John Cho

expert panel

For a long time, the central challenge in robotics was teaching machines exactly what to do. Now, some of the most interesting advances are coming from robots that can learn what to do for themselves.That shift is changing expectations for how quickly robots could become genuinely useful. New systems can learn from demonstrations, adapt to unfamiliar situations and transfer what they’ve learned across tasks and machines—bringing robotics closer to the flexibility that made generative AI so disruptive.Members of the Senior Executive AI Think Tank—a curated group of experts specializing in machine learning, generative AI and enterprise AI applications—have been watching these developments from across technology, healthcare, infrastructure, transformation and enterprise AI. We asked them what development in AI robotics has been most interesting to them this year, what it changed their minds about and what it suggests about how quickly robots will become capable of doing more in the real world.

expert panel

Marketing has always operated around a simple proposition: Get in front of people. Capture attention, create preference and make it easy for the consumer to buy.AI agents complicate every part of that formula.Instead of opening a search engine, comparing products, reading reviews and navigating checkout, a consumer may increasingly tell an agent what they want and let software handle the rest. The agent can interpret preferences, compare options, check prices, evaluate constraints and eventually complete the transaction.And if humans are no longer evaluating every option, companies may have to stop asking, “How do we get noticed?” and start asking, “How do we become the option an agent can confidently recommend?”Members of the Senior Executive AI Think Tank—a curated group of experts specializing in machine learning, generative AI and enterprise AI applications—see that transition from different vantage points. Here, they explore what this shift could mean for companies, consumers and the future of commerce—and what businesses may need to rethink as AI agents take on a greater role in the buying process.