Finding Genius Podcast

The MiDATA Personal Data Ownership Platform is a new "C2B" (Consumer to Business) tool that creates a MASSIVE WIN for both Consumers and Advertisers. Their customers are both B2C and B2B, but our platform is designed to bring them together to create a new model of "C2B" - Consumer to Business - by using blockchain to allow Consumers to own, control and get paid for the value that arises from their aggregate personal data. As an IBM Innovation Partner, their model is not to "sell" the Consumer's data for them, in fact, no one ever sees (the owner's) data - selling it is counterproductive to data privacy - instead, they use AI to create predictive purchasing models based on aggregate Consumer data, as a better way to match Advertisers with Consumers who are ready to buy their offerings.

TrustToken is a platform to create asset-backed tokens that you can easily buy and sell around the world. For example, gold to gold tokens or dollar to dollar tokens. The company's first asset token is TrueUSD, a stablecoin that you can redeem 1-for-1 for US dollars. TrustToken was founded in 2017 and consists of a team from Stanford, UC Berkeley, Airbnb, Goldman Sachs, PayPal, and Google, and is backed by a16z crypto, BlockTower Capital, Danhua Capital, Founders Fund Angel, GGV Capital, Jump Capital, Stanford-StartX, and others. For more information about TrustToken and its TrueUSD product, visit http://www.trusttoken.com.

iCash is a Team, a Technology, and a Token. All three elements are united in the service of using peer-to-peer Smart Contracts to empower direct and trusted interaction across boundaries with low fees and decentralized authority. iCash introduces the Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol as a multi-platform blockchain application that enables decentralized Smart Contract settlement and validation at scale. The most celebrated aspect of blockchain technology is that information is stored in an immutable ledger without the need for a central authority or intermediary. Despite this, not enough attention is paid to the negative impact created when an input to the blockchain is not trustworthy. The nature and scale of blockchain activity necessitates trustworthy inputs. While Proof of Work and Proof of Stake provide distributed trust for data storage, the introduction of PoT provides distributed trust for data input. By adding a trustworthy application protocol layer, real-world interaction and events can be verified before being entered into the blockchain.

Madhu Konety, founder and CEO of IceCream Labs (icecreamlabs.com), provides an informative overview of the consumer experience, and how AI and machine learning platforms are stepping up the game, delivering consumers better options. IceCream Labs is an AI (artificial intelligence) company that uses machine learning, and deep learning to solve business problems. Madhu Konety has over 20 years experience as an entrepreneur and technology professional and has worked with small startups as well as large companies throughout his career. He founded the software business, Musambi, which was later acquired by another company. Konety has served as senior investor, product manager, and software engineer for multiple highly established companies. He received a master's in business from Stanford University, an M.S. in computer science from Virginia Tech, as well as B.E. degrees in IT from Bangalore University and B.M.S College of Engineering. IceCream Labs provides an AI powered platform that delivers advanced intelligent merchandising solutions for sellers, ecommerce retailers, businesses and brands. Their platform utilizes deep learning that yields results with precision, which could potentially increase revenues by up to 400%. The IceCream Labs platform inputs multiple sources of product data. The data is processed using deep learning models that enrich and optimize the product content, and this process can be easily integrated into most solutions a business or company may already have in place. The commerce expert states that the biggest, and most important, challenge for many businesses is to have great quality product content for the entire product department. Consumers need to feel confident that their online searches for product information deliver thorough and accurate information about the product or products they are interested in purchasing. He explains how IceCream Labs' platform uses AI to enrich and organize product content, and to create relationships between the data via machine learning to deliver new experiences for consumers. Konety provides examples of how their platform considers literally thousands of data points to bring consumers a more immersive experience. He illustrates the process in detail by providing information on specific shopping experiences. For example, the platform's analyzation of the collected data in aggregate can bring product options to a consumer even when they are not exactly sure what they are looking for. If the consumer needs to purchase a chair or sofa, etc. but doesn't necessarily know if the style needed is bohemian, modern, or other, the platform can help guide the consumer to the appropriate purchase by presenting style boards that the consumer would consider to be acceptable. Konety explains that their platform works with any product line and by utilizing AI it can present suggestions to aid consumers in their purchasing, and can be modified for specific interests, needs, etc. Essentially, the platform can function as an intelligent salesperson that understands the interconnections between all the data points. As IceCream Labs moves forward, they hope to incorporate customer buying data, and of course with strict adherence to privacy laws. Konety discusses his team's work within the home, fashion, and food spaces, and how the importance of complete product data can enhance consumer experience and help to increase retailer profits. And results can be dramatic, with overall sales of a product sometimes leaping from 25% to as much as a whopping 200%. Konety discusses how their solutions empower the human connection as consumers have greater knowledge and extensive options at their disposal to enable them to make better, more informed decisions.

Robin Raskin is the founder of Living in Digital Times (LIDT), a team of technophiles who bring together top experts and the latest innovations to look at the intersection of lifestyle and technology. LIDT produces a number of notable conferences and expos at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) and at conferences and events worldwide. The company's trademark events include The Last Gadget Standing, Digital Health Summit, FashionWare, Fitness Tech Summit, Kids@Play Summit, The Digital Money Forum and others. In a previous lifetime, Raskin honed her tech chops at a variety of technology publications. She was editor of PC Magazine and began FamilyPC and YahooTech!. Author of 6 books, magazine publisher, blogger, TV and radio personality, Raskin has been at the forefront of an ever-changing topic: what it means to be digital. She lives in NYC and the Hudson Valley, with her husband, her three drops in now and then children, and closets full of obsolete technology.

