This edition of The Cutter Edge identifies the nine lessons embodied by Steve Jobs that helped him create a lasting legacy, considers why the IT industry continues to perpetuate the spread of disinformation, and more!

This edition of The Cutter Edge identifies the nine lessons embodied by Steve Jobs that helped him create a lasting legacy, considers why the IT industry continues to perpetuate the spread of disinformation, and more!

As we give in to our “very powerful tendency to anthropomorphize ML and AI, imbuing it with human characteristics,” we set our ML projects up for failure. This Advisor explores the importance of deciding on the question you are trying to answer before you embark on an ML analytics project.

As we give in to our “very powerful tendency to anthropomorphize ML and AI, imbuing it with human characteristics,” we set our ML projects up for failure. This Advisor explores the importance of deciding on the question you are trying to answer before you embark on an ML analytics project.

As we explore in this Executive Update, the responsibility for alignment between corporate strategy and business unit innovation and R&D frequently lands with the CTO, who needs the right processes and tools to achieve this. Making the right choice of tools is key to ensuring optimal balance between sector-level autonomy and group-level alignment.

As we explore in this Executive Update, the responsibility for alignment between corporate strategy and business unit innovation and R&D frequently lands with the CTO, who needs the right processes and tools to achieve this. Making the right choice of tools is key to ensuring optimal balance between sector-level autonomy and group-level alignment.

Steve Jobs — tireless tech visionary, innovator extraordinaire, and cofounder of Apple — died on 5 October 2011, when he was just 56. Though 10 years have passed since his untimely death, we’re still very much living in his world. To create our own lasting legacy that is meaningful and benefits the community, what sort of values and practices would we have to embrace? This Advisor shares nine key lessons from Jobs.

Cutter Consortium recently conducted a survey to see how organizations are adopting, or planning to adopt, intelligent process automation (IPA). According to survey respondents, IPA will have the most significant impact on banking and financial services (see Figure 1). In this Advisor, we take a closer look at two areas of IPA application in that industry: customer experience (CX) and compliance and financial crimes prevention.

Why is the diversity needle not moving? What needs to happen to truly make a systemic change this time, versus the many previous attempts? In this Advisor, we debunk three pervasive myths around the challenges of building more diverse workforces.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are driving change on both ends of the business-technology continuum. This Advisor explores why companies should accelerate their piloting of AI/ML, deploying internal teams to assess its potential while giving special attention to the range of methods, tools, and platforms /application domains.

Nearly all software projects are premised on understanding user needs and requirements. In our experience with clients, we typically address this phase by working with prospective users to develop use cases. What are some common use cases? Well, it depends on the company, but we’ve seen use cases primarily fall into four categories for early-stage, toe-in-the-water AI compared to full-scale ML efforts:

Market and consumer intelligence

Sales and marketing

Pricing and optimization

Customer care

Nearly all software projects are premised on understanding user needs and requirements. In our experience with clients, we typically address this phase by working with prospective users to develop use cases. What are some common use cases? Well, it depends on the company, but we’ve seen use cases primarily fall into four categories for early-stage, toe-in-the-water AI compared to full-scale ML efforts:

Market and consumer intelligence

Sales and marketing

Pricing and optimization

Customer care

Self-direction doesn’t just happen because you adopt Scrum, Kanban, or another Agile variant. Or because you say “Agile” 20 times to your teams. It needs a fertile space to grow. It needs to be watered and fertilized. It needs an honest and open environment. In far too many cases, this is simply not happening. So, what are the elements of self-directed space? This Advisor explores five that come to mind.

It is through this issue of Cutter Business Technology Journal (CBTJ) that we hope to remind CEOs of the challenges that remain unaddressed and out of balance. The authors speak from personal experiences, exten­sive research, and a deep desire to contribute toward changing the DEI narrative. They share proven best practices and procedural changes that must be followed so that this time, the outcomes of CEOs’ commitments will look different, and those impacted will finally be able to have more equitable work and life experiences.

The professional life of architects is tough, often dealing with tasks typically not performed in everyday non-IT life. They always must support a “future state,” a situation not yet in existence that users or stakeholders can’t predict if not stressed with the proper questions. This Advisor explores how architects look “beyond the hill” and impose superstructures and patterns that may appear unnecessary today but are useful when things ultimately change.

Get a C-suite perspective on why so many tech projects fail, find out why companies who don't adapt to the quantum era may be doing business on an abacus — in this week's edition of The Cutter Edge!

Get a C-suite perspective on why so many tech projects fail, find out why companies who don't adapt to the quantum era may be doing business on an abacus — in this week's edition of The Cutter Edge!

Government agencies were investing in automation long before COVID-19. But as the pandemic has dragged on, they are increasingly turning to RPA and IPA platforms whose capabilities are bolstered by artificial intelligence technologies in order to better meet the expectations and demands placed on them by citizens. This Advisor identifies some of the more popular IPA applications in government.

This Executive Update highlights the advantages and challenges in using deep learning for business decision making and outlines a high-level dynamic deep learning architecture.

The CPO role is emerging as the business’s product portfolio equivalent of the CTO on the technical side of an organization. The CPO leads the product development team and oversees the product portfolio. This Advisor looks at the CPO role and discusses how and when companies—even smaller ones—can benefit from establishing the CPO position.

Keren Joseph-Browning analyzes gender stereotypes that may be holding back female leaders. Her research shows there isn’t a lack of qualified women in the pipeline, though many believe the opposite. Joseph-Browning then draws a line between these beliefs and the stereotypes impeding women’s ascension into leadership positions.

Benjamin Duke hammers home the need for more actions and fewer words. He highlights how companies have stated their verbal commitment to DEI, but their results do not reflect these commitments. Black employees are left feeling a misalignment between their company’s public comments about supporting racial justice while failing to address the concerns of their Black employees.

As a former technology industry executive and current VP responsible for the development of Black and Latinx technology professionals, Cutter Fellow Robert D. Scott is uniquely positioned to share insights into the hiring, retention, and advancement myths that are pervasive in corporate America. He explains why the needle is not moving, and asks, “What needs to happen to truly make a system change this time, versus the many previous attempts?”

In this Executive Update, we reflect on the legacy of Steve Jobs and explore some of his most enduring lessons that we can emulate for our own success.

In this issue, we hope to remind CEOs of the challenges that remain unaddressed and out of balance when it comes to diversity in technology. The authors speak from personal experiences, extensive research, and a deep desire to contribute toward changing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) narrative. They share proven best practices and procedural changes that must be followed so that this time, the outcomes of CEOs’ commitments will look differently, and those impacted will finally be able to have more equitable work and life experiences.