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IBM Brazil places bets on Watson

Big Blue appoints executive to widen the footprint of its cognitive computing platform among Brazilian organizations
Written by Angelica Mari, Contributing Writer

IBM Brazil is investing on expanding the presence of its cognitive computing platform Watson in Brazil with the appointment of an executive to develop the business area.

The Big Blue's former business development head for SaaS and independent software vendors (ISVs) David Dias is now leading the channel and ecosystem operation for Watson in Brazil.

As well as generating new Watson deals in Brazil, Dias has the goal of creating and developing an ecosystem of ISVs, start-ups and businesses partners for Watson and bringing the technology closer to developers and research and development organizations in the country.

Watson is possibly the best-known example of artificial intelligence in use today. The platform is designed so that business users can literally ask questions -- from medical diagnoses and the likely outcome of business decisions to answers to legal questions -- on the spot.

IBM has a large R&D facility in São Paulo which has been involved in the development of Watson's technology and in the analysis of data in Brazilian Portuguese - something that the company had intended only once interest in Watson turned into actual deals.

Since it started to pitch Watson to Brazilian customers last year, IBM signed a deal with Bradesco, one of the largest banks in the country, which will be used in its call centers to improve internal communication and speed up customer service.

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