Information Security

7 A.I. Stats That Reveal the Future of Jobs in Tech

A.I. is making serious waves in tech. Not only will the technology facilitate the creation of brand new opportunities for businesses across all industries, A.I. is set to potentially change the face of the tech job market. Not convinced? Here are 7 stats the paint a revealing picture of the opportunities for people in tech in just the next few years… 1. 87% of businesses already using A.I. use it for sales forecasting and for improving e-mail marketing Some businesses are already aware of the power of A.I. to streamline and optimise their marketing streams. Thanks to all the data the Internet of Things is giving us access to, A.I. is increasingly being used to help provide insight to digital marketing. As A.I. increasingly takes over the insight part of the equation, we may see a new role of Data Curator rise in importance. This role will likely evolve to work hand in hand with A.I., supporting and directing the analysis of data. Data Curators will likely turn to focus specifically on preparing data for use by A.I. algorithms within CMSs and other marketing analysis tools. 2. The share of jobs requiring AI skills has grown by 4.5 times since 2013 Jobs with A.I. skills are becoming more and more commonplace in the job market as A.I. begins to penetrate more business areas. From HR & Payroll to marketing to sales, A.I. skills are more and more required beyond tech. Within tech, A.I. has the potential to play a pivotal role in a number of disparate projects. Digital Knowledge Manager is going to be a role we expect to be hearing a lot more of in the next few years. Digital Knowledge Managers are primarily tasked with getting the most out of a company's digital assets. But they also have to be able to unify and coordinate the tech assets across all areas of the business. With more and more jobs requiring some element of A.I. skill, Data Knowledge Managers will be perfectly positioned to manage these roles. They can report on a variety of A.I. operations at a senior level, thanks to their in-depth and broad knowledge of tech competencies. 3. 61% of professionals, regardless of company size, said AI is their company’s most significant data initiative for next year. Of all the investment opportunities available to businesses today, over 60% of businesses are looking to invest in A.I. to a serious degree. In order to understand how to best integrate machine learning into their businesses, it's likely that we'll see more IoT Architect and Solutions Designer roles. These emergent job roles are foundational any big A.I. project. Not only are they able to identify opportunities for machine learning into businesses, they can ensure a higher standard of security. This is particularly important in today's environment of potential cybercrime. 4. A.I will create 2.3 million jobs by 2020 Robots will not be stealing our jobs. In fact, A.I. will create jobs across all sorts of markets. According to research, the degree of impact will vary across industries. While manufacturing will likely transform very quickly, retailers are unlikely to replace shop staff any time soon. As new technologies and services become integrated into everyday life, one constant will be the need to ensure they work as promised. This is why the need for testers, from Infrastructure Automation Engineers to VR testers and QA testers has the potential to increase as A.I. integrates further into our lives. 5. 72% of businesses leaders consider A.I. a “business advantage.” According to PwC, A.I. is considered a business advantage. From optimising productivity to generating deeper insights, A.I. will help businesses provide better products and services to their customers. To this end, it's possible that roles such as Chief Data Officer and Chief Compliance Officer will become more and more important. If businesses are going to leverage the advantages of A.I. for financial gain, it's important that they remain compliant. Businesses must operate within established governance, ensuring data protection and correct use of data. 6. The A.I. healthcare market in the U.S. is on track to hit $6.6 billion by 2021. A.I. is predicted to be huge in the healthcare sector. With its ability to augment and improve human productivity, A.I. will transform the face of healthcare. According to Accenture analysis, "when combined, key clinical health AI applications can potentially create $150 billion in annual savings for the U.S. healthcare economy by 2026.” This is just one example of how much of an impact A.I. can have on an industry that isn't specifically considered a "tech industry". For organisations exploring A.I. for the first time, roles such as Machine Learning Engineer/Tutor/Expert may see an increase outside of tech. Machine learning is still a misunderstood concept in many sectors, despite people being aware of its existence and importance. Machine Learning Experts, who have specialist knowledge and experience in A.I. will be able to guide and educate key stakeholders in order to help them make business decisions that have the potential to save millions of pounds year on year. 7. Global spending on A.I. within retail will grow to $7.3 billion per year by 2022, up from an estimated $2 billion in 2018. According to the research from Juniper, “retailers will heavily invest in A.I. tools that allow them to differentiate and improve the services they offer customers. These range from automated marketing platforms that generate tailored, timely offers, to chatbots that provide instant customer service.” We're seeing this investment already. From your banking apps to chatbots that help you book holidays. In order to create the best possible human/machine interactions, AI Interaction Designers and similar UX/UI roles may become emergent jobs. IT and design pros will need to develop AI interfaces usable for mass audiences that are as human-like as possible. These stats show that A.I. relates skills and jobs have the potential to create new jobs and transform existing ones. Will these predictions become a reality? Only time will tell.

