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Is McKinsey really a good source for predictions? Do they have any in house expertise on machine learning (I doubt it)? And do they even have a track record of

Is McKinsey really a good source for predictions? Do they have any in house expertise on machine learning (I doubt it)? And do they even have a track record of predictions for strategic, technological trends?

ghaff 9y ago
Well, this report isn't really focused on making predictions. It's more looking at adoption and investments and McKinsey does have a pretty good understanding of where enterprises are investing time and money for strategic initiatives. As far as expertise, I suppose it depends on what you mean. Active AI practitioners. Probably not except to the degree that they pay outside experts for input. But they certainly have people who follow technology fields closely and have technology background. e.g. one of the authors of this report is a CS PhD, former CIO, and I've seen him speak at CIO conferences on a couple of occasions.
- denzil_correa 9y ago
  > McKinsey does have a pretty good understanding of where enterprises are investing time and money for strategic initiatives. Isn't this just looking at investments in different areas and compiling a table?
  - ghaff 9y ago
    Well, yes. It's just pulling data together from a bunch of different sources and interpreting it, talking to people, putting together case studies, presenting it in a fairly concise format, etc. Certainly other firms are capable of doing something similar but it's not as if this sort of information is readily available from a single source to just turn into a table.
    - denzil_correa 9y ago
      What exactly are the interpretations beyond the obvious here?
      - ghaff 9y ago
        For researcher and practitioners in the field? Probably not a lot. Although researchers may not have a lot of understanding about how the tech is actually being used. For the execs who are McKinsey clients or potential clients, it's probably a useful overview.
b_ttercup 9y ago
About to join their analytics team soon. Their technical capability is high and growing. Their involvement with "AI" is not that huge, but they'll have one of the best outlooks of how average companies are starting to throw machine learning/optimization at their operations.
matt4077 9y ago
They do have some incredibly talented people working for them, and they get to see a great many different organisations of every size, industry, and nationality, or type. You can probably better find the technical state-of-the-art on arxiv github. But I can't think of many people or organisations better placed to know the impact of AI on business. The technology is developed at universities, and at the likes of Google and Facebook, who are focused on in-house applications only. Maybe IBM, but the last person to read an IBM white paper was later seen walking South from McMurdoch station and is feared(and/or hoped) dead. Personally, I still prefer the Kinsey report. But this certainly isn't terrible.
jasiek 9y ago
Of course not.

ghaff 9y ago

Well, this report isn't really focused on making predictions. It's more looking at adoption and investments and McKinsey does have a pretty good understanding of where enterprises are investing time and money for strategic initiatives. As far as expertise, I suppose it depends on what you mean. Active AI practitioners. Probably not except to the degree that they pay outside experts for input. But they certainly have people who follow technology fields closely and have technology background. e.g. one of the authors of this report is a CS PhD, former CIO, and I've seen him speak at CIO conferences on a couple of occasions.

denzil_correa 9y ago
> McKinsey does have a pretty good understanding of where enterprises are investing time and money for strategic initiatives. Isn't this just looking at investments in different areas and compiling a table?
- ghaff 9y ago
  Well, yes. It's just pulling data together from a bunch of different sources and interpreting it, talking to people, putting together case studies, presenting it in a fairly concise format, etc. Certainly other firms are capable of doing something similar but it's not as if this sort of information is readily available from a single source to just turn into a table.
  - denzil_correa 9y ago
    What exactly are the interpretations beyond the obvious here?
    - ghaff 9y ago
      For researcher and practitioners in the field? Probably not a lot. Although researchers may not have a lot of understanding about how the tech is actually being used. For the execs who are McKinsey clients or potential clients, it's probably a useful overview.

b_ttercup 9y ago

About to join their analytics team soon. Their technical capability is high and growing. Their involvement with "AI" is not that huge, but they'll have one of the best outlooks of how average companies are starting to throw machine learning/optimization at their operations.

matt4077 9y ago

They do have some incredibly talented people working for them, and they get to see a great many different organisations of every size, industry, and nationality, or type. You can probably better find the technical state-of-the-art on arxiv github. But I can't think of many people or organisations better placed to know the impact of AI on business. The technology is developed at universities, and at the likes of Google and Facebook, who are focused on in-house applications only. Maybe IBM, but the last person to read an IBM white paper was later seen walking South from McMurdoch station and is feared(and/or hoped) dead. Personally, I still prefer the Kinsey report. But this certainly isn't terrible.

jasiek 9y ago

Of course not.