4 months ago
The Key to ML Success: A Book Review of “The AI Playbook”

This article reviews the new book, The AI Playbook, by my colleague here at The Machine Learning Times, Executive Editor Eric Siegel.

Free book: Come to Machine Learning Week – June 4-7, 2024 in Phoenix, AZ – to meet author Eric Siegel, the event founder, and receive a complimentary copy.

 –Luba Gloukhova, Editor-in-Chief

Dear Reader,

Are you looking to improve your chances of successfully deploying a machine learning project in your organization? Then congratulations, you’ve just opened one of the best books to help you do just that with a significantly higher chance of success.

There is not a day that goes by where you don’t see a headline about AI/ML, even though many who use this acronym rarely understand it or even attempt to explain it. These days, every company is quickly pivoting to introduce AI/ML into their offering. They are painting a picture of prosperity and everlasting paradise.

The marketing messages from the vendors offering AI/ML solutions seem so convincing. With their AI/ML, you can:

• Support customers, drive sales, and collaborate—all in one, beautiful AI-powered app
• Have a Proprietary AI Technology that is Purpose-Built for Revenue Teams
• Use AI to make more accurate predictions, such as for sales forecasting, to help your planning and set up your team up for success.

It seems irresistible.

Then again, a sucker is born every minute.

That’s because starting with the tool is always the wrong place to start.

The promise of AI and machine learning goes down the drain unless you know how to operationalize it. That’s what The AI Playbook will help you do.

This book is the Rosetta Stone for translating and facilitating the conversation between business and data teams. The business team provides the context with the objectives for this project. The data team will build the magic technology. Together, they will deliver a successful project.

The book covers 6 simple steps to follow that together define a practice called bizML. (Disclaimer: There’s a lot of hard work involved, even if you follow these 6 simple steps.)

I’ve been involved with technology and running an IT consulting company for over 27 years. The number of very painful mistakes I made over the years would most likely surpass the volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Down deep, author Eric Siegel understands what it took me a long time to learn.

What I’ve learned over the years is that the technology you think is the key to success is always secondary to business objectives. You can build a great technology solution, but if that doesn’t translate into profitable business outcomes, it doesn’t matter what you’ve built. I wish I had read a book like this when I started.

I wish you, dear reader, an enjoyable read and success in your next project.

Without further ado, I recommend to you the one and only one Dr. Eric Siegel and his amazing The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment.

About the Author

Vaclav Vincalek is a technology entrepreneur, CTO and technology advisor for startups and fast-growing companies at 555vCTO. He is an award-winning technologist and a strategic thinker with strong business skills, well-versed in technology trends. Vaclav has provided technical leadership for many service and software businesses. This includes building teams, developing strategic plans, architecting and managing technology systems.