Experts talk about how cutting-edge AI is transforming business » Dallas innovates

From left: Anshar Gupta, Chief Technology Officer, American Airlines; Mark Austin, Vice President of Data Science, AT&T. Michelle Boston, Chief Information Officer, Bank of America. At the Dallas Regional Chamber's Convergence AI Conference in Irving, Mukesh Kumar, technology director at Slalom Consulting, discusses “Applied AI in Action.”
[Photo: Harper Belmont Media/DRC]

Before the advent of artificial intelligence, it could take 7-Eleven's asset protection team about two weeks to catch a thief who stole gasoline from a 7-Eleven store. But now, thanks to AI, some “sticky” fuel robbers who siphon gas from underground tanks or tamper with fuel dispensers are being caught on the spot, says the Irving-based said Auftasedehenle, vice president of enterprise data at 7. eleven.

“We're starting to bring AI into this, and we're going to start bringing AI into this, and we're going to bring the criminals who engage in the “I started catching them,” he said. “You call the police saying, 'He's right there.' Go get him! … The police love it. It's all wrapped up in ribbons.”

In general, major convenience store chains are seeing “more upside than difficult downside” from AI, the enterprise data executive added. “There are still a lot of opportunities to leverage AI. With more technology, the benefits will be 10x, 100x, 1,000x.”

Ohutase “OD” DeHenre, Vice President of Enterprise Data at 7-Eleven. John Almasan, TIAA Senior Managing Director and Head of AI and Emerging Technologies; and Corbett Guest, president and chief strategy officer at Imaginuity, discuss tackling disruptive challenges and turning them into opportunities. [Photo: Harper Belmont Media/DRC]

DeHenle was one of about 20 AI experts who spoke last week at a conference hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber at the Irving Convention Center. The day-long conference, titled “Convergence AI Dallas: Where Artificial Intelligence and Business Meet,” included topics such as practical applications of generative AI, disrupting industries, becoming an “AI-first” company, and regulating artificial intelligence. and sessions on ethical implications. love.

Over several morning sessions, DeHenle will be joined by executives from companies such as Accenture, Citi Ventures, AT&T, American Airlines, and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) to reflect on the AI ​​landscape and how the technology will apply to their companies. He explained what kind of impact it had. Citi Ventures' managing director, Matt Carbonara, as well as his director, agreed that despite the considerable hype, AI will be “hugely transformative” over time.

“The amount of money that's being invested in innovation in this area is pretty staggering,” Carbonara said. “If you think about it, every corporate board in America, including our company, has said, 'Hey, what are we doing about this?'”

From left: Matt Carbonara, Managing Director, Citi Ventures, and Vankatesh G. Rao, Data and AI Practice Lead, Accenture North America, discuss transforming business practices, from automating routine tasks to predicting market trends. . [Photo: Harper Belmont Media/DRC]

Vankatesh G. Rao, Accenture North America's data and AI practice lead, likened AI to previous “revolutionary cycles” such as personal computers, the Internet, and mobile phones. He advised companies to ask themselves, “How do we instill this within our company?” and proposed a framework for doing so.

“We say this because there is plenty of potential there, whether it's content generation in the marketing space, customer support, or any other kind of conversational activity.Lead with focus and valueAnd align those values ​​with whatever your corporate strategy is. ” he said. “Second, you need an architecture that can handle the complexity of data management, whether structured, unstructured, or synthetic.

“And all of this has to be in a mode of continuous reinvention,” Rao continued. “This is an ongoing thing. This will evolve for a while. So make sure you revisit and reinvent this space every three to six months because there's a lot going on.”

Executives gave several examples of how AI has impacted their company “where the rubber meets the road.”

• Dallas-based AT&T provided 104,000 employees with access to an initial iteration of OpenAI's generative AI ChatCPT system through its internal Ask AT&T tool. “Ask AT&T is especially helpful for less experienced employees,” said Mark Austin, AT&T's vice president of data science. Using this tool, these employees said he showed a 50% improvement in certain tasks.
• American Airlines has built an AI system that “takes all the data from a variety of sources, including the weather, and tells us the best route for a particular flight,” said Anshar Gupta, AA's chief technology officer. I am. The Fort Worth-based airline has also developed an AI solution that reduces aircraft turnaround times. “We prioritize work that adds value to our customers,” Mr. Gupta said. “A good example is when you turn a plane. It's like a symphony that works in the right position to turn the plane. So we recently learned that it saves the time the plane is on the tarmac. We applied a different AI model.”
• 7-Eleven's DeHenre said the company is leveraging AI and personalized data to develop and enhance its delivery capabilities. The company's delivery capabilities “didn't exist five years ago” and are now approaching a $1 billion business, he said. The retailer is also using data to predict what the customer experience needs to be to recreate “that sense of convenience of yesteryear,” DeHenle said. . The date and time the customer enters the store, such as what products they typically purchase. “That's what we're aiming for,” he said.
• John Almasan, senior managing director and head of AI and emerging technologies at TIAA, said the financial services giant is partnering with Google on “a lot of AI automation” to improve customer experience and improve analytics, for example. He said he is doing so. “I am very proud to say that, to my knowledge, we are the first company in the financial industry to leverage generative AI to provide meaningful, complete, and reliable information for public search,” said Almasan. I think so.'' He said his AI has allowed the company's marketers to generate more targeted content and allows analysts to search through larger documents and unstructured data. I continued. The goal, Almasan said, is “hyper-customization” to meet the needs of different generations for authentic content.
• Corbett Guest, president and chief strategy officer of Dallas-based marketing agency Imaginuity, said the store recently leveraged AI to increase the number of U.S. shopping locations in JLL Retail Property Management's portfolio. He said he has developed a “virtual spokesperson” named Cindy for the center. Imaginity's client, JLL, previously used social influencers to promote its retail and fashion-based content. Now, “instead of having multiple influencers across 30 or 50 or 50 markets, you can now leverage a virtual spokesperson that can be customized to individual characteristics,” Guest said.

Mukesh Kumar, head of technology at consulting firm Slalom, issued a warning about artificial intelligence during the morning session. Kumar likened his AI to fire, adding, “Fire can actually be very helpful, and it can be destructive.”

Mukesh Kumar, Head of Technology at Slalom Consulting, uses a striking analogy to explain artificial intelligence, comparing it to fire to highlight its powerful potential and the need for care. Masu. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]

Meanwhile, TIAA's Almasan agreed with 7-Eleven's DeHenre, who just spoke about AI's role in cracking down on gas thieves, about the benefits of artificial intelligence for large companies and their employees.

“What I’ve seen is that AI drives improvement,” Almasan said. “Employees with AI are more productive, efficient, and prepared than those without AI. Putting AI in the hands of everyone and empowering everyone in every organization. If we can give more, we will be better and more productive.”

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