Coffee Break With Game-changers, Presented By Sap

The buzz: “The future is not what it used to be” (Laura Riding & Robert Graves, 1937). If you’re hoping to gaze into a crystal ball to see what 2020 holds for your company, your industry and the world, we’ve got the next best thing. Live today, December 4, 2019, and December 11 and 18, and January 8 and 15, 2020 – we’re bringing you predictions from 60 thought leaders covering the exciting technologies, strategies, and trends that can help you grow and compete better in 2020 and beyond. Pour a cup of Joe, Earl, or Dom, and join us for Technology Revolution: The Future of Now – 2020 Crystal Ball Predictions – Part 1 live. Together, let’s make 2020 our best year ever!

Today’s Buzz: Auto makers look into their crystal balls – and their shops – to get an idea as to what's fueling the car of 2025. Most car makers agree: The next 10 years will see more change in the auto business than the last 20. theglobeandmail.com Self-driving cars…once found only in science fiction, are about to become a reality. (Goldman Sachs, 2016). When you think of a flying car one might think of The Jetsons. The company Terrafugia is working to get its flying car off the ground by 2025. (Business Insider, 2016). infogram.com In any major city in the world, you’ll find smog…mostly from cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks. But things are about to get better…the car won’t disappear, it will just be powered by different energies, and in some cases, take on new shapes. thoughtco.com. We’ll ask the experts for their take: Meg Divitto, Divitto Design Group; Bill Newman & Mike Lackey, SAP; José Negron, AVANTI Technologies. Join us for Fasten Your Seatbelt: Ready for Your Future Ride?

Here’s today buzz: “Technology has changed how we listen to music…and the way music is made…and created new genres” (www.ronaldshannonjackson.com). The Internet has changed the music industry drastically…early issues like illegal downloading and music sharing sites (like the now-defunct Napster) to current disputes over music streaming services and how much the artists/labels should be paid in royalties” (www.recordingconnection.com). In our era of instant access, streaming has become ‘ground zero’ for new music (musicfirstcoalition.org). UK music revenues grew by 9.6% in 2017…Brits spent £577m on streaming subscriptions in 2017, up 41.9% from 2016 (www.telegraph.co.uk). We’ll ask 5 experts for their take: Michéal Castaldo, Tenor, Producer, Songwriter; Karen Willough, World Artist, Vocalist; Sandy Gennaro, Professional Touring Musician, Drummer, Speaker; Darwin Deano and Abby Samargya, Deloitte Consulting. Join us as we explore “Music and Technology: Sweet vs Sour Notes.”

Today’s Buzz: “I connected as many of my appliances and belongings as I could to the internet: an Amazon Echo, my lights, my coffee maker…baby monitor…my bed…to find out whether it would betray me” gizmodo.com. “In a world where we’re all paranoid about devices spying on us (and rightfully so), perhaps no other devices receive more scrutiny than smarthome products. But is that scrutiny warranted?” howtogeek.com “Just about every smart device, that is connected to the internet and offers personalized services is spying on you” lifewire.com. “Kashmir Hill…turned her one-bedroom apartment into a smart home and was measuring how much data was being collected by the firms that made the devices…like living in a ‘commercial, surveillance state’ bbc.com. We’ll ask experts for their take: Ashwin Krishnan, UberKnowledge; Kristina Podnar, The Power of Digital Policy; Jessica Groopman, Kaleido Insights; Fiona McEvoy, YouTheData.com. Join us for Is Your Smart Home Spying On You & Is It OK?”

Today’s Buzz: clickz.com reports that 44% of shoppers indicated they would become repeat buyers after a personalized experience, and adoption of AI by marketers is expected to increase by over 250% over the next two years. According to smartdatacollective.com, “Retailers are saying goodbye to intuitive guessing based on old-school data-gathering methods to convert customers. Welcome to the age of machine learning in retail.” howtotoken.com reports “Artificial intelligence and big data are being applied in new ways across the entire retail product and service cycle – from assembly to post-sale customer service interactions. According to Gartner, by 2020, AI chatbots will manage 85% of customer interactions in retail. We’ll ask five experts for their take: Gray Scott, Futuristic Now; Kashif Rahamatullah and Chip Kleinheksel, Deloitte; Roger Roney, SAP; Brian Kilcourse, Retail Systems Research. Join us as explore “AI Goes Shopping: Humanizing the Retail Customer Experience.”

