>>Yeah, >>from the Cube Studios in Palo Alto and Boston. It's the Cube covering IBM. Think brought to you by IBM. >>Everybody, this is Dave Vellante of the Cube. Welcome back. The continuous coverage that we're running here of the IBM Think Digital 2020 Experience. I'm with Radica Gunnar, who is a longtime Cube alum. She's the vice president for Data and AI. Expert labs and learning Radica. Always a pleasure. I wish we were seeing each other face to face in San Francisco. But, you know, we have to make the best. >>Always a pleasure to be with you, Dave. >>So, listen, um, we last saw each other in Miami Attain IBM data event. You hear a lot of firsts in the industry. You hear about Cloud? First, you hear about data. First hear about AI first. I'm really interested in how you see AI first coming customers. They want to operationalize ai. They want to be data first. They see cloud, you know, is basic infrastructure to get there, but ultimately they want insights out of data. And that's where AI comes in. What's your point of view on this? >>I think any client that's really trying to establish how to be able to develop a AI factory in their organization so that they're embedding AI across the most pervasive problems that they have in their order. They need to be able to start first with the data. That's why we have the AI ladder, where we really think the foundation is about how clients organized there to collect their data, organize their data, analyze it, infuse it in the most important applications and, of course, use that whole capability to be able to modernize what they're doing. So we all know to be able to have good ai, you need a good foundational information, architecture and the US A lot of the first steps we have with our clients is really starting with data doing an analysis of where are you with the data maturity? Once you have that, it becomes easier to start applying AI and then to scale AI across the business. >>So unpack that a little bit and talk about some of the critical factors and the ingredients that are really necessary to be successful. What are you seeing with customers? >>Well, to be successful with, a lot of these AI projects have mentioned. It starts with the data, and when we come to those kind of characteristics, you would often think that the most important thing is the technology. It's not that is a myth. It's not the reality. What we found is some of the most important things start with really understanding and having a sponsor who understands the importance of the AI capabilities that you're trying to be able to drive through business. So do you have the right hunger and curiosity of across your organization from top to bottom to really embark on a lot of these AI project? So that's cultural element. I would say that you have to be able to have that in beds within it, like the skills capabilities that you need to be able to have, not just by having the right data scientists or the right data engineers, but by having every person who is going to be able to touch these new applications and to use these new applications, understand how AI is going to impact them, and then it's really about the process. You know, I always talk about AI is not a thing. It's an ingredient that makes everything else better, and that means that you have to be able to change your processes. Those same applications that had Dev ops process is to be able to put it in production. Need to really consider what it means to have something that's ever changing, like AI as part of that which is also really critical. So I think about it as it is a foundation in the data, the cultural changes that you need to have from top to bottom of the organization, which includes the skills and then the process components that need to be able to change. >>Do you really talking about like Dev ops for AI data ops, I think is a term that's gonna gaining popularity of you guys have applied some of that in internally. Is that right? >>Yeah, it's about the operations of the AI life cycle in, and how you can automate as much of that is possible by AI. They're as much as possible, and that's where a lot of our investments in the Data and AI space are going into. How do you use AI for AI to be able to automate that whole AI life site that you need to be able to have in it? Absolutely >>So I've been talking a lot of C. XO CEO CEOs. We've held some C so and CEO roundtables with our data partner ET are. And one of the things that's that's clear is they're accelerating certain things as a result of code 19. There's certainly much more receptive to cloud. Of course, the first thing you heard from them was a pivot to work from home infrastructure. Many folks weren't ready, so okay, but the other thing that they've said is even in some hard hit industries, we've essentially shut down all spending, with the exception of very, very critical things, including, interestingly, our digital transformation. And so they're still on that journey. They realized the strategic imperative. Uh, and they don't want to lose out. In fact, they want to come out of this stronger AI is a critical part of that. So I'm wondering what you've seen specifically with respect to the pandemic and customers, how they're approaching ai, whether or not you see it accelerating or sort of on the same track. What are you seeing out there with clients? >>You know, this is where, um in pandemics In areas where, you know, we face a lot of uncertainty. I am so proud to be an IBM. Er, um, we actually put out offer when the pandemic started in a March timeframe. Teoh Many of our organizations and communities out there to be able to use our AI technologies to be able to help citizens really understand how Kobe 19 was gonna affect them. What are the symptoms? Where can I get tested? Will there be school tomorrow? We've helped hundreds of organizations, and not only in the public sector in the healthcare sector, across every sector be able to use AI capabilities. Like what we have with Watson assistant to be able to understand how code in 19 is impacting their constituents. As I mentioned, we have hundreds of them. So one example was Children's health care of Atlanta, where they wanted to be able to create an assistant to be able to help parents really understand what symptoms are and how to handle diagnosis is so. We have been leveraging a lot of AI technologies, especially right now, to be able to help, um, not just citizens and other organizations in the public and healthcare sector, but even in the consumer sector, really understand how they can use AI to be able to engage with their constituents a lot more closely. That's one of the areas where we have done quite a bit of work, and we're seeing AI actually being used at a much more rapid rate than ever >>before. Well, I'm excited about this because, you know, we were talking about the recovery, What there's a recovery look like is it v shaped? Nobody really expects that anymore. But maybe a U shaped. But the big