ABOUT THE AUTHORS

PAUL DAUGHERTY and H. JAMES (JIM) WILSON, senior executives at Accenture, have long collaborated to research and document the impact that technology is having on business and society. They have studied the evolution of artificial intelligence over the last three decades.

More recently, as AI burst onto the public stage and into headlines and trending topics, Daugherty and Wilson realized that the debates of the day were very subjective, often based on opinion, and that there was no research or data on how AI will drive change and what changes are needed today and in the future. More significantly, there was little objective guidance for those who need to make important decisions today on how to apply AI to business, government, and education. And with that, the research program at the heart of Human + Machine was born.

With Daugherty’s experience helping organizations make major shifts driven by technology and Wilson’s technology strategy and research expertise, they decided to shed light on what the “Age of AI” entails, and together they wrote Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI.

PAUL DAUGHERTY is Accenture’s Chief Technology and Innovation Officer. Over his career, he has worked with thousands of business and government leaders around the globe, helping them apply technology to transform their organizations. He has also been instrumental in evolving Accenture’s business to respond to the exponential changes in technology.

Daugherty oversees Accenture’s technology strategy and innovation architecture, and he leads Accenture’s research and development, ventures, advanced technology, and ecosystem groups. He recently founded Accenture’s artificial intelligence business and has led Accenture’s research into artificial intelligence over many years.

Daugherty studied computer engineering at the University of Michigan in the early 1980s, and on a whim took a course with Douglas Hofstadter on cognitive science and psychology. He was hooked, and this led to a career-long pursuit of AI.

A frequent speaker and writer on industry and technology issues, Daugherty has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including the Financial Times, MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Fast Company, USA Today, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Cheddar financial news network, Bloomberg Television, and CNBC. He was recently named as one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2017 for his extraordinary technology leadership.

Daugherty is a passionate advocate for equal opportunity and access to technology and computer science. He serves on the board of directors of Girls Who Code and is a strong advocate and sponsor of Code.org. He was also recognized with an Institute for Women’s Leadership award, honoring business leaders who have supported diversity in the workplace and the advancement of women.

In addition, Daugherty serves as chairman of the board of Avanade and is on the board of trustees of the Computer History Museum. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, and he is on the advisory board for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Daugherty lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife, Beth. He has four children, Emma, Jesse, Johnny, and Lucy, who are all charting their own courses for the human + machine future.

H. JAMES (JIM) WILSON leads Accenture’s Information Technology and Business Research. He has dedicated his career to research and innovation, having led programs at Babson Executive and Enterprise Education, Bain & Company, and several businessthink tanks. Wilson is a coauthor of The New Entrepreneurial Leader, which pioneered a new approach— entrepreneurial leadership—developed by him and a team of experts at Babson College.

A long-time contributor to Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal, Wilson has written extensively on how smart machines can enhance worker performance, including some of the first HBR articles on personal analytics, social IT, wearables, and natural user interfaces.

Wilson has worked with governments, policy makers, and university and business leaders in applying these technologies to empower and augment people—from NASA to the NFL Players Association.

An avid triathlete, Wilson enjoys teaching friends and family his geeky techniques for boosting health and fitness using bike power meters, heart rate monitors, and GPS distance and pace trackers. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Susan, and two children, Ben and Brooke.