Today’s Buzz: “As the concept of “New Retail” spreads globally, many Fortune Global 500 retail companies are implementing AI technologies such as computer vision and NLP in unmanned stores and warehouses or virtual stores and are accelerating supply chain upgrades to better position themselves for the future of shopping” (medium.com). “Retailers often feel understandably reluctant to give emerging technologies a try unless they feel extremely confident in the eventual payoff. A Capgemini Research Institute study…showed that if retailers branched out and deployed AI across their operations, they could save more than $340 billion by 2022” (www.mytotalretail.com). We’ll ask four experts for their take: Brian Kilcourse, Retail Systems Research; Praful Karanth, SAP; Matt Laukaitis, SAP; Roger Roney, SAP. Join us for “Truth or Dare: Is AI the Future of Retail?”

Today’s Buzz: “It's hard to believe that only a few generations ago, women had three career options: teacher, secretary or a nurse. Fast forward to 2017 and women have blurred the lines of traditional gender roles. … women and millennials disrupting the workplace and changing the business world as we know it” (forbes.com). “Unlike previous generations who may have either looked at self-investment as self-indulgence or who simply didn’t have the resources or technology available to make supplementary investments in themselves, today’s badass millennial women are unapologetic about their desire to invest in their own success and well-being…She-conomy 2.0” (techcrunch.com). We’ll ask four millennials for their take: Cait Scudder, Business Coach & Success Catalyst; Reena B. Patel, Parenting Expert & Behavior Analyst; Sharron Clear, Style, Beauty, and Lifestyle Influencer; Emilia Taneva, Bubbly Moments Blog & Orthodontist. Join us for Millennial Women Taking Charge: Badass Superstars.

The Buzz: “Despite the intrinsic contradiction, it’s clear that artificial intelligence and machine learning are primed to play a leading role in HCM’s future.…AI’s ability to consume and analyze massive quantities of data, manipulate variables and discover patterns makes it ideal for candidate sourcing” (Adam Rogers). “The future of HR is both digital and human as HR leaders focus on optimizing the combination of human and automated work. This is driving a new priority for HR: one which requires leaders and teams to develop a fluency in artificial intelligence while they re-imagine HR to be more personal, human and intuitive…it's the combination of AI and human intelligence that will transform work and workers as we know it” (Jeanne Meister). We’ll ask 4 experts for their take: Dr. Steven Hunt, SAP Innovation Office; Dr. Charles Handler, Rocket-Hire; Kevin Wheeler, The Future of Talent Institute; Ben Taylor, Ziff.ai. Join us for “HR Human vs AI: Who Will Be Hiring and Firing You?”

Here’s today’s Buzz: “If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked…you deserve to be hacked” (Richard Clarke). “People are doing things on free Wi-Fi that are really alarming” (Doug Shadel). “As the world is increasingly interconnected, everyone shares the responsibility of securing cyberspace.” (newton lee). “Hackers find more success with organizations where employees are under appreciated, over worked and under paid” (James Scott). “…the idea that security starts and ends with the purchase of a prepackaged firewall is simply misguided” (Art Wittman). “If security were all that mattered, computers would never be turned on, let alone hooked into a network with literally millions of potential intruders” (Dan Farmer). We’ll ask four experts about the future of Cybersecurity: George Rettas, Task Force 7 Radio; Dan Lohrmann, Security Mentor; Tom Pageler, BitGo; Andy Bonillo, Task Force 7 and Ciena. Join us for CyberSecurity Wars: Will Tech Help YOU or THEM?

Here’s today’s Buzz: In a Kantar Retail study, only 2% of US food and alcohol sales are made online. 84% of respondents in a 2017 Morgan Stanley study prefer to grocery shop in person. But change is coming to grocery! Supermarket chain Kroger plans to partner with Nuro on a driverless food delivery service. The futuristic grocery, kickstarted in 2016 by Amazon Go, offers a connected grocery store with no checkouts using deep learning, computer vision, and sensor fusion. Microsoft and Kroger announced data-driven connected grocery stores in Ohio and Washington. At Food Lion, Marty the Robot clean-sweeps the store a dozen times daily, scans shelves for out-of-stocks and ensures shelf pricing is aligned with front-end registers. We’ll ask four experts if legacy grocery stores have an expiration date: Bill Bishop, Brick Meets Click; John Lert, Alert Innovation; Scott DeGraeve, Locai Solutions; Will Treasure, Javelin Group. Please join us for Grocery Expiration Date: Automate or Die?