concern people have, you know, this w shape recovery. And I'm hopeful that machine intelligence and data can be used to just help us really understand the risks. Uh, and then also getting out good quality information. I think it's critical. Different parts of the country in the world are gonna open at different rates. We're gonna learn from those experiences, and we need to do this in near real time. I mean, things change. Certainly there for a while they were changing daily. They kind of still are. You know, maybe we're on a slower. Maybe it's three or four times a week now, but that pace of change is critical and, you know, machine machines and the only way to keep up with that wonder if you could comment. >>Well, machines are the only way to keep, and not only that, but you want to be able to have the most up to date relevant information that's able to be communicated to the masses and ways that they can actually consume that data. And that's one of the things that AI and one of the assistant technologies that we have right now are able to do. You can continually update and train them such that they can continually engage with that end consumer and that end user and be able to give them the answers they want. And you're absolutely right, Dave. In this world, the answers change every single day and that kind of workload, um, and and the man you can't leave that alone to human laborers. Even human human labors need an assistant to be able to help them answer, because it's hard for them to keep up with what the latest information is. So using AI to be able to do that, it's absolutely critical, >>and I want to stress that I said machines you can't do without machines. And I believe that, but machines or a tool for humans to ultimately make the decisions in a crisis like this because, you see, I mean, I know we have a global audience, but here in the United States, you got you have 50 different governors making decisions about when and how certainly the federal government putting down guidelines. But the governor of Georgia is going to come back differently than the governor of New York, Different from the governor of California. They're gonna make different decisions, and they need data. And AI and Machine intelligence will inform that ultimately their public policy is going to be dictated by a combination of things which obviously includes, you know, machine intelligence. >>Absolutely. I think we're seeing that, by the way, I think many of those governors have made different decisions at different points, and therefore their constituents need to really have a place to be able to understand that as well. >>You know, you're right. I mean, the citizens ultimately have to make the decision while the governor said sick, safe to go out. You know, I'm gonna do some of my own research and you know, just like if you're if you're investing in the stock market, you got to do your own research. It's your health and you have to decide. And to the extent that firms like IBM can provide that data, I think it's critical. Where does the cloud fit in all this? I mentioned the cloud before. I mean, it seems to be critical infrastructure to get information that will talk about >>all of the capabilities that we have. They run on the IBM cloud, and I think this is where you know, when you have data that needs to be secured and needs to be trusted. And you need these AI capabilities. A lot of the solutions that I talked about, the hundreds of implementations that we have done over the past just six weeks. If you kind of take a look at 6 to 8 weeks, all of that on the IBM Public cloud, and so cloud is the thing that facilitates that it facilitates it in a way where it is secure. It is trusted, and it has the AI capabilities that augmented >>critical. There's learning in your title. Where do people go toe? Learn more How can you help them learn about AI And I think it started or keep going? >>Well, you know, we think about a lot of these technologies as it isn't just about the technology. It is about the expertise and the methodologies that we bring to bear. You know, when you talk about data and AI, you want to be able to blend the technology with expertise. Which is why are my title is expert labs that come directly from the labs and we take our learnings through thousands of different clients that we have interacted with, working with the technologies in the lab, understanding those outcomes and use cases and helping our clients be successful with their data and AI projects. So we that's what we do That's our mission. Love doing that every day. >>Well, I think this is important, because I mean, ah company, an organization the size of IBM, a lot of different parts of that organization. So I would I would advise our audience the challenge IBM and say, Okay, you've got that expertise. How are you applying that expertise internally? I mean, I've talked into public Sorry about how you know the data. Science is being applied within IBM. How that's then being brought out to the customers. So you've actually you've got a Petri dish inside this massive organization and it sounds like, you know, through the, you know, the expert labs. And so the Learning Center's you're sort of more than willing to and aggressively actually sharing that with clients. >>Yeah, I think it's important for us to not only eat our own dog food, so you're right. Interpol, The CDO Office Depot office we absolutely use our own technology is to be able to drive the insights we need for our large organization and through the learnings that we have, not only from ourselves but from other clients. We should help clients, our clients and our communities and organizations progress their use of their data and their AI. We really firmly believe this is the only way. Not only these organizations will progress that society as a whole breast, that we feel like it's part of our mission, part of our duty to make sure that it isn't just a discussion on the technology. It is about helping our clients and the community get to the outcomes that they need to using ai. >>Well, guy, I'm glad you invoke the dog food ing because, you know, we use that terminology a lot. A lot of people marketing people stepped back and said, No, no, it's sipping our champagne. Well, to get the champagne takes a lot of work, and the grapes at the early stages don't taste that pain I have to go through. And so that's why I think it's a sort of an honest metaphor, but critical your you've been a friend of the Cube, but we've been on this data journey together for many, many years. Really appreciate you coming on back on the Cube and sharing with the think audience. Great to see you stay safe. And hopefully we'll see you face to face soon. >>All right. Thank you. >>Alright. Take care, my friend. And thank you for watching everybody. This is Dave Volante for the Cube. You're watching IBM think 2020. The digital version of think we'll be right back after this short break. >>Yeah, yeah, yeah.