Mark McDonald, a year-after-year favorite WTN Fusion speaker, created a compelling case for Information Technology’s next revolution at the recent Fusion 2017 conference. Mainframe computers, the first innovation, made Information Technology (IT) a specialty that enabled organizations to scale their operations. Client Servers, the next innovation, and the software they deployed allowed processes to be dramatically improved and automated – think ERP systems, on-line purchasing, and Human Resource systems. Next came mobile computing and the digital transformation of businesses that greatly enhanced customer experience. All of these stages were ones of mechanization, with hardware and software replacing previously manual activities. The next wave of IT-related change brings widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), transforming IT’s focus from managing processes and experiences to managing outcomes. Large database tools, cloud computing, machine learning, interpreting text, and affordable storage and computational power have collectively moved AI…