8 Companies winning in the data economy

by Dirk Shaw

Advanced analytics and emerging technologies are giving companies new ways to drive top line growth and differentiate their customer experience. In Accenture’s 2019 trends report they highlight some companies who are taking advantage of the data economy.

  1. The Symphony Post-Acute Network incorporated AI and machine learning to improve care for its 80,000 patients, using a cloud-based AI engine to drive predictions and recommendations based on its existing patient data. The resulting insights led to a drop in readmission rates from 21 percent to less than 19—a huge reduction in a key success metric in healthcare, at a cost savings of more than $13,000 per patient.

  2. A consortium including AB InBev, APL, and Kuehne + Nagel developed a blockchain solution to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the freight and logistics industry. The approach reduces the need for data entry related to transport documentation by up to 80 percent while streamlining required cargo checks and customs compliance.

  3. John Hancock has found technology identities to be so valuable that it has done away with the traditional life insurance model. Now, the company offers interactive life insurance policies that incorporate clients’ fitness and health data through wearable devices. John Hancock’s “Vitality” program policyholders qualify for discounts when they hit certain exercise targets and can get personalized premiums and rewards for their activity. The results speak for themselves: the average customer with a traditional insurance plan engages with their life insurance company one to two times per year. The new Vitality policyholders engage with John Hancock more than 500 times per year.

  4.  Clorox: Kinsa connected thermometers let customers track their fevers via a smartphone app; Clorox paid to license the information, using it to direct ads to US ZIP codes where people had more fevers (and potentially more need for disinfecting wipes).

  5. Conoco: Oil and gas drillers at Conoco use a data visualization tool based on a gaming engine to troubleshoot malfunctions nearly a mile underground in real-time.

  6. Siemens’s “Click2Make” automated factory project, an artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning tool uses the known capabilities of both human and robot workers to assign tasks, enabling people to work seamlessly with machines.

  7. Zume Pizza: Rises to moments of opportunity through an app that forwards custom orders directly to an assembly line of pizza-making robots. The machines roll dough, add sauce, and cook the pie, letting the company deliver just what the customer wants up to 20 minutes faster than competitors.

  8. Amazon: introduced a solution to the challenges of home delivery by partnering with OnStar, GM, and Volvo to let customers request delivery to the trunks of their cars.