BlackFin360 – Innovation To Reality
Tom Edwards is a professional futurist and keynote marketing technology speaker covering data, digital, artificial intelligence, marketing technology and emerging media trends
Over the years I have built and defined go-to-market strategies for a number of native applications. I enjoy a clean user experience and I am always on the look out for new and compelling ways to connect with consumers. With that said I am incredibly impressed by the launch of Quartz’s Native IOS app. Instead …
Continue reading “The Power of Conversational User Experiences”
Tom Edwards, Ad Age Marketing Technology Trailblazer and Chief Digital Officer, Agency @ Epsilon highlights the third pillar of the E^3 framework, Environment in Video 4 of 4 in the Innovation to Reality™ content series. This video outlines how our world is shifting towards synthetic reality with the convergence of location, computer vision and mixed …
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Tom Edwards, Ad Age Marketing Technology Trailblazer and Chief Digital Officer, Agency @ Epsilon highlights the second pillar of the E^3 framework, Enhance in Video 3 of 4 in the Innovation to Reality™ content series. This video is all about how intelligent systems will enhance our world. From all facets of Artificial Intelligence (machine learning, deep learning, natural language …
Tom Edwards, Ad Age Marketing Technology Trailblazer and Chief Digital Officer, Agency @ Epsilon highlights the first pillar of the E^3 framework, Empower in Video 2 of 4 in the Innovation to Reality™ content series. This series will highlight the evolution of Experience through the E^3 framework of Empower, Enhance, and Environment. The E^3 framework …
Since it first arrived at my home nearly a year ago I have been hooked on the the Amazon Echo and the potential of voice based user experiences. This week I spent time in Seattle at Amazon HQ meeting with the Alexa partner team discussing everything from voice UX best practices, skills development for the …
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeffrey Hayzlett of C-Suite TV to kick off season 7 of Executive Perspectives. We discussed digital disruption, conversational experiences, artificial intelligence and best practices for leveraging data to connect with consumers. Now, I have heard from multiple sources that the interview is available On-demand on domestic …
Continue reading “United Airlines & Executive Perspective Interview”
Sunday night April 22nd at 6 EDT, my previous interview with Jeffrey Hayzlett and C-Suite TV aired on the BizTV television network. Here is a recap of the discussion. I previously had the pleasure of joining the C-Suite TV team at their San Francisco event and was interviewed by Jeffrey Hayzlett. It was a fun …
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Tom is a dynamic speaker with a deep understanding of technical detail but translates to all audiences. Tom speaks regularly on the convergence of technology and consumer behavior via artificial intelligence through his platform Innovation to Reality™. From Star Wars, Fortnite, The Matrix to the impact of Gen Z, the camera as the next marketing platform, …
I recently had the privilege to be interviewed by the SMU Temerlin Advertising Institute team for the TAI blog. This is a repost of the interview discussing various topics tied to teaching, career advice, and how the advertising industry has shifted over the years. Professor Tom Edwards is teaching capstone course ADV 4399 Advertising Campaigns for …
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It’s my favorite time of year. No, I am not talking about Santa & reindeer, I am talking about predictions! Here is a full analysis of potential trends to consider heading into 2018 via a non-linear or choose your own adventure video format just click the image below. This video starts with a brief intro, then you …
2017 has seen a rapid acceleration of technology trends. Of the 50+ trends observed from CES, MWC, SXSW, F8, Google I/O and more, here are the top 5 midyear trends that I am closely monitoring heading into 2018. 1) MOBILE FIRST TO AI FIRST For the past few years, Facebook, Google and other industry heavy weights …
I have written articles and commented quite a bit about Amazon Alexa and voice based conversational experiences in the media over the past 12 months. To date there are over 10 million Alexa powered devices in consumer homes and that number is about to increase significantly with Alexa Voice Services integrating in everything from cars …
I was recently interviewed by eMarketer about wearables in 2017 and how they are trending for marketers as they evaluated the future forecast of wearables. The full report is available to eMarketer PRO subscribers. My summarized commentary is that most of the client demand I have experienced over the past few years has been web …
Continue reading “In The News: eMarketer Wearables Forecast”
This past week, over 30,000 digitally centric professionals, including myself and Ian Beacraft, descended on Austin, Texas for SXSW Interactive 2017. Our focus was to meet with key strategic partners, gauge emerging trends, monitor product launches and most importantly create content and POVs. Content included a comprehensive text based trend recap download, live streaming from the …
Here is a video recap shot live from the floor of SXSW Interactive 2017 on day 1 on the opening of the tradeshow floor. The video outlines emerging technology and trends tied to Connection, Cognition and Immersion and touches on key territories such as: Conversational Experiences Emotional Intelligence Artificial intelligence vs. Intelligence Augmentation Mixed Reality …
What a great show! Mobile World Congress is when the tech world converges on Barcelona, Spain to discuss the ever expanding domain of mobile. I was excited to attend this years event for three reasons: speaking engagement, conducting tours for media and live streaming on behalf of Epsilon. This post will focus on a comprehensive …
Here is a video recap shot live from the floor of Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona. The video outlines emerging technology and trends tied to Connection, Cognition and Immersion and touches on key territories such as: Evolution of Conversational Experiences Artificial intelligence and Advancements in Smart Assistants New Types of Interfaces Beyond Mobile The …
For the past 12 months, my Epsilon team and I have focused on multiple facets of artificial intelligence (AI) with data as the primary fuel that powers key insights. We have leveraged machine learning, natural language processing, predictive APIs, and neural networks to uncover consumer truths that previously would have taken weeks or months to …
