Latest news with #IBMCloud
Techday NZ
26-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Does anyone know what a CDP is anymore?
There's a bit of an identity crisis happening inside the CDP industry. We've seen this before: people used to confuse Customer Data Platforms with CRMs, or say a data warehouse was a one-to-one replacement. Now, we've seen the market become crowded and start to consolidate, with companies across industries acquiring a CDP to enhance personalization, real-time data orchestration, or their AI investments (among other reasons). And that's brought on a whole other conversation of where a CDP should sit in your tech stack. But what all these discussions and misunderstandings seem to be dancing around is the existential question of what a CDP is and what criteria it should be evaluated against. The expanding role of CDPs across the enterprise Customer data platforms extend far beyond marketing use cases. They provide a centralized data infrastructure that powers every customer interaction. CDPs are often associated with marketing for their ability to create unified profiles, segment audiences, and cut out the lengthy process of manual data exports. But these capabilities can serve every business function – from sales, to product marketing, customer service, and beyond. And more than serving these teams individually, CDPs help foster cross-functional collaboration. Take IBM, which was able to standardize data across 150 of its products using Twilio Segment. Because different teams were responsible for different products, they were struggling with an incomplete customer view. In creating a single source of truth with a CDP, IBM could analyze end-to-end customer journeys and create tailored cross-sell strategies – increasing revenue for IBM Cloud by 70% in three months. The key phrase here is: end-to-end customer journeys. Every customer interaction builds on each other. For instance, Onboarding impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Engagement metrics can influence product development. Even the delineation between technical and non-technical teams can be too narrow-minded. While a marketer or customer support representative may not be involved in the day-to-day work of maintaining pipelines, customizing integrations, or implementing data governance at scale, they feel the impact of disconnected systems or delayed data processing. It often translates to an incomplete view of the customer, inaccurate targeting in campaigns, and lower NPS for product experiences. The modern data architecture The world has changed dramatically since the term "Customer Data Platform" was first coined in 2013, and CDPs have had to adapt. Along with identity resolution, real-time processing, and seamless integrations, companies need to evaluate CDPs with a forward-thinking perspective. AI readiness, privacy compliance, and data orchestration across every channel will be instrumental in the years to come. Flexibility and extensibility We've seen a shift away from monolithic platforms to composable tech stacks. One survey found small businesses have, on average, 172 apps in their tech stack. For enterprises, that number goes up to 664. A customer data platform can connect multiple different systems, process data in different formats and structures (at scale), and evolve with changing regulatory requirements, helping businesses deliver excellent customer experiences at every interaction. We believe a CDP best functions as an open platform, helping businesses adapt as needs change or new systems are introduced. That's why at Twilio Segment we offer hundreds of pre-built connectors and robust APIs and SDKs, so developers can customize integrations and the flow of data through pipelines as they see fit. Privacy-first engagement For businesses, privacy is both a legal requirement and a necessity for securing customer trust and loyalty. A CDP can help manage key aspects of privacy compliance, like filtering out and masking personally identifiable information, offering regional data processing, or encrypting data at rest and in transit. It can also help businesses adapt to this new era of privacy-informed personalization. While third-party cookies made up the bulk of ad strategies in the past, consumers want more transparency around how businesses are tailoring their experiences. This ties back into building a customer relationship, and leveraging the zero- and first-party data you've collected from direct interactions. Businesses can even use their historical and behavioral data to start predicting future intent and behavior – something the Italian hardware and software company Arduino did with great success. They used AI Predictions to analyze data across their websites, server-side data from BigQuery, and various APIs to predict which customers were "ready to buy." In doing so, they increased the accuracy of audience segments by 70%. AI readiness An AI model won't transform your business if it doesn't have access to the right data or systems. To have success with AI, you need a robust data infrastructure. A CDP helps with AI readiness by protecting data quality at scale, which will determine the intelligence of the AI. It also offers real-time data processing, so the AI can adapt its responses based on incoming event data (crucial for a voice assistant or AI-powered chatbot, among other use cases). CDPs also help with observability, so businesses understand what data is being used to train the AI model – particularly important for rooting out bias, and ensuring training data is privacy compliant. For example, at Twilio Segment users can see the contributing data points and events that informed our AI features, like Predictions. We also have AI Nutrition Facts, to explain how the AI is working with your data. A dashboard shows prediction quality with contributing events and model details for user order completion. Actionable data is the future Customer data platforms are both misunderstood and more crucial than ever. Businesses need the data unification, orchestration, and activation a CDP provides – to build customer experiences, train AI models, and even for high-level business processes like supply chain management or resource planning. CDPs are often talked about in relation to a warehouse or CRM, but we see that as pigeon-holing the technology. Customer data platforms should be thought of in relation to the entire business. It should take in data from applications, customer communications, along with systems like a CRM and data warehouse so every team has the context of the full customer journey. This is how you deliver amazing experiences. Read more about Segment CDP
