Dive Brief:
- The head of IBM’s cognitive computing group, responsible for Watson, has left the company after just nine months.
- Stephen Pratt joined IBM in June 2015 and took on the artificial intelligence group in October 2015.
- Pratt was tasked with increasing IBM’s cognitive computing efforts and selling big data analytics and AI services to customers.
Dive Insight:
Pratt confirmed the news but did not comment on his departure any further.
IBM has been looking to build its cognitive computing business for use in a wide range of areas, from health to Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
The company has also heavily invested in AI. In October, IBM announced it was buying the Weather Company’s digital assets. The deal is expected to allow IBM to extend its Watson IoT unit and allow it to deliver advanced weather analytics across industries, like retail, airlines and transportation. The acquisition was valued at more than $2 billion.
The Weather Company's former chief executive, David Kenny, was just named general manager of Watson's business. The computer already makes money for IBM, but Kenny will try and boost its income, Fortune reports.
