It’s conventional wisdom that as people age, they spend less. The impression has been formed by charts like the one below based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The chart presents average household spending for various age groups in 2015. Household spending generally rises through one’s early 50’s, and then steadily declines. This is just one of the factors that has led Marketers to focus on younger customers whose spending is still on the rise. Unfortunately, cha

Companies often say their customers are their most important asset. Peter Drucker, one of history’s most influential business thinkers, stated it simply, “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” The value of keeping a customer is not only their purchases today but also their purchases (and their referrals) tomorrow. As a rule, long-term customers will nine times out of ten spend more with you next year than will customers you just acquired last week. Custom

​​ I've been researching AI for an upcoming keynote address I'm delivering. I've now read several articles about a combination of AI algorithms named Libratus. In January Libratus, developed at Carnegie Mellon, beat four top poker players over a twenty-day contest. Once it figured out the patterns in the play of its human competitors, it went on a winning streak to the tune of $1.7 million (theoretical) dollars. The article link contains a very interesting quote from Noam Bro