Techday NZ
19-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Cloud AI drives business efficiency, with adoption set to surge
Cloud Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions are increasingly being adopted by organisations seeking to streamline operations, drive efficiency, and deliver improved customer experiences, according to Transparency Market Research. Cloud AI refers to the availability of AI services and computational tools delivered via cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and IBM Cloud. These services include a broad array of capabilities, such as machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, speech recognition, and robotics, all accessible online. The integration of cloud computing and AI allows organisations to tap into powerful computational resources and advanced algorithms without the need for large investments in proprietary hardware or specialist personnel. Businesses can deploy pre-trained AI models and tailor tools via subscription or pay-as-you-go systems, offering significant cost and operational efficiencies, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. Transparency Market Research highlighted several key trends fuelling the momentum of cloud AI adoption, including scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Cloud AI platforms enable businesses to scale workloads up or down as needed, whether analysing customer data during peak demand periods or deploying machine learning models across distributed operations. The absence of upfront capital expenditure associated with on-premises AI infrastructure also serves as a significant advantage. The rapid deployment potential delivered by pre-built AI models, application interfaces, and centralised development environments allows organisations to move from concept to execution within days, reducing traditional lead times for technology rollouts. This is complemented by the capacity for remote teams to collaborate effectively, leveraging shared datasets and application environments to avoid versioning issues. On security and compliance, Transparency Market Research noted that major cloud providers implement robust encryption, access controls, and audit trails. These measures are particularly relevant for sectors subject to stringent regulatory requirements such as healthcare and finance. Cloud AI is already seeing widespread adoption across diverse sectors. In healthcare, cloud-powered AI is being applied to predictive analytics, medical imaging analysis, and the development of personalised treatment plans. "AI-powered diagnostics can identify diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders with high accuracy, improving outcomes and reducing costs," stated Transparency Market Research. In retail and e-commerce, cloud AI enables personalisation initiatives, supply chain optimisation, and inventory management through algorithms that recommend products based on customer behaviour and automate customer support via chatbots and virtual assistants. Financial institutions are adopting cloud-based AI to facilitate real-time fraud detection, risk management, and personalised advisory services. "Cloud-based AI tools analyse massive datasets in real-time, enabling faster decision-making and compliance monitoring," the research firm explained. The manufacturing sector is leveraging cloud AI to power predictive maintenance, quality control, and robotics automation. Manufacturers benefit from the ability to monitor equipment performance and anticipate issues using real-time analytics, helping prevent downtime and manage costs. Within transportation and logistics, cloud AI capabilities are used for route optimisation, autonomous vehicle operation, and processing of logistics schedules using data on traffic and weather patterns, aiming to improve overall efficiency and resilience of supply chains. Leading technology vendors in the cloud AI space identified by Transparency Market Research include Google Cloud with tools such as AutoML and Vertex AI, Microsoft Azure's suite comprising Azure Machine Learning and Cognitive Services, Amazon Web Services offerings such as SageMaker and Rekognition, and IBM Watson's array of enterprise AI capabilities. Despite the progress, Transparency Market Research identified several challenges organisations should consider in adopting cloud AI. Data privacy and sovereignty remain key concerns, particularly in regulated industries where sensitive information must be managed carefully and comply with local regulations. Vendor lock-in can also limit flexibility, prompting a growing interest in multi-cloud strategies. The skills gap adds another layer of complexity, as implementing AI demands expertise in data science, machine learning, and software development. Additionally, there are ongoing concerns regarding model bias and the explainability of AI outputs. Looking ahead, Transparency Market Research pointed to future trends that could further expand cloud AI's role in digital transformation. "Generative AI: Tools like ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Bard are paving the way for new content creation, coding assistance, and ideation workflows." "Edge AI Integration: Cloud AI will increasingly be integrated with edge computing for real-time, on-site decision-making, particularly in IoT and autonomous systems. Industry-Specific AI: Tailored AI solutions for specific industries (e.g., legal tech, agritech, edtech) will become mainstream, providing deeper value through domain expertise," the report noted. These insights are based on findings from Transparency Market Research's comprehensive report on the Cloud Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solutions Market.
