Exponential Organizations: Why new organizations are ten times better, faster, and cheaper than yours (and what to do about it)

by Salim Ismail

To implement platforms, ExOs follow four steps in terms of data and APIs: Gather: The algorithmic process starts with harnessing data, which is gathered via sensors, people, or imported from public datasets. Organize: The next step is to organize the data. This is known as ETL (extract, transform and load). Apply: Once the data is accessible, algorithms such as machine or deep learning extract insights, identify trends and tune new algorithms. These are realized via tools such as Hadoop and Pivotal, or even (open source) deep learning algorithms like DeepMind or Skymind. Expose: The final step is exposing the data in the form of an open platform. Open data and APIs can be used such that an ExO’s community develops valuable services, new functionalities and innovations layered on top of the platform by remixing published data with their own. Examples of companies that have successfully exposed their data this way are the Ford Company, Uber, IBM Watson, Twitter and Facebook.