The Buzz: “Like many technology driven industries, [Fintechs] regulations are horribly outdated, authored at a time when an app meant fries for the whole table, and spam was just canned meat. Imagine running a business under laws written before your industry or product ever existed…Congress directions for regulators about what “banks” are and do are based on how banking worked in the 1970s…Banks, as institutions, do not really exist anymore. Customer activities exist and financial services exist and they are part of a complex and perpetually shifting network of problems and solutions Customers expectations have changed every bit as much for financial services as for the music industry” (fortune.com). We will ask four experts about the future of banking as we know it: Penny Crosman, American Banker; Brett King, Breaking Banks Podcast; Usman Aijaz, Deloitte Consulting; Jerry Silva, IDC Financial Insights. You are invited to join us for Banking on the Future: Fintechs Finance Makeover.

The Buzz: “The transition from high school to college life is difficult enough for any number of students without considering a disability” (edsmart.org). Bryan Stromer describes Cerebral Palsy as a part of his identity: “If someone has already written me off because of the way I walk, it gives me the opportunity to prove them wrong and exceed their expectations, while also hopefully redefining how they think about disability” (forbes.com). The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973…many college campuses began to rethink their facilities…powered accessible doors, wheelchair ramps and elevators in all multi floor buildings” (collegechoice.net). We’ll ask five experts about the future of higher education for students of all abilities: Patricia Parrish and Delaina Parrish, Fearless Independence; Ali Parrish, Physical Therapist; Gerry Altamirano, Disability Resource Center, Univ. of Florida; Jarrod Rowles, Numotion. Join us for Tech At College: Opening Doors for Unique-Ability Students.

Here’s today’s Buzz: Theceomagazine.com reported the rise of the ‘fempreneur’. “It’s fairly clear that women are starting businesses faster than ever…According to the ABS, 34% of businesses operators in 2014 were women…an increase in business ownership by females of more than 46% in the last twenty years.” According to Inc.com, “the top 20 most influential millennial entrepreneurs all created an internet-based service… 87% of millennials believe the success of a business should be measured on its impact on the world” (forbes.com). “Millennial entrepreneurs…are changing the way companies function” (blog.markgrowth.com). Who are these FemPreneurs? What future do they envision for their companies and markets, and those who aspire to follow in their steps? We’ll ask Tori Dunlap, Her First $100K; Makenzie Davies, davies and Dixon, Lorena Soriano, Isoline Consulting and Global Girls Give; Les Alfred, BalancedBlackGirls Podcast. Join us for Her First $100K: The Tech-Fueled FemPreneur.

The Buzz: “Drones in the sky, drones in the sea, drones on land: this is the future of human augmentation” (www.popularmechanics.com). “There are few pieces of technology that excite tech lovers and the general public quite like drones” (www.roboticsbusinessreview.com). “… Business execs with their finger on the pulse of tech trends and updates realize the myriad of benefits drones could offer by integrating the tech into their operations” (www.mondo.com). “From a military innovation, to an exciting hobby, to a technology that’s transforming commercial industries, the use of drones has rapidly changed over the past years — and future opportunities in the field are limitless” (www.calu.edu). All true? We’ll ask five experts: Robert Biggs, Phoenix Drone Pros; Christopher Todd, Airborne International Response Team; Kerry Brown, SAP; Patrick Egan, sUAS News; David Patterson, Ardenna. You are invited to join us for Look Up! It’s Not a Bird or a Plane. It’s A Drone! Are You Ready?

The buzz: “From tin-can robots to sophisticated, sentient virtual environments, artificial intelligence is a dominant theme in science fiction. With real-world advances in machine learning and deep learning, the gap between fact and fiction is narrowing. Real AI is not all about robots and self-aware computers. From Siri, search engines and motion-sensing video games to medical imaging and diagnostics, artificial intelligence is an increasingly significant part of our lives” Cray.com. Today we use various techniques to achieve AI with multiple levels of intelligence. We have made significant progress since the term artificial intelligence was first coined by John McCarthy and team in 1955 Mark Etwaru, CIO.com. How does AI in sci-fi match up with reality? We will ask the experts: Frank Diana, TCS and John H. Shannon, Seton Hall University and Gray Scott, Futuristic Now and Daniel Wellers, SAP. Please join us for Welcome To Your Digital Life: Science Fiction vs. Science Fact.

