By: Dr. Myeshi Briley,MS,HS-BCP,BREC

This is the year AI tech hits desks everywhere to save you time and help you perform routine tasks.

1. Social Media

We’re experiencing an increase in real-time personalized content targeting to create more sales opportunities, due to AI ‘s effective behavioral targeting methodologies. AI customizes the user experience while analyzing data, buying trends, and browsing history. There is no longer a need to ask for name, email, and contact information, as this is readily available through the use of AI. 61% of companies with a dedicated innovation strategy are using AI technologies to mine their data for additional business opportunities. This is a contrast to the 22% of businesses without an innovation strategy who are utilizing AI for the same purpose. Data mining tools are available to help even small companies turn data assessments into actionable tactics.

Chatbots are a great way for smaller businesses to increase their profits. AI bots allow businesses to adopt a low-key, conversational approach for lead generation on websites and blogs to encourage readers to subscribe rather than using forms.

There are also simple AI social media tools. For instance, if you want to post better pictures, give Lisa a try. Lisa is a tool that lets you know which image among the ones you select will get the most Instagram likes and attract more followers? Lisa also generates hashtags that can be added to a post to further boost its visibility. And as far a social media news, CIVIKOWL, will scan news you’ve chosen to read, assessing the relative quality and political bias of articles to offer an additional perspective. The CivikOwl icon will pop up on Facebook articles that people share in your feed (from certain sources). CivikOwl for Twitter is due soon.

2. Online Security and Fraud Prevention

AI per deep learning and generative adversarial networks can be applied to online security. The threat landscape changes so quickly it’s impossible for humans to keep pace, AI can run through and analyze huge datasets so fast it reacts in real time.

AI fraud detection tools assist companies in guarding against sophisticated fraud schemes by leveraging automation, machine learning engines, natural language processing, speech and video recognition, and more.

3. Finding Employment or Job Candidates

AI software programs, used by everyone from small business to HR departments at large companies, are effective and resourceful in cutting down the time from hours to seconds for screening and researching potential employees. Though hiring still requires live interviews, AI makes filtering candidates easier and more efficient.

For those looking for a job, Gloat is a great AI tool that looks at a user’s résumé or LinkedIn profile and provides tips for increasing job matches. Its machine-learning capability also suggests openings, and adapts to feedback, narrowing results. Gloat can also access your contacts for connections to employment opportunities. Users can also search anonymously.

4. Consumer Data Insights

Most businesses don’t have an in-house data-scientist. However, AI provides important insights on your consumer and marketing data for a fraction of the cost. For example, with the new Google Analytics Intelligence feature, you can easily access the information by asking simple questions.

Also, AI empowers the ultimate customer experience by providing indispensable customer data. With chatbots offering 24/7 customer support, companies can incorporate that data into their CRM for valuable customer insights. This information can be used to enhance touch points, including chatbot interactivity, creating a feedback loop of customer data.

5. Correspondence

Google uses it’s AI systems in its new redesign. The boomerang add-on conveys the probability of your email receiving a reply—based on subject header, reading level, and length. It also helps schedule follow-up reminders. The Gmail redesign also includes snoozing, nudging, hover actions, and confidential mode. Google has integrated snoozing directly into Gmail. As you move the cursor above each message in the inbox, the new hover menu surfaces interactions you might want including: archive, delete, mark as read, or snooze for later. On the web version, you can tap into email attachments directly from the inbox so you don’t have to open the conversation. In addition, they’ve added nudging, which is resurfacing time-sensitive emails, those that need your attention the most.

Through the confidential mode, you can set an expiration date for a sensitive email or revoke it entirely. With Two-factor authentication (2FA) on a per-message basis, you can request that the recipient authenticates with a passcode received via text message before they’re able to open a confidential email. The way it works is that Google doesn’t send the confidential content directly — just a link to the content, which lives in your mailbox. The recipient retrieves it via their Gmail account or, if they use another email service, https. The sender controls the time-limit the other party has to access the message.

For an additional monthly fee, Gmail will assess how courteous and positive your emails are before you send them. The priority notifications feature uses AI to intelligently choose which emails to notify you about and which ones you can read later. In addition, a one-tap unsubscribe prompt in the mobile apps is for newsletters and other subscriptions you signed up for but haven’t read in weeks.

