of my primary goals is to engage and empower associates to be their best. It is easy to adopt this philosophy when you understand the open source values. By being transparent, I help create the context for the team and the "why." This is a building block in creating trust. Being consciously inclusive is another value that I regard highly. Making sure everyone in the team is included and everyone's voice is heard is extremely important for individual and organizational growth. In an environment that is constantly evolving and where innovation is key, being nimble and adaptable is of utmost importance. Encouraging associates' growth mindset and continuous learning helps foster these traits. For effective collaboration, I believe we need an environment where there is trust, open communication, and respect. By paying attention to these values, an open manager can create an environment that is inclusive, treats others with respect, and encourages everyone to support each other.

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