This is the third article in a three-part series. You can read the first and second articles here. The focus of this article is to understand neural network around what it is, why it is an important learning algorithm, how it is applied, its extensions &...
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Logistic regression – Machine Learning part 2
This article is the second part of a three-part series on machine learning. You can read Part 1 here. The purpose of this article is to understand the details of logistic regression. What it is and how it’s used etc. Let’s start with the definition. It is a...
Linear regression and Gradient descent – Machine Learning part 1
The purpose of this article is to understand how gradient descent works. By applying and illustrating it on linear regression. We will have a quick introduction on Linear regression before jumping on to the estimation techniques. Please feel free to skip the...
The Dos and Don’ts to keep your data safe at your workplace
Data security is an extremely important aspect of any thriving organisation. Especially for digital and software enterprises. It’s a responsibility that falls on the shoulders of both the management as well as the individual units of an organisation – the employees....
Decentralized social networks: The choice is yours!
We live in an age, where we fear isolation. The one string which connects us with the rest of the world is social media. With people being constantly on the move, social networking websites provide the most accessible and affordable medium for news and entertainment....
Data Science: The Tech That Powers Iron Man!
It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Iron Ma…..Oh, Wait!! That’s A Major Blunder!! Wasn’t it supposed to be Superman? Well, who cares?? Iron Man’s cooler! He combines the flight of a bird and the tech behind a plane and cruises effortlessly in the sky! He may not be quite...
Interview with Nitin Chugh on personalization & digital transformation in banks
I recently interviewed Nitin Chugh, Country Head – Digital Banking at HDFC Bank Limited, and we discussed some hot topics in banking industry today: digital transformation, personalization, AI & machine learning, blockchain etc. HDFC Bank is an acknowledged...
Digital transformation in Banking: Past, Present and Future
Regardless of how much people earn, the jobs they have or whether they’re part of the workforce, banking is a necessary routine. It may not come to mind as one of the most technologically advanced industries, but has still undergone some significant advancements that...
Top 10 trends in payments 2018 (Infographic)
The universe of banking and payments is ever evolving. 2017 has seen a number of significant changes in the payments industry, thanks to advances in technology. Consumers now have access to a myriad of ways to pay. As a result, payment and shopping habits change....
Machine Learning: Linear regression and gradient descent – Part 1
The purpose of this article is to understand how gradient descent works, by applying it and illustrating on linear regression. We will have a quick introduction to Linear regression before jumping on to the estimation techniques. Please feel free to skip the...
The Personalization Paradox – Indian hospitality rediscovers
While it is still quite early to foretell the implications of India’s tryst with GST, there is an all pervasive air of concern in the hospitality industry regarding the same. At this very crucial juncture we will cautiously analyse how the hospitality industry aspires...
Innovative tech start-ups win over banks: A tale of leveraging Big Data
For many years, banks and financial institutions dominated the currency trading arena and money transfer services. Banks were viewed as the most credible, reliable and efficient means of conducting international money transfers. However, the costs of using banks for...
Get chatty: Banks and their customers have a common friend
Chatbots are taking over the world. Banks have started investing in this intelligent chatty friend, to make their customer conversations easier and more efficient. Human – human to human- machine? .... Better? Safer? Faster? What are chatbots? Chatbots are programs...
Say goodbye to boring, automated tele-conversations
Panic! One can’t truly appreciate the sense of this word, until you realize you have misplaced your wallet that has your credit cards! So, you frantically call home or office just to check whether you have left your wallet over there. And you finally realize that you...
How life will be, if the Internet of Things becomes a reality
7 AM My morning alarm buzzed at 7 AM. But I remember setting my alarm for the usual 7.30. My smart phone then notified me of a minor accident on the route to my office, leading to traffic congestion Smart traffic cameras installed on the road had sensed it. This...
Banks risk losing $600 billion of millennial spending
The banking industry needs to reimagine what current day banking means to millennials, or risk losing out on a potential $600 billion of indirect spending that millennials can influence. By the year 2020, Asia will be home to 60 percent of the world’s millennials, who...
The misery of choice and the pressing need for travel curation
Japan’s iconic Sakura season. We were all really excited about our trip to the land of spiritual awakening. Who wouldn’t be? It all sounded like a dream come true, until we realised the burden of planning a trip, from beginning-to-end! As 3 women travellers taking our...
An interview with Jaiveer Singh, VP of Technology at DBS Bank(Singapore)
Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you got into the banking industry? During my school days, I was a student of commerce & finance stream( I was doing ICWAI course). I heard about computers in the early 90s and felt this is something that might redefine...
Rick Smolan on 'The Human Face of Big Data'
Manu: Rick, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I saw in your TED talk that you used to be a photojournalist, so how did you get started on this journey? Rick Smolan: Yes, I was always very curious as a person. So it is interesting that I'd end up in a job...
Note to banks: say “hello” to big data or “goodbye” to your customers
Originally appeared on Analytics Mag. What is the most difficult task for a bank? Acquiring customers? Retaining customers? Growing share of customer wallet? No. Being customer centric is the most difficult task for any bank. But why is being customer centric so...
Why banks should personalize choices to their customers in order to gain competitive advantage
Just consider this situation. You are looking to buy an air conditioner. After going through your online research, comparing features and looking into several demos, you go to your favorite electronics retailer to buy it. You buy the best one that suits your need and...
The Masters of Big Data – Interviews with five big data experts in banking
For decades now, banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels. However, recent shifts in the industry are threatening this historically stable customer base. Today’s consumer is used to engaging with retailers and expects his needs to be...