Also, the collapsible right-hand side panel integrates Google’s G Suite apps, with Google Calendar, Google Keep, and a new Google Tasks, so you can conveniently organize meetings, plan your day, or jot down a few notes without leaving an email to go into another tab or another app.

The IRM business-centric features let you block forwarding, copying, downloading, or printing of specific emails. This helps prevent accidentally sharing information with the wrong person.

The security portion of the redesign uses machine-learning algorithms to help prevent phishing scams by running safety checks on every new message received, and they’ve updated their phishing warnings to huge color-coded alerts, with an unmissable call to action when Gmail detects a potentially malicious or fraudulent message. Jacob Bank, lead product manager for Gmail, says that Google’s redesign was done with an eye on “making people safer and more productive.”

AI technology is still evolving to meet business expectations but small business owners and entrepreneurs can’t afford to ignore the opportunities currently offered by AI. New AI technologies will free up your times and provide accurate completion of routine skills.

By: Myeshi Briley, MS, HS-BCP, BREC

Millennials are shaping the world around us. Causes and values are more important to them than money. Some of the most influential people of our day are millennials, and that trend is only going to continue. Here are ten of the many Millennials who are outperforming in Business:

1. Saheb Sabharwal, Vice President of CSL Capital Management – Age 29

According to Forbes, in his first year at CSL Capital Management, an energy private equity firm, and founding two startups and from other allocations and returns, this 29-year-old executed $20 million in investments. He strives to improve oil field and pipeline safety by working on asset integrity management services. CSL Capital is now headquartered in Houston Texas and ranks 13th on the Houston Business Journal’s list of the Largest Houston-Area Venture Capital & Private Equity Firms, with close to $808 million in assets under management.

2. Grant Pinkerton, Pitmaster & Owner, Pinkerton’s Barbecue – Age 28

This Houstonian opened his barbecue place in the Heights in 2016. Just 9 months after launch, his revenue reached $2 million. Pinkerton’s was voted the best place to get barbecue in the area by the Houston Business Journal’s readers and in May it was listed among Texas Monthly’s Top 50 barbecue joints.

3. Brittany Barreto, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Pheramor Inc. – Age 26

Pheramor has been in the national news a lot lately. Utilizing cutting-edge genetics and technology, Pheramor delivers unique, customized results to people actively dating and looking for a partner they are attracted to and can connect with. Brittany Barreto earned a doctorate in Molecular and Human Genetics, has extensive experience in research, teaching, leadership, fundraising, and she’s been involved in the Houston startup community for three years.

4. Sascha Guttfreund, President of Scoremore Shows – Age 28

Sascha Guttfrued and his partner Claire Bogle founded ScoreMore Shows during their sophomore year at the University of Texas so the “for the students and by the students” mantra is ingrained in the company’s roots. ScoreMore Shows is an event and music promotion business that orchestrates hip-hop concerts and more for college students. ScoreMore Shows has made a name for itself by being a tastemaker, booking acts early in their careers in small clubs that have gone on to headline in arenas and amphitheaters. ScoreMore Shows routes tours through nine markets in the Southwest United States, producing more than 150 club shows per year including JMBLYA, The
ILLMORE and its partnership in Neon Desert Music Festival.

5. Cassandra Tognoni, Bookreport Creator and CEO – Age 28

Cassandra Tognoni helped start the charter school Magnolia Montessori in Austin Texas. The only financial software available was decades old. She and other school principals desperately needed real-time financial data so they could allocate resources based on student and teacher needs. She realized if she wanted it, she’d have to create it– and BookReport was born—software that helps school districts effortlessly visualize and allocate their financial resources.

6. Adelle Archer, Co-Founder of Eterneva – Age 27

Her startup takes the cremated ashes of dearly departed loved ones and creates diamonds from them per the customer’s chosen weight, color, and cut, and mounts it onto a piece of jewelry, like a ring or necklace.

Eterneva assigns one contact person to each client to see the process through from start to finish. When the time comes to deliver the finished product, the startup hires a courier service to hand deliver it. If the customer is in Texas, the company will send an employee to bring it to the customer’s door.

In fall 2017, a few months after launching the startup, Archer and her business partners quit their jobs and started working at Eterneva full time. The company earned $280,000 in sales last year, and Archer projects $2 million for 2018. Archer says, “I genuinely know I’m changing a person’s relationship with loss, and that means the world to me.”

