>> Announcer: Live from Washington DC, it's theCUBE. Covering .conf2017. Brought to you by Splunk. >> Welcome back here on theCUBE, we're in Washington DC at the Walter Washington Convention Center, day one of .conf2017, Splunk's big get together here with some 7,000 plus attendees, 65 countries, and traveled something like some 30 million miles to get here? Incredible turn out, it really is impressive, and a great day we're having here on theCUBE. Which of course is the flagship broadcast of SiliconANGLE TV. Joining me is Jeff Chancey, who is a managing director within Accenture Technology Ecosystem and Ventures. Jeff, good to see you here in Washington, welcome to town. >> Likewise, thank you very much. Excited to be here. >> Yeah, it's certainly been a great day, great first day, let's talk about your partnership, Accenture with Splunk, and what do you see the future for the partnership, how is it evolving? >> Well it's interesting you might ask that, it's probably the $64,000 question. The future of the partnership is indeed exciting. Let me kind of articulate what I mean by that. We Accenture, we're a large professional services firm, our competencies around Accenture Strategy, Accenture Consulting, Accenture Digital Technology Operations, and Accenture Security. What makes the partnership with Splunk so interesting and unique, and also very dynamic, is the fact that Splunk as a transformational data platform applies across the full spectrum of business that Accenture does. So if you can bring the power of an Accenture and our presence in the market, across all the different industry verticals, all the horizontals, and the power of a transformational data engine like Splunk together, you could say it should be a very exciting future indeed. Probably our biggest objective is to really help, in Accenture we call it rotating to the new. So rotating to new technology, and Splunk is definitely part of our agenda to rotate to the new. We are looking to help our clients become data and digital driven businesses, by leveraging the enormous volumes of data that keep exponentially getting generated every single day, through connected devices, applications, infrastructure, across the board, the Internet of Things, everything is now connected, and everything is spooling data. So, we know that our enterprise executive clients, they're all struggling with this challenge that says, "how do I not only, get value out of my data, how do I solve this challenge with the exponential generation of data, so that I don't just survive in the market, but I win?" This is really what we're after as a partnership is that step change transformational agenda, with our enterprise clients. >> So you have this budding partnership, you've talked about all these fantastic opportunities and great potentials and whatever, is it possible, can you focus on one thing that you're most excited about when it comes to the partnership? >> The one thing I would say we're most excited about right now is our security agenda. We all know where Splunk sits, in terms of the security market. Accenture Security, our very first joint market offering is the Cyberdefense Engine, formally known as, our Cyberdefense Platform. That joint market offering stands to be, really what credentializes the partnership between Accenture and Splunk in the market. Very exciting. Every customer needs to mitigate risk, they must protect their enterprises, they're breaches happening every single day, it's in the news, and Splunk is a powerful technology to help our clients protect their enterprises. So, what you want to do, with Accenture and Splunk is we want to help our clients take out cost, take out cost out of the back office, to drive up their profitability and drive down their cost to serve their customers, we want to help them protect their enterprise through security, and then we want to help them drive step change value for their customers and for them through Internet of Things, and business analytics, automating away the work, and driving that value in the market. >> You're talking about this vast array of services, that you could provide, we know about your relationship with Splunk, you've got hordes and hordes of machine data right, pouring in all the time, how are your clients putting all that together, how are -- maybe some of the innovative ways that they're pulling these various resources and sources together and putting them to use? >> What our clients and what we're observing with our clients, is, with their data, they're data tends to reside in multiple silos, within the enterprise. This is normal, this is natural. What we can help do with a powerful technology like Splunk, is aggregate that data across all the different silos and bring it together in a single view. That not only helps the operations staff, as we said before, protecting the enterprise through security, and driving that value through business analytics, real time digital marketing, using geolocation services, for example. One of our exciting