IBM IX’s Marketa Mach explains how companies seeking cognitive computing solutions without defined outcomes in mind might as well be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Since 2013, IBM has built a powerful digital agency leveraging the tech giant’s immense computing technology.

IBM Interactive Experience (IBM IX) helps clients through digital transformation projects with the help of data-driven insights, while also keeping the business strategy focused on customer experience.

Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com during a recent trip to Dublin, Mach said IBM IX is “particularly relevant today, in a world where we are being consistently digitally disrupted and businesses have to enter into a constant innovation stream”.

However, Mach advises that companies approach this endeavour not to experiment with new and exciting technology opportunities, but to achieve a definitive goal.

“Talking about any technology in abstraction from the outcome that you’re trying to deliver is going to be less fruitful than if you have a genuine business problem or a case against which we can say, ‘Is this an appropriate application of this technology, or not?’ You know, ‘Is this a sledgehammer to crack a nut, or not?’” she said.

Words by Elaine Burke