7. Derrius Quarles, Ras Asan, and Brian Williams, Breaux Capital Co-Founders Ages – 27, 27, and 25

Offers an automated savings platform and social network for African American Millennials, charging users a subscription fee for extra features, including financial
education materials. They have a three-step plan of.

Begin Automating Savings — Select an account and choose how fast you want your stash to grow each month. By automating your asset building you will be better prepared to mold your future.

Engage With Community — Their platform serves you and your squad. After all, a key component to financial wellness is the financial health of your friends and family.

Increase Financial Health — As you grow your assets through their platform your ability to meet emergencies head on and take advantage of investment opportunities will definitely increase.

8. Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg, M.D.-Ph.D., Ph.D. Candidates, Broad Institute, Harvard-MIT – Ages 29 And 26

Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg pioneered two advances in CRISPR, the gene-editing tool,—a new enzyme for editing genes and a new technique for editing the chemical messenger, RNA.

9. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Co-Founder of Andela, and Currently The Managing Director and Founder Of Flutterwave – Age 26

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji co-founded two successful startups in Africa before launching Flutterwave in 2017. Flutterwave is a payments API that makes it easier for banks and businesses to process payments across Africa. With $15.7 million in funding, the company is empowering Pan-African merchants to execute business on a global scale,
processing $1.2 billion in transactions so far. Aboyeji’s previous startup Andela, gained attention when the venture received $24 million in funding from Mark Zuckerberg.

10. Sarah Ahmed, Founder, Warp + Weft – age 28

As creative director of DL 1961, Ahmed realized the denim industry was missing the mark on size inclusivity. Her wakeup call led her to start Warp + Weft, a premium denim brand that weaves its own fabric to guarantee the best value and fit — no matter your size. Less than one-year post-launch, Ahmed has already raked in revenues of
more than $2.5 million.

By: Myeshi Briley, MS, HS-BCP, BREC

Many people think luck is the key to success. However, a more honest look at the road to success is to envision it as a rocky trail that’s narrow and going up a winding, steep incline with lots of loose rocks rolling in random directions as you fight to keep your footing and not slip off. As there is the dark before the dawn, failure usually comes before success. The secret to success isn’t—don’t fail, it’s how you deal with failure or rejection.

Learn From Your Mistakes
Let’s look at a favorite innovator of the day, Elon Musk. After investing $12 million of his own money into co-founding X.com, it merged with its rival Confinity, and was
renamed PayPal. Musk was ousted as CEO and PayPal then accepted eBay’s offer to buy in. After the 1.5 billion deal finally went through, Musk came away with $180
million after taxes. He took that amount and put it all into SpaceX and Tesla Motors. At one point, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, Musk debated if he should get rid of
one of his companies so the other would succeed. He stayed with both. His net worth is now around $14 Billion.
So, maybe you didn’t make the quarterly numbers but overstepping the mark shows ambition. After all, people who play it too safe aren’t likely to think up remarkable
ideas. So, to help turn rejection to triumph ask yourself why did this happen. Examine everything in detail and figure out what you could have done better. How can you
learn if you don’t know what you did wrong? Think of errors as keys to success.

If you can pinpoint what went wrong, you’ll know what not to do next time. It’s not the failure that’s important, it’s what you do next. Look at Bill Gates. Microsoft flourished in its early years because Gates embraced failure. He said, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure. How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people, and how effectively it will respond to change.”

Try, Try Again
When you see what you did wrong, correct it and try again. Rejection isn’t terrible unless you don’t learn and grow from the experience and try again. And again. And again, if needed. Steve Jobs for example, was no stranger to failure. In 1985, after several product failures such as the Lisa and the Apple 3, and revenues from the Apple 2 significantly slowed down, the board of Apple fired him as head of the Mac division, and then from the company altogether. But Steve Jobs overcame all his failures. He shed light on how he continuously overcame the fear of failure when he explained that it was his fear of death that ultimately drove his decisions. He said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of
embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only
what is truly important.”

Develop Thick Skin
Instead of giving up, put a spring in your step and lift your head high. Make rejection as impersonal as possible. Look at Donna Karan, the fashion icon that gave the world “7 Easy Pieces” in the ‘80s and the first two initials behind the DKNY fashion empire, had a rough start to her career. Back when she was a student at Parsons School of Design, she truly struggled with the basics of fashion design. She said, “They never thought I would make it as a designer. I failed draping!”

