IBM Watson was initially designed to answer questions on the US quiz show “Jeopardy!”. In 2011, it did just that, scooping the USD 1m prize pot. But this would be far from its most remarkable achievement.
Having started its existence as a question-answering computer system, IBM Watson would go on to transform business automation, healthcare and international IT infrastructures in less than 15 years.
Fresh from its gameshow success, IBM Watson’s first commercial application was announced in 2013. The system would utilise management decisions in lung cancer treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
In the years since, IBM Watson Health has helped build smarter health ecosystems worldwide. Its industry-leading data, analytics and AI capabilities help providers, payers, governments and life science companies to modernize operations and get more value from their health data. In 2022, IBM Watson Health reported revenues of USD 1bn.
Due for release this year, IBM Watson’s latest incarnation, Watsonx, is also expected to take the business world by storm. Designed to help manage organisational complexity and improve performance, IBM reports that it can achieve six times faster customer conversion and up to 470% ROI in under six months.
