tms and HAVI host inaugural AI Summit

In collaboration with our parent company HAVI, tms hosted an inaugural Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit at our Chicago Headquarters, offering insights into use cases and growth opportunities for the future. Members of tms and HAVI presented different AI capabilities they have been creating and shared learnings, while a panel of guests from industry leading tech companies like Microsoft and Accenture also joined to provide their expertise. 

“The progress of AI over the last 15 to 18 months has been incredible; you cannot avoid news about AI – it is everywhere you look. That creates an urgent need to learn more, to expand our understanding, and to make sure we are aware how it can impact us and our clients,” said HAVI CEO Frank Ravndal. 

Brian Barthelt, tms’ Managing Director, Global Martech & Portfolio Americas, offered valuable insights into AI’s role in shaping the future of tms and the broader industry. Brian addressed that AI’s exponential growth has led to mixed sentiments and concurs that while AI can be intimidating, its capabilities are endless and have the potential to shape the future of the entire martech industry. In fact, AI’s growth is so exponential that experts are moving their forecasted predictions of its capabilities from 20 years out to as early as 2026. Brian explained that such advancements will not necessarily cost people their jobs, but professionals will have an advantage if they understand and harness these technologies: 

Sharing how AI is already being used with our clients, Wendy Cotto, VP, Analytics and Tom Rzeszutek, Director, Decision Science, spoke about how we have leveraged machine learning in our work with T-Mobile. To ensure T-Mobile Tuesdays customers returned to the app after engaging in the popular program, the tms team used machine learning to predict lapses in visitation or potential uninstalls to better understand customer behavior and preferences and, therefore, drive stronger engagement and long-term loyalty.  

Tom Foreman, Senior Creative Technologist, and Hils Jakison, Creative Technology Director, highlighted the power of AI via speech recognition. The pair demonstrated this modern technology by reciting lines from a popular children’s book, where AI images would then populate based on the nature and context of the speech on-screen.  

Stefon Kern, Senior Data Science Manager, and Andrew Niess, PhD, Research Assistant, showed off tms’ very own, in-development, AI image generation tool. The presenters explained that generative AI can allow people to turn text and rough sketch inputs to images quickly, aiding in the creative concepting process for product design, packaging, toy design, game design, and more. 

Jim McLaughlin, tms’ Senior Director, Lead Software Architect, ended the day off strong by presenting an AI tool he and his colleagues developed, coined the “First Responder.” This generative AI helps teams respond to critical alerts with an escalation plan. The tool also has the power to simplify onboarding process, reduce bottlenecks requiring attention from senior engineering staff, and democratize knowledge. 

Interested in joining our tech team? Check out our current open roles.