Expand Your Horizons
Consider more than one goal. For example, after the 2000 presidential election, AL Gore didn’t run for president again. His legacy lives on though because of An Inconvenient Truth, the book he wrote which earned him a Nobel Prize and the 2006 documentary of the same name which won an Oscar.

Believe In Yourself
Be passionate about your goals. For example, Orville and Wilbur Wright had no formal engineering training but they didn’t let that stop them. They built kites and gliders for a number of years with not much to show for it but crash after crash. However, they changed the world on Dec 17, 1903, when they broke the bounds of gravity and flew a manned heavier-than-air machine. The two brothers were originally inspired by a toy helicopter that their father brought home and flew around the room. Orville took his father on what was his dad’s one and only flight. As Orville gained elevation, his dad enthusiastically yelled out… “Higher Orville, higher!” And, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, inside his spacesuit pocket was a piece of fabric from the wing of the original Wright Flyer.

Be Innovative
Get creative. Look at Akio Morita, his first company, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp made rice cookers that unfortunately burnt the rice and of course didn’t sell well. But, instead of making knock-off products like many Japanese companies did, Morita wanted to develop quality innovative companies.
He focused on a pocket-size radio, but the best he could develop was a bit too big for a typical pocket, so he came up with the creative solution of simply having his salesmen wear shirts with oversized pockets so the radio would fit. Morita also understood how important branding is and changed the name of his company to Sony.

An Opportunity For Success
Look at starting over as an opportunity for success. For example, Henry Ford’s first automobile design was the Quadricycle, which wasn’t fit for mass production. Then he
launched the Detroit Automotive Company, which failed because he couldn’t stop tinkering, trying to make the cars perfect. Ford had little to show for his work 18 months into the effort, and the company was disbanded. Eventually, he founded Ford Motor Company and created the Model A. However, the first batch had so many problems that Ford had to send mechanics throughout the country to fix the cars. The good news, the mechanics came back with ideas to improve the cars, and that knowledge went into correcting the future builds. Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” No matter what type of business you are in, the road to success is often paved with rejection and failure. The difference between those who succeed and those who fail comes down to whether or not they choose to rise above the criticism and carry on.

Many entrepreneurs find e-commerce and everyday business is easier with Blockchain and Bitcoin. Bitcoin and blockchain were created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an alias, whose real identity remains a mystery.

Small businesses can benefit from:

• Faster transactions as in same-day and sometimes even same-hour payments transferred into your company’s bank account.
• Lower to no fees attached. Bitcoin transaction fees are usually between 1 percent and zero per transaction. You can send or accept bitcoin payments without any fees attached.
• No conflicts over bitcoin payments since they are final and cannot be contested.
• No international business hassles, as bitcoin isn’t associated with any one company, country or government.

Regarding business transactions, companies usually have to wait for payments to be transferred into their bank accounts. But with Blockchain the digital ledger transactions are recorded on, taking care of all of the transactions with no bank involved, bitcoin payments are speedier than credit card payments. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, though several others are now available.

You can purchase bitcoins through your bank account and a bitcoin exchange, such as Coinbase. You can also buy bitcoins with Paypal or a
credit card at websites like Virwox. Some companies use bitcoin payroll services, while other businesses, such as Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Dell and Overstock.com accept bitcoin payments.

• In your business
• Personal investments
• Fundraising for your business

First, regarding investing in Bitcoin, the CEX 10 exchange has seen a surge of activity in November 2017. On November 28, Bitcoin hit $10,000 for the first time after a 1,000% increase in its worth this year. Bitcoin’s rise in value exceeded the predictions of several high-profile economists. If the trend continues, the cryptocurrency may reach $25,000 within the next 5 years.

In addition, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently approved bitcoin futures trading on three exchanges. CME, CFE, and the Cantor Exchange. So, individuals can now bet on the value of the cryptocurrency without investing in it directly.

Also, over 100 cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds have been created in 2017, which are acting as a conduit for large amounts of fiat money
being converted to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Even traditional hedge funds and investment institutions are getting in on the action, to the extent that there are services that allow them to safely do so.

