Companies are racing to apply machine learning to important business decisions, only to realize that the data they need doesn’t even exist yet. In essence, the fancy new AI systems are being asked to apply new techniques to the same old material. The result is a visible arms race as companies bring on machine learning coders and kick off AI initiatives alongside a behind-the-scenes, panicked race for new and different data.

CEOs discussing business model transformation. Innovation that drives sales. Bots as (actually useful) customer service agents. How to charge for the things you used to give away. These are a few of our favorite things in MIT SMR’s Winter issue.

In the world of cloud computing, the spotlight has mostly been on cloud providers and their ability to help organizations digitally transform. With new scrutiny around data localization and privacy, enterprises must consider localization impacts on their cloud computing strategy as they invest and innovate with emerging technologies.

Examining skill sets and mind-sets will help leaders understand what it means to be a leader in the digital economy. This will include requirements such as changing mastery, executing excellence, nurturing relationships, and, notably, building a culture of radical trust.

Travel marketers who take advantage of the large volumes of data their organizations collect to generate new KPIs and ML initiatives will continue to pull ahead of their rivals.

Increasingly, military-inspired exercises are becoming standard elements of corporate risk mitigation and resiliency efforts. They include tabletop exercises,” designed to help executives envision how they would handle different risk scenarios; “red team exercises,” designed to ferret out weaknesses through contained attacks conducted internally to see how cybersecurity teams respond; and engaging ethical hackers to test the organization’s cybersecurity defenses.

Our research on KPIs suggests there is no clear best practice when it comes to relying on data versus intuition to make strategic decisions.

Companies can monetize data internally to optimize operations and client services. They can also leverage that data across various client use cases.

Each month, the MIT SMR Strategy Forum poses a single question to our panel of experts in the fields of business, economics, and management. This month’s question asks our panel whether Amazon, by raising the minimum wage for its U.S. workers to $15 per hour, will influence other companies to do the same.

Oftentimes contending with overwhelming quantities of data, the health care industry could lessen its reliance on intuitive decision-making by making better use of machine learning.

Automation is a scary word for the average worker, but implemented correctly, it can have enormous benefits for companies, customers, and even the workforce. In this webinar, automation expert Mary Lacity explains how thoughtful adoption of bots and automated services can make the difference in the outcome for all stakeholders.

Scholars have argued for years that high levels of diversification harm company performance and value creation. But multi-business companies can do quite well. Those that thrive tend to do three things: They limit the number of business models in their portfolio and support them with a cohesive operating model. They tailor the corporate parenting strategy to the needs of individual business units. And they allocate resources according to the role played by each business unit.

To thrive, retailers must match their belief and investment in machine learning with incentives that clearly connect to their broader strategic goals.

Many B2B companies seek to grow beyond traditional product lines by venturing into new services. Yet they often overlook the opportunity to capture sales from free services they provide. This article outlines the free-to-fee, or F2F, service transition. It shows how to inventory free services (categorizing them as profit drains, distributor delights, competitive weapons, or gold nuggets) and lays out a path for profitably generating revenues.

According to Northwestern Mutual’s chief marketing officer, marketing should be more than a support function; it should be a strategic growth driver.

Properly navigating strategic business migrations by applying successful animal migration principles can help your company arrive at the right place and at the right time for marketplace success.

Businesses can use cybersecurity to assure their digital transformation bets while positioning the business to capture new and enhanced revenue streams. Companies that act seriously and aggressively now will gain market positioning and long-term benefits.

The Netflix-ification of KPI dashboards is dramatically changing how organizations can engage with and align performance metrics to drive better business outcomes.

Each month, the MIT SMR Strategy Forum poses a single question to our panel of experts in the fields of business, economics, and management. This month’s question asks our panel whether restrictions on skilled immigration in the United States will cause business to shift operations overseas.

The process of recruiting members to a board is often mistaken for the actual onboarding. Much is at stake in terms of legal and fiduciary responsibilities, but relatively little attention is paid to creating the conditions within the board to extract the distinctive knowledge of its new members. Three strategies can help boards do a better job leveraging the unique expertise of each board member.