Mid East Info
19-05-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
University of Sharjah and IBM launch My FarmWell Mobile App to Promote Sustainable Agriculture in Water-Stressed Regions
Developed through the IBM Sustainability Accelerator, the new mobile application supports sustainable agriculture in the UAE and MENA region. Empowers farmers with groundwater monitoring and data-driven irrigation insights to address water scarcity challenges in arid areas. Sharjah, UAE – May, 2025 – The University of Sharjah (UoS), in collaboration with IBM (NYSE: IBM ) through the IBM Sustainability Accelerator, today announced the launch of My FarmWell, a mobile application designed to tackle water scarcity challenges and transform sustainable agriculture across the UAE and the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Built using IBM Environmental Intelligence and UoS Welly Chatbot , My FarmWell integrates IBM Cloud and region-specific water and climate data to provide farmers with timely, farm-level insights. From optimizing irrigation strategies to understanding local regulations, the app offers a comprehensive toolkit to support more sustainable and productive agricultural practices. With its bilingual (English and Arabic) user-friendly interface, My FarmWell equips farmers with access to well-specific data such as current water levels, historical groundwater trends, water quality indices (IWQI), and crop recommendations supporting smarter decisions in increasingly water-scarce environments. Speaking on the launch, UoS Chancellor His Excellency Prof. Essam El-Din Ajami expressed his pride in this scientific achievement, which stems from collaborative research conducted with IBM. He emphasized that, 'This milestone aligns with the university's strategic commitment to serving local and regional communities through impactful research that addresses environmental challenges'. He added that the University of Sharjah is dedicated to advancing sustainability efforts in a way that benefits not only the United Arab Emirates but also positions the university as a leading model for the entire Middle East and North Africa region. UoS Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, Prof. Maamar Bettayeb, affirmed the keenness of the university's research sector to collaborate with various entities and institutions in conducting research of tangible societal benefit. He noted that 'My FarmWell represents a practical application of cutting-edge innovations in sustainability, offering solutions to pressing environmental challenges.' He added that it is also a concrete step toward smart, resilient, and sustainable agriculture. Dr. Adewale Giwa, Principal Investigator of the project, underscored the app's transformative potential, saying, 'My FarmWell equips farmers with crucial insights that facilitate smarter water use and long-term sustainability.' 'My FarmWell is a great example of how IBM technology can help businesses of all sizes manage through environmental risks', said Shukri Eid, General Manager, IBM Gulf, Levant, and Pakistan. 'Here we are empowering farmers with data-driven insights on water, but Cloud and AI can unlock progress for all sorts of organizations, helping them boost resiliency and lower costs.' Other Key Features of My FarmWell include: Intuitive app screen: Provides weather information based on user location, quick overview of selected well details, links to agricultural regulations, food market prices, and a University of Sharjah-developed chatbot for farming and well-related advice. Comprehensive weather information: Powered by IBM Environmental Intelligence, offering current temperature (high, low, and perceived), weather conditions, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation forecast for the next 24 hours, and weather forecast for the next 10 days. Well water monitoring and insights: Allows users to track historical groundwater changes, assess trends over time, and evaluate the severity of well water scarcity. Crop recommendations: Suggests suitable crops to grow based on specific water quality indices (Integrated Water Quality Index levels). Farm water consumption calculator: Helps estimate water needs for crops, trees, and livestock, optimizing farm water usage. Educational hub: Provides comprehensive resources on groundwater conservation and climate adaptation. Market price integration: Links to global food market prices, enabling farmers to align irrigation strategies with market trends. My FarmWell reflects a strong partnership between academia and industry, designed to address critical regional challenges through innovation. The project exemplifies the mission of the IBM Sustainability Accelerator, a social innovation program that applies IBM technologies, such as hybrid cloud and AI, and an ecosystem of experts