offerings is in the retail industry vertical. We're leveraging the power of Splunk to understand through Point of Sale data what product is going out the door, in say, a store operations environment, and also what inventory is coming through the back door, and triangulating that with the real time rate at which product is leaving the shelves, being able to help those retail customers actually do real time order management and trigger those events in real time. because if you're a retail custoner, the last thing you want to do is have products not on the shelf that your customers want to buy, and in the case of a grocery store for example, you don't want to have, your fresh foods spoil before you have a chance to sell it. So if you can bring together the dynamics of what's going in and out of the store with customer loyalty programs and geolocations, you can actually real time target those customers when they're in the vicinity of your store, and say, "The broccoli, we're offering you a special. Come in right now -- >> (laughing) >> We'll give you 15% off of broccoli", because we know you're a customer that likes to buy a lot of broccoli. That's a really exciting -- >> Inventory's everything, right? Inventory control. In this case -- >> And really applying it to the entire supply chain, 'cause obviously, the inventory from the manufacturing side, the consumer goods and services side, has to be available, has to be in the warehouses and the distribution centers, so, optimizing that entire, call it material and product movement, from the raw material and the manufacturing all the way to the consumer. >> We've heard a line, I know you have, greater insight, greater value. How are you at Accenture and Splunk bringing that statement to life for me as your customer? >> Clearly, if we can bring the power of data transformation leveraging next generation technologies like Splunk, and I have to say, we as a partnership, we view Splunk as an emerging technology. Not emerging in the sense that it -- doesn't exist yet, I mean they've been around for over a decade now, but emerging onto the world stage to really help power the way businesses drive their business by leveraging all of that data. The secret sauce that Splunk has, is that ability to aggregate that data from multiple disparate sources, and to do that in real time. If we can drive greater insight into the customer's data, we can collectively drive greater value. Interestingly enough, the greater than sign, is a coincidence, it's part of both Splunk and Accenture's logos. >> Yeah right, you both have it working for you, don't you? You're known for vertical industry practices, is there one or a specific vertical that you can think of that maybe where you all have teamed up and that you're creating this interest or some kind of innovative solution that you're able to specifically develop and apply? >> I mentioned retail, and I mentioned security previously. An interesting area that we're getting into now, is in Health and Life Sciences, so healthcare. We want to be able to predict and prevent hospital Code Blue's before they happen. How much would you be able to do that? All of the devices, all the monitors that all the hospitals have, they're all from different manufacturers, they're all spooling data, and most of the hospital staff are using eyes on glass. To understand, we have a Code Blue, you've seen it in the movies, everybody's running to resuscitate and save the patient. What we want to be able to do leveraging Splunk is to apply machine learning and predictive analytics, to understand what the monitors tell us, that in 15 minutes this patient is likely to be a Code Blue, and how do we predict and prevent that from happening in the first place. I really can't think of anything better than figuring out how to leverage technology to save lives. >> Absolutely. Well, if I'm in need, I want you around, okay? (laughing) >> Okay, you got it. >> We got a deal. Jeff Chancey, from Accenture, thanks for being with us here on theCUBE, appreciate the time and wish you success down the road. >> Thank you very much, appreciate it. >> You bet. We'll continue here, from .conf2017, we are live, in our nation's capital, Washington DC.

>> Announcer: From The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, it's theCUBE On The Ground with Accenture Labs' 30th anniversary celebration. >> Welcome to a special CUBE On The Ground presentation of our coverage of Accenture Labs' 30th birthday party. They've been in business for 30 years. Accenture is doing some great things from here, 30 years ago, to the future. Future's all about AI, blockchain, you name it, virtual reality, augmented reality. I'm John Furrier with theCUBE. Our next guest is Joe Mikhail, who's the chief revenue officer of a company called Meta. Welcome to the conversation here at the Accenture Labs party. >> Thank you, John, and congratulations to Accenture. >> They have this theme, Magical, but really, it is a magical time. At my age, I've been in this business long