Cognitive computing is going to create a massive shift in productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity wise, many of these systems are going to increase the proficiency of every worker in diverse businesses to the level of the best knowledge worker in his or her field. In essence, with cognitive intelligence woven in, it allows the democratisation of best practices by enhancing the efficiency and capability of each worker. Furthermore, this will also foster the emergence of new and innovative business models.
In this context, providers of old technology will fail to benefit if they are unable to supply new, innovative solutions quickly enough. Without intelligence woven into their solutions, these last generation technologies are at significant risk of getting disintermediated (cutting out the middlemen) by a new class of vendors, just like the shift to the cloud has disrupted revenue streams and pricing models for many giant tech companies. In general, cognitive computing can be disruptive, not just for software vendors but for software infrastructure vendors as well. Furthermore, companies that are slow to adopt cognitive computing will lose their competitive advantage because their competitors can improve the experience of their end users, make better decisions and improve profitable relationships.