I recently sat down with Jeffrey Hayzlett of C-suite TV for the first episode of season 7 for Executive Perspectives live. He recently wrote a piece for Entrepreneur.com outlining 5 business trends that will take off in 2017. Jeffrey referenced our conversation regarding automation of conversational experiences through artificial intelligence. The infusion of voice-based technology …
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeffrey Hayzlett of C-Suite TV to kick off season 7 of Executive Perspectives. We discussed digital disruption, conversational experiences, artificial intelligence and best practices for leveraging data to connect with consumers. Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
Technology is now essential to our daily lives. Accessibility and empowerment has transformed how we connect and communicate. This has led to new forms of user interaction that will usher in the business models of the future. 2017 will be comprised of new types of conversational experiences to connect with consumers. It will see the …
This week I had the pleasure of joining the C-Suite TV team at their San Francisco event and was interviewed by Jeffrey Hayzlett. It was a fun discussion as he asked me about the shift from social media to social messaging, strategies to make the shift, voice based experiences, disruption, galactic cannibalism, trends and the …
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Over the past year I have focused research efforts on the shift towards conversational experiences and what consumers expect. The research has been covered by Adweek and it’s fascinating how open consumers are to engaging and adopting these experiences as long as they are easy to use and are convenient. One flavor of conversational experiences …
I recently had the pleasure to speak at Success North Dallas discussing the topic of DISRUPTION is The New Normal. This hour long discussion looked at the past, present and future of emerging technology and how to apply the trends of today to the business models of the future. The past looked at key milestones …
Tom is a dynamic speaker with a deep understanding of AI, digital marketing, gaming, consumer behavior, commerce & technical detail but translates to all audiences. Tom speaks regularly on the convergence of technology and consumer behavior via artificial intelligence through his platform Innovation to Reality™. From Star Wars, Fortnite, The Matrix to the impact of …
Tom Edwards, Ad Age Marketing Technology Trailblazer and Chief Digital Officer, Agency @ Epsilon analyzes the worldwide launch of YouTube messaging as well as previews the path to immersive co-viewing. Today, YouTube launched in-app conversational video sharing functionality that essentially enables conversational threads or messaging within the native YouTube app experience. In this video, Tom …
I had the privilege to speak and host Epsilon Symposium 2017. With hundreds of clients in attendance, I was tasked with discussing the role of artificial intelligence across Epsilon and Conversant as well as tease examples of emerging technology that my team and I are working on. Here are the key highlights I discussed during …
I have spoken a lot recently about how disruption is the new normal. I recently heard someone compare the last five years as a “supernova” of disruption in terms of the intensity and velocity of change. With the rise of artificial intelligence, conversational & ambient experiences, connected systems and mixed reality on the horizon we …
Continue reading “Galactic Cannibalism & The Future of Marketing”
This week I had the opportunity to speak at the Modern Marketing Summit Upfront @ Internet Week 2016 discussing the topic of the transformation of storytelling. Below is a recap of my key talking points. The discussion covered 4 territories tied to how storytelling is being transformed. 1) How do you define storytelling from your …
I recently had the privilege to serve on the iMedia Agency Summit advisory board as well as speak during one of the master track sessions. I moderated the panel master track discussion focused on “the new world of content marketing“. The discussion focused on what constitutes content. This included perspective from a content purist stating that …
I recently attended Facebook’s F8 developer conference in San Francisco and the event did not disappoint. Mark and the Facebook team outlined their approach to a ten year roadmap, launched the highly anticipated Messenger chat bot beta and showcased their first concepts of a social virtual reality experience. The presentation below covers: • The 10 year …
I was recently asked by ClickZ for commentary about what role chatbots can play for e-commerce. Are Chatbots the future or fad? I am a believer that chatbots are a key element in the creation of conversational user experiences and will become core to the messaging experience. Chatbots will introduce new interaction models with new …
I had the pleasure of speaking during today’s Brand Activation Summit in NYC. I joined an esteemed panel that was comprised of a CEO, CMO and I (CDO) to discuss thriving in the age of digital disruption. My topics ranged from the role of the Chief Digital Officer to vertical specific discussions tied to the …
On March 17th Facebook rolled out a simple update to Messenger just in time for March Madness. By simply using the basketball emoji in Messenger a user can play a simple swipe and shoot mini game directly within the Messenger app experience. This very simple integration could very well show the future for how brand …
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I was recently asked by Venture Beat to provide insight into 5 marketing trends that I saw surfacing while on the ground at SXSW Interactive this year. This is a repost of the article: SXSW Interactive 2016 kicked off this week with thousands of marketers descending upon Austin, Texas for food, fun, and a glimpse …
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Today, Twitter announced the integration of native GIF search support. This feature is designed to enhance a conversational user experience and is yet another signal of an impending shift that validates the importance of supporting visual language usage behavior (emoji, stickers, GIF’s). Over the past few months I have talked a lot about the seismic …
Tom is a dynamic speaker with a deep understanding of AI, digital marketing, gaming, consumer behavior, commerce & technical detail but translates to all audiences. Tom speaks regularly on the convergence of technology and consumer behavior via artificial intelligence through his platform Innovation to Reality™. From Star Wars, Fortnite, The Matrix to the impact of …