enough, it's like I wish I was 20 again, because the technology is really amazing. Augmented reality, you guys do a lot of new stuff. Tell us what your company does, and you guys are doing some really cool stuff. >> Absolutely. We're really pioneering in augmented reality. For those who don't really understand augmented reality, it basically overlays digital data and virtual optics in the real world. With that comes, really, a change in paradigm of what's possible. Our forte is really in being a spatial interface company. We're not only changing the fidelity of the images you see in augmented reality, but how you interface with them, naturally based on neuroscience. >> Joe, first, take a step back, 'cause a lot of folks here in Silicon Valley, they all know what AR is, or augmented reality, something analyst relations work. But augmented reality is the big future. I always say AI stands for, not artificial intelligence, but augmented intelligence. That's what software's doing. What's your definition of augmented reality? >> Augmented reality is the ability to really change how man/machine interface around information, objects outside of 2D panels, and bringing the digital into our world. >> Let's talk about your company, Meta. You guys are doing some pretty cool stuff. Your CTO's not here, which, we'll get him on theCUBE soon. If you're watching, we'll get you on. But there's some cool stuff going on around visualization. I mean, we've covered big data since the day Hadoop was born 2009, 2010 timeframe. Visualization is key, but now, when you go to the next level, 3D, holograms, this is the future. The user interface is going to be augmented at work or at play. What are you guys doing? >> Absolutely, many things when it comes to data visualization. First of all, the third dimension, obviously adds a new way to see data, so, obviously, everything going from a 2D data analysis, you add a dimension, that gives you, obviously, added productivity. But in addition to that, you know, visualizing concepts. Mind-mapping, being able to correlate ideas, and not just data points. And, again, product design cycles and so on, productivity increases. Thirdly, ideation. Taking all that data, getting a 3D model with all its complexity into a simple form that we can collaborate around and design. >> You know, the next generation of users that are coming through the system, if you will, young kids, they're gamers. They love graphics. We're living in kind of a gaming culture, if you will, not to say gaming, literally, but per se, the interface is very rich in graphics, very rich in data. How is that going to impact CIOs? 'Cause they are looking at a old world of IT, put the servers on the racks, move the packets through the network. Now they have an opportunity with mobile, and now with global internet to put things out there like AR, like blockchain, smart contracts, AI. >> I think it's definitely an area that all CIOs should be looking at today, in many aspects. Number one, just like mobile, bring-your-own-device came into the office space. There will be, obviously, an impact from not just productivity solutions in the office, but as we get to consumer and AR, dealing with that and the implications of that. But, a more important, pressing issue for CIOs would be the fact that this is the future of compute. There is not a need anymore for 2D panels, or in the near future for 2D panels and keyboards and mouse interfaces, and how does that change IT support and, again, data sharing, collaboration, and all these-- >> And we see Siri, voice-activated, that's pretty classic. Throw the old movie Minority Report out there, where you're using your hands out there in the 3D space. This is an interface. >> Yes, it truly is. >> How real is that? I mean, come on, tell us! >> It's real, it's here, it's now. You can get a demo today for the audience. Soon, we can definitely invite you and get a demo. It is here. We're able to interact naturally today. We're on second-generation product. We have the widest field of view, which truly gives you immersion. You can walk around a hologram. You can stretch a hologram. You can surround yourselves with unlimited 3D images and panels and windows. >> So, what's the applications? What does this mean for the typical person out in the real world, whether they work in an enterprise, or a business, or a consumer? >> Absolutely. Early adopters right now are in business, enterprises. High-ROI type of applications and product design, so, rapidly iterating on concepts and ideas, getting all the way to sales and marketing, so once you have that design, then, how can you sell it and demonstrate it. All the way to maintenance, training, et cetera. That's the early adopters. Education is next, very close by. In the near future, and then, of course, we're thinking and trending towards consumers. What does shopping look like in the future? >> Check out Meta. It's a cool company. Now, Accenture Labs are having their party, and Accenture's been around for a while. I'm