Tammy Camp was listed on Fortune Ledger's "40 under 40" list of esteemed leaders in the crypto ecosystem. Stronghold is the on-ramp and off-ramp to the Stellar Network. They represent USD, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Lumens on the Stellar Distributed Exchange. Stronghold is building a new financial ecosystem where institutions and individuals can seamlessly manage and trade their assets.

The Myntum Project is developing a blockchain-based digital "hot" vault to secure critical digital assets for consumers and businesses. Myntum's data flow will leverage the security principle of 2CIA—Confidentiality, Continuity, Integrity, and Availability of digital assets—and harness it to the immutable, traceable power of the blockchain, the Web 3.0.

Bharanidharan Rajakumar, CEO of TRANSFR VR (transfrvr.com), delivers a detailed discussion on the ways we learn and how virtual learning can help to improve skill level and job performance. Rajakumar has extensive experience and success in the development of user-friendly learning systems and was the founder of an automated tutoring platform for the education startup, LearnBop. Rajakumar's company, TRANSFR VR, creates training simulations in virtual reality that enable employees and team members to develop the advanced skills needed to succeed on the job. The simulations are mentor-based VR training programs that provide truly personalized training to individuals that quicken learning and help with retention. From bartending to surgical skills, the spectrum is wide in terms of the innumerable career areas that could benefit from Rajakumar's learning simulation platform. With over 75 billion dollars spent on corporate training in the US, Rajakumar sees a particular need for training to be efficient and specialized in order for businesses to get the most bang for their buck. Manufacturing, hospitality, and nearly every industry has a need for quality training to enhance team member's skills, and TRANSFR VR is innovating to meet the needs, industry by industry. Rajakumar discusses the growing need for math skills on the job in multiple industries and how his platform allows companies to train employees using precisely the kind of math, in the exact work situation, that is tailored to the specific company. This kind of specialized training increases learning as employees use the actual tools and perform specific tasks in the virtual environment, just as they would on the job. Tailored training far surpasses general textbook math work. Rajakumar's company's core technology can assess mastery of skills as it collects infinitely more data on users' interactions in the platform. As Rajakumar explains, on a traditional 2D screen, the data collected is more basic, such as what is being clicked on, how much time is being spent on a question, etc., but a virtual environment allows for an assessment of what the user is actually doing. With TRANSFR VR's virtual approach, applicants and employees feel less 'test anxiety' and are therefore more able to focus on their learning. As transparency is brought to both sides, stress levels are significantly reduced, which can lead to better results for employer and employee alike. Additionally, in regard to potential employees, they can experience the tasks of the job as they would in the real world, which expands their knowledge of what the job will be like. This advance knowledge helps to inform the candidate about the job such that they can more easily decide if it is a job they would like to pursue. And the obvious benefit to employers is that incoming employees will be more aware of the tasks required, how the job functions, etc., which tends to minimize turnover. Rajakumar's platform is in demand internationally, but as his company is still expanding his plans are focused on engaging companies domestically for now, and especially in the areas that require mathematics and culinary skills. In any industry, employees and candidates require training to become proficient. Traditional methods of learning push us to learn at the same rate, but the truth is, people learn at their own rate, and Rajakumar's platform allows that to happen. People can make mistakes, try again, and never feel situational stress as they learn at their own rate, on their way to achieving a mastery of the skills needed.

As opposed to many other leaders in AI, the team at Qualcomm is a leader in edge computing that's conducted research for the past decade focused on optimizing, improving, and embracing machine learning and general AI algorithms on mobile processors without the need for a connection to the cloud. So, what's the advantage of on-device computing versus AI cloud players? Aside from improvements in energy consumption, there are actually three that are driving product development: performance, privacy, and reliability. Since 2008, Qualcomm has been looking into neural networks and deep learning, but the past three years have brought an influx of compute capability and an abundance of algorithmic data, which lead to Qualcomm's release of one of the first mobile AI platforms and the Snapdragon 820 processor. Since then, Qualcomm has made numerous new developments and optimizations. Tune in to hear the details and to learn what's on the horizon. To reach out for collaborations or find out about the latest developments, visit developer.qualcomm.com.

While it may not be immediately obvious, LinkedIn is one of the pioneers of machine learning. How so? Shivani Rao, applied researcher for the machine learning and relevance group at LinkedIn explains: "Every single product, every single feature, every single decision that's made involves data...and the AI algorithms have centered around personalized recommendations that are relevant to you based on your skills and activity on LinkedIn. Personalization is the key...and it requires data." Among other topics, Rao discusses exactly how users receive a personalized experience via recommendations, the challenges encountered by LinkedIn and the ways they are being addressed, the tools that allow users to automatically send updates to recruiters, and the LinkedIn learning product which allows users to choose the skills they want to follow, ranging from management and leadership to C++ usability. Tune in to hear the details, and visit Shivanirao.info for the latest news, outreach activities, and research.