How Verizon is Building a Big Data and AI Culture Posted on : Nov 20 - 2017

Telecommunications has long been one of the most data-intensive industries, and some of the earliest analytical marketing initiatives originated at established firms like AT&T. But the industry is evolving quickly, and the old mail-driven database marketing has become a thing of the past that hardly does the job in a digital economy.  For legacy firms, building a data-driven culture that leverages Big Data and AI capabilities represents both an opportunity as well as a challenge.

Verizon Communications, formerly a “Baby Bell,” is now a massive telecommunications conglomerate with $126 billion in 2016 revenues. In addition to the traditional wireline unit—now almost an afterthought—its businesses include Verizon Wireless, FIOS fiber infrastructure to homes and businesses, Oath (the combined former AOL and Yahoo organizations), network security offerings and several others. Each of these businesses both generates and consumes vast amounts of data. You might imagine that a company this diverse would demand an ambitious and diverse approach to analytics and artificial intelligence.

Indeed that is the case. Verizon has a variety of different analytics and AI groups scattered around the company. Some, like the Data Science and Cognitive Intelligence (DSCI) group, focus on applying analytics and cognitive technology to Verizon’s interactions with customers. Part of Verizon’s IT organization, it works closely, for example, with the company’s marketing, Digital Operations and Customer Care functions. Headed by Asim Tewary, DSCI is heavily focused on cognitive technologies, and is adding increasing levels of intelligence to the company’s marketing and customer service applications.

Others, like the Global Supply Chain Strategy and Analytics group, focus on internal processes—in that group’s case, ensuring that products reach customers and that sourcing and procurement are effective. Anne Robinson, the leader of this group, and many of its members have strong backgrounds in optimization technologies, which are commonly applied to supply chains. The group is also increasingly knowledgeable and proficient in machine learning applications.

A third group, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Systems, focuses on creating new products and services for Verizon with these methods and tools. Led by Ashok Srivastava, Verizon’s Chief Data Scientist, the Palo Alto-based lab employs large-scale machine learning both to improve Verizon’s infrastructure and to develop products in such areas as education, healthcare and the Internet of Things. View More