old enough to remember Arthur Andersen, the Big Six accounting firms, Accenture Consulting. These guys are not Johnny-come-latelies. They're doing some cool stuff. What's your role with Accenture Labs? You're on a panel here at this event, it's kind of a celebration. They're bringing the magic to life, talking about the magic of AI and cool things. What are you guys doing here, and what's Accenture Labs doing? >> Yeah, absolutely. We've been in collaboration with Accenture Labs for a little while, and it's been very, very exciting and productive. Number one, we're aligned on vision and strategy, so, currently, it's productivity. We're supporting productivity, we are going to develop a new platform, and so, for example, we've done a study together where we measured basic instructions around a LEGO, this was for the public, around building a LEGO piece used in our headset, using three-dimensional instructions versus 2D instructions, and Accenture brought that magic of quantifying productivity, and it was proved to be 20% faster with respect to instruction and training. >> So, Accenture has some chops, here, technically. >> Absolutely, absolutely. They do. (both laughing) And in the future, I mean, they're a big part of our ecosystem. This is what we're an enabler. We're a spatial interface-- >> What is the ecosystem for AI? That's a good question, 'cause people want to know, like, it's in a new, emerging area. Young kids are going to love this. New software development's coming in. What does the ecosystem look like in this new AR area, and what's the hiring profile? >> Yeah, that's a good question. Let me focus on ecosystem. I would say 50% of our current customers are developers, so the development community is adopting AR and they're building some really interesting and cool things. But the ecosystem comes from developers' content, so there's a lot of content developers, you know, high-fidelity 3D models. Enterprises are consuming all of this, and then channel partners, system integrators such as Accenture that are seeing the opportunity and bridging that gap for a lot of our corporate customers that are still forming their strategies. >> Joe Mikhail here, the chief revenue officer of Meta. I got to ask you, what percentage of your employees and customers are gamers? High amount, medium, low? Got to be a lot of gamers. >> There are some. Obviously, we integrate with Unity. A lot of our developers have come from that world, but our customers, we're a productivity company, and all of our customers are corporates at this time. Of course, we're interested to see what gamers can do on our platform. >> What's the low-hanging fruit for enterprise with respect to AR, because this is the question. No one debates the future. They see some augmentation coming on, obviously wearables, things of that nature, but software's going to power it all. What is the use case for enterprise? What's the low-hanging fruit? >> The lowest-hanging fruit is 3D CAD visualization in the product design cycle. That's just the lowest-hanging fruit right now. And then, training and education. >> You guys excited? >> We are very, very excited. The market's huge. >> All right, final question for you. For the folks that don't know the AR world, what is the future of AR going to be? What's the impact on society, what's the impact on daily lives of people with augmented reality? >> I think there are many, many impacts. One of our core values is technology serving humanity, so for us, it's very important to remove the barriers of devices coming between you and me, and being able to just look up content directly and interact with that. I think that's going to change how we think, how we collaborate, and then, of course, life sciences is huge, so there's a lot of companies starting to look at the future operating system, and the empathy that could come between a doctor and a patient looking at a case instead of just talking, you know? >> Joe, great, thanks for coming on. I'll give you a quick last word, here. What are you guys looking for as a company? You hiring, what's the strategy, what's the plan? Give a quick soundbite for what you guys are doing. >> Absolutely. We're growing. The market demand is huge, and we are hiring. We're looking for engineering, smart engineers that are interested in the space. We are growing on the sales and marketing side. We are absolutely interested in being part of our family, but I would say the biggest interest is in ecosystem partnerships. >> How long are you around for? >> Five years. >> Five years. Congratulations, Accenture Labs, 30 years celebration, where all the magic's happening, that's the theme. They got a magic show. We couldn't get video of that. They wouldn't let us record it. Joe from Meta, chief revenue officer, thanks for sharing your insight here on theCUBE. Appreciate it. >> Thanks, John. >> There'll be more coverage here at Accenture Labs' next 30 years. This is theCUBE coverage. We'll be right back. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)