to enhance and scale nonprofit and government organization initiatives, accelerating environmental and economic impact. The app is available for download here: Android | iPhone ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH: The University of Sharjah (UoS) stands as a premier institution in the UAE, recognized for its academic excellence and research prowess. Ranked #1 in the UAE and #4 in the Arab region by U.S. News & World Report, UoS showcases its commitment to quality education. UoS ranks 53rd worldwide for Research Quality and 69th in the Times Higher Education Worldwide Young University Rankings 2024. The university offers over 120 programs across 14 colleges, emphasizing disciplines like engineering, health sciences, and business. Its expansive campus boasts over 200 advanced laboratories, state-of-the-art sports facilities, and dedicated research centers. Strategic partnerships with esteemed institutions such as McMaster University and the University of Sheffield further enhance its global footprint. ABOUT IBM: IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. About the IBM Sustainability Accelerator: Launched in 2022, the IBM Sustainability Accelerator is a social innovation program that supports communities facing environmental and economic stress around the world, through technologies like AI and an ecosystem of experts. Each year, the program selects five new projects to develop and scale technology and AI solutions addressing topics like sustainable agriculture, clean energy, water management, resilient cities or sustainable consumption and production.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BNP Paribas extends alliance with IBM Cloud
BNP Paribas has renewed its partnership with IBM Cloud, extending their collaboration for an additional ten years. This agreement aims to accelerate the bank's cloud-native strategy and support the advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). The partnership is part of BNP Paribas' technology investment and multicloud strategy. Since 2019, BNP Paribas has hosted IBM Cloud within its data centres, a move that has contributed to the establishment of a technological infrastructure essential for the bank's digital transformation. As part of the renewed agreement, BNP Paribas plans to allocate a new area in its data centres for IBM Cloud, with completion expected by 2028. This investment is intended to bolster the bank's resilience and ensure the continuity of critical banking services, such as payments, while safeguarding customer data and the integrity of the bank's information systems. The renewed partnership will enable BNP Paribas to enhance its capabilities by utilising GPUs on IBM Cloud, integrated with the bank's existing cloud infrastructure. This integration is designed to support various business units in exploring and implementing generative AI applications. BNP Paribas chief information officer Marc Camus said: 'By combining GPUs as a service, a dedicated, state-of-the-art environment within our data centers, and a cloud-native infrastructure, we are strengthening our technological foundation, as well as the security and the compliance of our information systems.' Furthermore, BNP Paribas is advancing its application modernisation efforts through a cloud-native approach, utilising containers via Red Hat OpenShift, IBM's Kubernetes container management platform. This strategy aims to facilitate the development of modular, scalable, and portable applications, thereby increasing flexibility and responsiveness in managing banking services, particularly in the realm of payment systems. The initiative aligns with the European DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) regulation, which aims to enhance the operational resilience of financial institutions, particularly in business continuity and IT risk management. IBM Cloud general manager Alan Peacock said: 'For decades, IBM and BNP Paribas have worked together to build the banking infrastructure of the future, underpinned by the necessary resilience.' In July 2024, BNP Paribas and Ant International partnered to improve cross-border payment solutions for European merchants and consumers. "BNP Paribas extends alliance with IBM Cloud" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
03-04-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
IBM Enhances Enterprise Cloud Capabilities in Canada to Meet Local Clients' AI and Data Needs