What is a Hackathon and How Can it Benefit Your Devs?

Hackathons might sound like scary things. But the truth is that hackathon is a collaborative event that can help developers learn new skills and discover new ways to approach challenges. The word "hackathon" is a portmanteau of "hack" and "marathon". "Hack" is a term for exploratory programming, where developers find new ways to solve problems. "Marathon" refers to the structure of the event: nonstop coding for 24 hours and sometimes longer. What Happens at a Hackathon? Also known as hack days or code fests, hackathons give developers an opportunity to collaborate on a single project and share their skills as they race to build, create and deliver a product within a certain timeframe. Hackathons are often structured as a competition, where teams of programmers, developers, designers and project managers come together to complete a software project. Hackathons usually start with introductions and presentations that centre on a theme. Here, participants will pitch their ideas and form teams based on interests and skillsets. Hackathons can be of 24h but can go up to a week. Shorter Hackathons, are high pressure, fast-paced events. Meanwhile, longer hackathons require more nuanced time management. After the work is done, teams will show their products to each other. Sometimes there will be a jury that will choose a winning team that will get a prize. But the real prize is the opportunity for the delegates to meet, share and collaborate. How Popular are Hackathons? As mentioned in our previous blog, developers like to learn new skills outside of work and hackathons are the places they love having the opportunity to go to. A report in 2017 by BeMyApp reported that 200,000 people participated in hackathons in over 100 countries last year. 75% of these hackathons were public in nature. They attracted 42.8% professionals and 21.1% students. Some 18.9% of the participants categorised themselves as independents and 9.6% as entrepreneurs. Another 7.6% were unemployed. The diverse makeup has generally aligned interests and skills. Over one third of participants had web skills and another 36% specialised in mobile applications. The other third was made up of other disciplines, including design, management and hardware. Hackathons attract people from a range of disciplines. What are the Benefits of Hackathons? Meet New People Hackathons are a social occasion as much as a technical challenge. They allow developers to mingle and spend time away from their usual teams. This allows them to decompress, readjust their perspective and come back to their work projects with new energy. They also help devs develop their soft skills, such as communication, team building and planning, which can be brought back into their work. Learn New Skills Hackathons offer devs a chance to get some real tech experience and develop their skills. This isn't only valuable experience for younger developers, it allows seasoned devs to explore areas outside their comfort zone and add new tools to their repertoire. Hackathons are all about thinking outside the box. It's that kind of thinking that will help your devs become top talent and help take your business further Networking & Finding New Talent Hosting a Hackathon gives businesses an opportunity to give new blood a chance to show off their skills. This can be very important if you have a new project about to start and you're looking for new team members. Hosting a hackathon that is themed around your upcoming projects can help you find the talent you need. If also demonstrates your business as one that is sensitive and supportive of the needs of developers. Hackathons aren't just for devs Participants don't have to have programming skills. As mentioned, this is a collaborative process that touches a number of people who work on systems projects. This includes, designers, project managers and UX specialists. The goal of a hackathon is always to produce the best piece of work possible, which requires a variety of skills on each team. In today’s digital era, the success of a business depends on its ability to sustain innovation. To meet growing customer expectations and beat the competition, companies must innovate fast and build new features to improve their product or service. The biggest advantage a hackathon offers is a structure to scale innovation and build new features. Concrete ideas derived from hackathons can help companies provide better customer experience and improve revenue.

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