Innovation Expert Sandy Carter to Speak at PBWC, Connecting "Cognitive Diversity" to Success in Artificial Intelligence and Bots

SAN FRANCISCO, March 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In her fifth book, Extreme Innovation, released earlier this month at South by Southwest (SXSW), expert Sandy Carter, founder and CEO of Silicon-Blitz,  features over 100 case studies highlighting the business need for Cognitive Diversity inside companies hoping to succeed in Artificial Intelligence (AI) app, bot development, and innovation.  AI was one of the top trends discussed at the SXSW annual conference in Austin, Texas. Carter's upcoming panel, Future Tech Trends, at PBWC in San Francisco on March 28th, will further explore this critical business need.  As Carter defines it, Cognitive Diversity is hiring talent based on the difference in thought and style, as well as gender and race. "AI and bots are guided by a set of content called the training corpus of knowledge.  If that data is flawed, then that information is flawed. The adage is true – garbage in, is garbage out."

According to Forrester Research, investment in artificial intelligence will grow 300% in 2017.

Carter further explains, "The explosive growth of AI, bots and other technologies like VR, will make having a diversity of thought and experience a functional requirement for innovation.  This need presents an excellent opportunity for females and other diverse leaders within the enterprise to drive the future of bots."  Diversity must be a top focus for those developing bots and using AI. A product created from group think will fail because it does not take into account a typical business' diverse customer base.

According to Kathryn Larson, Executive Director of PBWC, "The mandate in Extreme Innovation to ensure diverse teams and inclusion is supported by the work that PBWC has been doing to showcase the value that diversity adds to innovation and business outcomes." Such thinking is reinforced by McKinsey findings that top quartile companies for gender diversity were found to be 15% more likely, and 35% more likely with ethnic diversity to outperform those in the bottom quartile.

Sheryl Root, Director and Professor in the Integrated Innovation Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, sees innovation and new product creation speeding up continuously. "CMU partnered with Sandy Carter on the research for Extreme Innovation around female founders. The superpowers of intelligence, speed, and synergy are the skills required for our rapidly changing world," said Root.

The start-up ecosystem of diversity is growing quickly.  A few relevant examples include:  

• WFFConnect: Educating female founders on funding process to drive innovation and scale. https://wffconnect.com/
• Reboot Accel: Career accelerator for women returning to work after having paused their careers. https://rebootaccel.com/
• BetaGig: Enabling women to shadow jobs and cultural fit at companies before they accept a position, critical for hiring and retaining Millennials.  http://betagig.tech/
• Atipica:  AI based software platform for companies to identify gaps in diversity and leaks within the hiring process for diverse candidates. https://www.atipicainc.com/

Extreme Innovation recently sold out when launched at SXSW. In addition to PBWC conference, Sandy will speak this month at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego and and Nevertheless, She Persisted: An Evening with Fearless Women in Leadership at DoubleDutch in San Francisco.  DoubleDutch is also powering the live engagement marketing app for the PBWC event.

You can orderExtreme Innovation on Amazon at http://extremeinnovationbook.com/ and take the Extreme Innovation quiz at http://bit.ly/superpowers1 powered by DilogR.

About Sandy Carter:

Sandy Carter is the founder and CEO of Silicon-Blitz, focused on helping companies with innovation, technology, and cognitive diversity. One of the leading pioneers in the digital business revolution, Sandy Carter was a driving force of Innovation at IBM for the last decade. Most recently serving as worldwide General Manager of Ecosystem Development, Sandy was the global evangelist responsible for connecting emerging technology companies and accelerators with enterprises to increase productivity and creativity while fostering a community of innovation. She is an extreme innovator who was named a Digital Influencer in 2016 by Forbes, a Social Media Legend, and Top 10  Women in Technology by CNN, and Top 5 Bot influencer by Bottish 100.

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SOURCE Silicon Blitz