The recent fluctuations in bitcoin’s price are the result of a combination of several developments. In late October, CME Group, the world’s largest exchange owner, opened up to bitcoin trading. Additionally, a controversial bitcoin blockchain hard fork was suspended in early November, and Bitcoin Classic ended up shutting down in favor of Bitcoin Cash. However, I must caution, if you do invest in bitcoin, do not invest more than you can afford to lose. Most experts warn the market could turn at any time and bitcoin’s value could plummet, causing huge losses.

Secondly, many Start-up companies are using bitcoin to raise money and avoid the transparency needed in a stock market float. Consider Bitcoin if you want to start a digital-currency-related business but you don’t want to bother with venture capital. Right now, it’s remarkably easy to fund a startup that is related in any way to digital currency, thanks to ICOs (initial coin offerings). Essentially, ICOs are crowdfunding campaigns for anything bitcoin related, for example, if you decide to start a company and sell digital tokens in your company to anyone online.

Unlike equity crowdfunding or traditional IPOs, ICOs aren’t regulated by the SEC. And unlike traditional venture capital, entrepreneurs raising money through ICOs don’t have to give up any ownership of their startups to the people who buy their tokens, which is one reason they’re so popular. Since there’s no regulatory oversight, they’ve been used to raise funds for unusual projects such as a dental industry blockchain solution and offerings with names like TulipToken, BananaCoin, and Jesus Coin. ICOs have become a huge method of startup financing, though they are still controversial, and China has banned them.

Thirdly, if you have a startup in the financial or the related technological industry, blockchain can be faster and more reliable than the current systems banks and governments use to move money around the world. There are many people who are skeptical about cryptocurrency but do believe in blockchain.

IBM began processing payments over its own proprietary blockchain between banks in the South Pacific. The tech giant plans to include 13 banks in its network. IBM blockchain transmits money in the form of Lumens, a virtual currency created by the non-profit Stellar.

For the first time, Mastercard is offering the ability to send money over a blockchain rather than by swiping a credit card. After developing its own version of the bitcoin technology Mastercard is opening up its blockchain to specific banks and merchants as an alternative, and potentially more efficient, method of paying for goods and services. Mastercard is also targeting cross-border payments between businesses as the primary purpose for its blockchain, which can only be used by invitation. Mastercard’s blockchain operates independently of a cryptocurrency and instead accepts payments in traditional local money.

Mastercard has one advantage that the bitcoin blockchain doesn’t have, that is their settlement network that includes 22,000 banks and financial institutions around the world. Mastercard hopes to provide the benefits of blockchain technology, including a more secure and transparent way of making and tracking payments, within the existing financial system, without the hassle of digital currency. Businesses could cut costs by using the blockchain to send cross-border payments, which usually pass through several foreign banks on their way overseas, racking up fees along the way. Mastercard’s blockchain, however, could cut out those middlemen and connect a purchaser’s bank directly to that of the supplier, remitting the payment more efficiently. Although the transaction itself will register on blockchain instantaneously, the funds are still moving through the
same system Mastercard uses now.

Also, Visa partnered with the blockchain startup Chain to develop its own system for similar business-to-business payments.

Today blockchain is in an embryonic stage, but tomorrow it will be mainstream along with IoT (internet of things) and AI (artificial intelligence). Blockchain is paramount for the financial sector. So, CIOs need to improve their understanding of the impacts of cryptocurrency and Blockchain and the other big generational technologies that will revolutionize financial services.

By Myeshi Briley,MS,HS-BCP
President of Spring-Klein Chamber

By; MyeshiBriley,MS,HS-BCP, Spring-Klein Chamber of Commerce President When I think of the future of business, I often think of the Beatle song Revolution, but switch the word to evolution. You say you want evolution well you know, we all want to change the world. The e read more

By MyeshiBriley,MS,HS-BCP, Spring-Klein Chamber President Artificial Intelligence will transform our work and our world. Major changes have already taken place. Manufacturers rely more and more on AI technologies. Software and computers now handle numerous clerical task read more

By Myeshi Briley,MS,HS-BCP The latest keep calm slogan I saw was — “Keep Calm and Focus on Artificial Intelligence.” I definitely think all entrepreneurs and small business leaders need to focus on what AI is and what it can do for their enterprise. It’s 2016 and we nee read more