Innovative Technologies Shape the Future Business Landscape

What do these success stories share?

• The Oakland Athletics reached the playoffs five times while operating on only one-fifth of the budget of larger-market teams.
• Kroger doubled its same-store sales from 2003 to 2016, emerging as a retail powerhouse.
• Capital One successfully disrupted the credit card duopoly of Visa and MasterCard to become an industry leader.

In all these instances, data-savvy managers used insights to identify key success factors—whether selecting baseball players, fostering customer loyalty, or attracting new credit card users. These leaders blended their subject matter expertise with advanced AI and data tools, demonstrating that as The Economist states, “Data is the oil of the 21st century, the engine of economic growth.”

The talent gap industry faces:

The primary challenge businesses face today is the Talent Gap: the shortage of managers proficient in leveraging technology. Esteemed organizations like McKinsey, Harvard Business Review, Deloitte, and PwC have all noted this growing deficiency in technology-literate managers.

Some key tools for technology:

Cloud Computing is revolutionizing business operations. From major players like Netflix and Zoom to small enterprises, cloud computing offers immense advantages in security, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Instead of investing in on-premises hardware for computing and data storage, businesses can utilize services from providers like Amazon Web Services.

Machine Learning (ML) enables computers to learn from data, mirroring human learning experiences. Instead of giving explicit instructions, we provide data and allow the computer to determine solutions autonomously. For example, with numerous medical images, ML can learn to differentiate between a healthy and an at-risk patient.

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, empower computers to comprehend and generate human-like text. Rather than just executing specific commands, these models learn from extensive text datasets, facilitating conversation, answering inquiries, and producing professional content. BUAD 220 will delve into crafting effective prompts that optimize LLM outputs.

AI Reinforcement Learning Models consistently excel at complex tasks, such as the game of Go. We will explore their applications in real-world scenarios, like optimizing vehicle routes for companies like UPS.

Blockchain technology, widely recognized for its cryptocurrency role, is also transforming industries like retail and logistics. It facilitates peer-to-peer financial transactions through smart contracts written in code.