How are you hearing me: Live on internet radio? On a recorded podcast? Steve Jobs said in 2005: “Podcasting is the next generation of radio and users can now subscribe to more than 3,000 free podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod.” By 2018, the iTunes store had 500,000+ podcasts. The world's first internet radio station was launched by Carl Malmud in 1993. The internet’s first live video stream was a performance by garage band Severe Tire Damage in June 1993. In August 2015, Facebook launched Live. On average, people watch live streams three times longer and comment 10 times more than on regular video. We’ll ask four insiders to predict the future of how we listen: Ryan Treasure, VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. Rob Greenlee, Libsyn. Dr. Judy Morgan, Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine. Randall Libero / VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. Join us for Are YOU Talking To ME? Podcasts, Radio, Live-Streaming: Craze or Classic?

Who’s at the desk next to me? What – a robot? The buzz: “They record our shows, cook our food, play our music, and even run our cars. We just don't see it because these robots don't have a face we can talk to or a butt we can kick. I know four things robots can do right now that will change our lives for the future, and all in a good way. The first is entertainment (done that), the second is grunt work in dangerous places (coming up), third is elderly care, and last but not least is telepresence shopping, tourism, and assistance” (Mark W. Tilden, robot physicist www.theguardian.com). How will robots change the workforce and our ability to earn a living in the future? We'll ask four thought leaders for their take on this: Scott Feldman, Independent Management Consultant; Stephen Reed, Co-Founder at Ai-BlockChain; Kerry Brown, VP Workforce Adoption at SAP; and Jonny Bourgeois, CTO at Ai-BlockChain. Join us for AI At Work: Ready to Meet Your Robot Co-Workers?

The buzz: '[CBD] is a Disneyland for a pharmacologist. There are so many possible mechanisms, so many possible ways it can be useful' (Francisco Guimaraes, Brazil pharmacologist, www.washingtonpost.com). According to board-certified physician and nutritionist Eddie Fatakhov, M.D., “Cannabidiol is quickly becoming a household name better known as CBD. This marijuana plant-derived, non-psychoactive, natural remedy is being adapted to treat a wide variety of ailments from anxiety and pain to various seizure disorders.” We have so many questions: Is CBD Legal? Is it safe? Does CBD get you “high”? Can CBD calm anxiety, cure cancer, eliminate epileptic seizures and give insomniacs a full night’s sleep? We'll ask four experts about CBD fact vs. fiction and their predictions for its future: Eddie Fatakhov, MD, Autumn Shelton at Autumn Brands, and Karl Wes Young, WeSparkLabs. Join us for A-B-C-D – CBD: Miracle Med, Dubious Drug or Wishful Woo-Woo?

The buzz: AI is now the most in-demand tool in the media market…According to a report, viewers are 85 percent more likely to buy a product after watching a video…The technology is making things easier. Even giants like YouTube and Netflix have adapted to AI for better user experience…From data analytics to filming, this revolutionary technology is changing the way [the] video industry used to work” (Akash Deep, HackerNoon.com). Cameras! Lights! Action! We'll speak with Jesse Ariss at Vidyard, Matthew Trushinski at Miovision, and Kirsten Boileau and Charrele Robinson-Brown at SAP. Join us for The Future of AI and Your Videos: Coolness Beyond Cute Cats.

The buzz: Soon there will be entire American football league built on the premise that fans should be able to choose the players and coaches that make up each of the eight inaugural teams and even pick the teams' offensive plays. The innovative league is based on the belief that fans will enjoy a product that feels more like a video game than a traditional football-watching experience.” When Darren Heitner reported this in 2017 for Forbes SportsMoney, he was talking about the new Fan Controlled Football League (FCFL) powered on the Ethereum blockchain. Wow! The league ranks fans’ voting power for drafting players, picking coaches and calling the plays by the seven-on-seven teams on the field – using a new FAN Token cryptocurrency. Prognosis? We'll speak with Ray Austin and Jason Chilton of the Fan Controlled Football League, Andy Dolich of Dolich & Associates, and Carsten Winsnes at Strive Tech. Join us for High-Tech Touchdown! Fan-Controlled Football and Future of Sports.