Last Thursday evening I attended a fantastic Artificial Intelligence event “AI Frenzy”, hosted at the Kollider building in Sheffield by Tim Latham, owner of The Datatrainer business, as well as Matt Bowler and the team at Barclays Eagle Labs.
The event had four fantastic speakers, giving the audience their perspective on Artificial Intelligence, where this technology is at right now, how their businesses are using it and where they think AI is going in the future. As my colleague Max mentioned in his earlier blog post a few weeks ago, at RP Analytics we really value these types of events where you can network with like-minded people and listen and learn from some of the most impressive experts in the field.
The main purpose of the event was aimed at demystifying the complex world of data science, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), to find real world solutions to solve specific problems and find improved insights and efficiencies. Working in the data analytics and technology space, where I speak with individuals at all levels on a daily basis, there’s no doubt that AI, ML & Data Science are extremely hot topics on most people’s minds, however, it’s remarkable just how varied their understanding and level of knowledge on these can be. These technologies and methodologies are incredible and are already having a huge impact on the way in which we do business, as well as improving quality of lives, with things only set to get better in the near future and beyond! That’s why I am so passionate and invested in learning as much about it as possible.
Tim from Datatrainer opened up the talks with a brilliant opening presentation, then followed by;
· Innovate UK
· TechUK
· Jaywing
· AI Tech North
A variety of businesses all doing some fantastic things, they discussed how their business was currently working with AI and their perspectives on it.
There are many different businesses across a whole variety of industries that are putting AI to great use, from the most popular industry at the moment of Manufacturing, to Professional Services, Financial Services, Transportation, Utilities and many more!
One of the most exciting at the moment in my opinion is the Healthcare industry and the incredible things that AI is being used for in order to benefit and improve people’s lives. This includes wearable devices for people suffering from dementia or diabetes through to AI-powered robots that can scan a person’s eye to detect early onset of eye disease with a much quicker and more accurate result than a medical professional with 30 years’ worth of training and experience.
A part of every speaker’s presentation on the night was discussing the barriers to AI Adoption within business. These included; perceived high costs, difficult to predict ROI, cleanliness & complexity of data, knowledge within the business and more. A key takeaway for me though was that everyone agreed a large barrier is the Access to Talent.
There’s quite a common perception that AI will ‘take our jobs’. A lot of people do not consider that in order for AI to make people’s jobs no longer required, we need technology professionals able to develop these AI capabilities within business; therefore creating a different kind of demand for tech talent!
This is of course where I and the team at RP Analytics are able to step in and help as specialists in technology recruitment. It will come as no surprise that this market is a hugely competitive and candidate driven one, the top % of talent is highly sought after and therefore often not on your typical job board/ databases. They are fortunate enough to take their pick of opportunities and companies. We take a proactive approach to building our networks so that we are able to provide our clients with this access to the talent they require, and in a timely manner.
We work with tech start-ups whose core product is built on AI & Data, to well established SMEs looking to implement AI to improve their business, through to huge Blue Chip organisations. All of our clients have their very own, specific requirements and we are able to immerse ourselves in their business, understand what these are and deliver! We can provide case studies and testimonials to support that.
So, if you would like to discuss how I and the team can support you and your business, or maybe even just discuss upcoming events in this space that I am attending or aware of, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.