TORONTO and MONTREAL , April 3, 2025 /CNW/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today two key advances in its cloud capabilities in Canada , further strengthening offerings to enable Canadian organizations to scale AI deployments, and to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for data storage and security including Canadian data sovereignty. IBM officially opened the doors to its latest Cloud MZR in Montreal, Quebec , adding to its existing Cloud capabilities and investments across North America . IBM aims to help clients address their evolving regulatory requirements and leverage technology such as Generative AI with our secured, enterprise cloud platform. IBM Cloud offers a high-performance, flexible, AI-optimized infrastructure with bare metal and virtual server Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) options, for IBM watsonx or other generative AI solutions. The availability of watsonx, IBM's portfolio of AI products, on IBM Cloud at Toronto MZR addresses the growing demand for scalable, safe and responsible AI deployments in Canada . It will enable Canadian organizations to achieve high levels of reliability, scalability and security while ensuring compliance with Canada's stringent data privacy and residency requirements. "Our focus is on meeting the evolving needs of our clients across Canada and today is a critical milestone in providing IBM infrastructure and solutions that can help them boost productivity and performance while keeping data in-country," said Deb Pimentel , IBM Canada President and General Manager, Technology Canada . "While we continue enriching our existing Toronto Cloud MZR with cutting-edge AI capabilities, we're thrilled to officially open the doors to our new Montreal Cloud MZR. These developments underscore our relentless pursuit to build robust, capable cloud infrastructure across Canada , fostering an ecosystem that drives AI innovation responsibly and securely." Both the Montreal and Toronto MZR will offer numerous advantages to clients including access to innovative enterprise cloud-as-a-service capabilities such as IBM Cloud VPC, Red Hat® Cloud Native Products, IBM Power® Virtual Server (VS), VMware Cloud Foundations (VCF) as a Service and more : Data sovereignty: Enterprises in regulated industries such as government and financial services, can manage and store data locally to comply with Canada's stringent privacy regulations, ensuring sensitive information remains secure. Low latency connectivity: IBM Cloud's high-performance network connectivity significantly reduces latency for users across Canada , essential for real-time data processing. Scalable AI: The modular design enables businesses to scale operations seamlessly, provisioning resources quickly based on demand. Access to advanced generative AI models: Clients can leverage a variety of generative AI models including Llama-3-2- 11b -vision-instruct and Granite -34b -code-instruct. Open hybrid cloud strategy: The MZRs provide the ability to integrate the best features and functions from any cloud or traditional IT environment and tap the unmatched pace and quality of innovations from the open-source community. IBM Power VS allows enterprises to deploy and manage virtual server instances running AIX, IBM i, or Linux workloads in a hybrid cloud environment, offering a flexible and scalable platform for mission-critical applications IBM's collaboration with Hugging Face aims to bring the best of open-source AI models to the enterprise using the watsonx portfolio. These in-country IBM Cloud MZRs are designed to enable Canadian clients to deploy AI and mission-critical workloads with high levels of security, and help clients address their data sovereignty and regulatory compliance requirements. This includes helping them on their journey to demonstrate their compliance with the Government of Canada's Protected B Medium Profile, a security level defined by the government for sensitive information and assets. "Globally, enterprises, especially those in highly regulated sectors such as financial services, government, and healthcare need solutions that are tailored to their unique challenges," said Rohit Badlaney, GM for IBM Cloud Product & Industry Platforms. "With our latest advancements in Canada , we are extending IBM's enterprise cloud platform and sovereign cloud capabilities to Canadian organizations in these sectors, helping them to address their local regulatory requirements, keeping data secured and maintain it in country." As Canadian businesses seek to scale AI while ensuring trust and compliance, IBM Cloud and watsonx are poised to provide the necessary tools and platforms to maximize return on investment for AI initiatives. These new capabilities are the latest in IBM investments across North America to support clients on their modernization journeys. Our MZRs and data centers across Washington, D.C. , Dallas , San Jose, Toronto , and Montreal strengthen our clients' ability to deploy locally and scale globally. For information on IBM's enterprise sovereign cloud capabilities, please visit Explore the power of IBM watsonx and how watsonx Developer Hub can help developers scale AI at speed.
