Applying AI and machine learning to the cloud (Spangler participates, Baker observes) This unit examined the intersection of cloud computing and AI-enabled financial applications through the case study of Cogent Labs and the Google Cloud Platform. Cogents current product offerings include an application that turns handwriting into data, a natural-language-understanding platform that helps decode the text of customer complaints, and a forecasting tool to predict daily trends in the stock market all powered by AI and machine learning. While sentiment towards the application of AI in finance has waxed and waned over the years, many organizations have recognized the huge potential of AI in transforming financial services, and have made inroads into this market. These organizations include financial institutions with extensive networks of relationships and resources, as well as large technology companies with formidable computing infrastructures and budgets. Can startups such as Cogent maintain their position at the forefront of the disruptive FinTech landscape, or will they be overshadowed by other well established organizations? In this small group discussion forum, assess and discuss the following questions with your classmates: Does Cogent, or any software startup firm acting as an intermediary in this market, have a scalable and sustainable business model? What options does Cogent have for entering and remaining relevant in this market? Should they continue to develop machine-learning applications to run on the cloud and to sell to financial-service firms? Or should they merge with one of the major cloud providers to custom-build their products for financial-services clients?
Hide