9 inspiring quotes from experts shaping the future of banking
Who doesn’t like a good quote? We come across interesting and useful quotes all of the time in literature, news media, entertainment, and so on. A potent, succinct quote that underlines a key point or supports an important truth can be like gold. Often the value of a...
Big data and the entreprise: A new normal for enterprise architecture
The rise of big data systems is primarily driven by web based application paradigms for the B2C market. The growth of B2B solutions delivered through web based application models is driving a few shifts in enterprise architecture. It is as much about the convergence...
I don't think there are many banks that value human experience” – in conversation with Tim Kobe, the iconic designer behind the original Apple Stores.
Manu: Tell us a little about yourself, outside of the information that is publicly available online? Tim: I am from California. I got started in business 25 years ago. I studied Bachelor of Science, environmental design at art center college of design, at...
“We’re witnessing the creative destruction of financial services.” says banking expert, Arvind Sankaran
I recently interviewed Arvind Sankaran, Global business leader. We talked about FinTech startups, innovation in the banking industry, big data analytics, and wealth management. He also shared about his experience working with banks like CITI, HSBC, and Barclays. Read...
The difference between UI and UX
I have been a web developer for over 6 years, and during my work life, I have worked both on front end and back end web development. In the past 6 years, I have seen innumerable people interchange UI(User Interface) and UX(User Experience), some even mid-sentence,...
Can Fintechs take banks to the edge of innovation?
This post was written by a guest author Banks. When was the last time you associated the words “innovation”, “forward thinking”, “futuristic” etc. with them? I would say “never!” Banks are generally thought as being traditional and conservative. But the future isn’t...
Why banks should hop on board the big data bus
Co-authored by Manu Jeevan. More than 70% of banking executives worldwide say that customer centricity is important to them Surprisingly, research by Capgemini indicates that only 37% of customers believe that banks understand their needs and preferences adequately....
Get the stats! On customer experience, personalization, mobile banking and big data for banks
Technologies like big data analytics, digital personalization, and marketing tech have gone from early-adopter novelties, to main stream essentials. It's therefore no secret that the banking landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years. So we've rounded...
How content marketing can empower sales teams
Although content has been an important and growing part of any marketing strategy for years, it is often overlooked, especially when it comes to sales. Sales and marketing alignment is key for a company’s growth, yet it remains to be one of the most common challenges....
10 data science and big data experts to follow on Twitter
Twitter is a great source of information, and lets you quickly scan your feed and engage with content that intrigues you. Even though this eliminates a lot of unnecessary noise, you need to follow the right people, if you are on a constant lookout for great...
Personalization: Just do it. But don't overdo it
We, as customers have always wanted personalized services, whether we are buying something from a store or checking into a hotel for a stay. Services that satisfy our unique taste would make our life easier and save a lot of time. Apparently, companies have begun to...
Our data platform with Docker
This article has been co-authored by Rafi Syed and Sree Pratheep. As a continuation of our earlier article on Docker, here is a brief about how we started our journey in Docker. Our goal was to have a completely self-sufficient development cum integration environment...
Unbundling design for innovation in Big Data
“At Crayon, the visual design always took precedence over the systems design. This is because the experience-centric systems place a premium on user experience over the backend systems efficiency. During the early decades of my professional career, I have been trained...
Expert interview with Ron Shevlin about the role of big data in banking
I recently interviewed Ron Shevlin, Director of Research at Cornerstone advisors, for Big data made simple, Crayon’s big data information portal. We talked about a wide range of subjects, from how banks need to use the data they have at hand, to their business models,...
Gartner predicts five big data trends that will dominate 2016
Gartner has predicted 5 strategic technologies for 2016. Highlights include the importance of machine learning, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and its impact on business and consumers worldwide. Even though these technologies have different names,...
Interview with Eric Schneider, Asia Pacific Head of MasterCard Advisors
I recently interviewed Eric Schneider, Region Head, Asia Pacific, MasterCard Advisors for Big data made simple(Crayon’s big data content hub). It was truly an honor to have the opportunity to learn from one of the most influential voices in banking. Tell us a little...
Ten handy Python libraries for (aspiring) data scientists
Data science has gathered a lot of steam in the past few years, and most companies now acknowledge the integral role data plays in driving business decisions. Python, along with R, is one of the most handy tools in a data scientist’s arsenal. It’s also one of the...
Building an "Information-Centric" enterprise
As consumers, each of us is fully cognizant of and deeply entwined with the "Information" economy. Whether we use Google to search, shop on Amazon, connect with friends on Facebook or hail a cab using Uber, we hardly give a moment’s thought to the "building blocks"...
#DataMeetsDesign: the DNA of future corporate success
We live in a world of rapidly exploding tech trends. A big data world. A mobile-first world. The collision of big data and mobile creates a unique challenge of contrasts. In such a world, #DataMeetsDesign is the biggest challenge, and the biggest opportunity. Why?...
Data is the new oil of the Digital Economy
Everyone from geeks to CEOs is on the data bandwagon. Today, for a CEO to say, “I’m not investing in data and analytics” is the same as him saying “I’m not interested in our customers”. The real question is not whether you invest in data or not. What matters is what I...
Tools in the data armoury: R vs Spark
The purpose of this article is twofold. The first is to give a quick comparison between R and Spark, in terms of performance. The second is to introduce you to Spark's ML library. Background As R is inherently single threaded, it may not be wise to compare Spark and R...
In conversation with banking expert Vik Atal, on the past, present, and future of banking
Over the past year or so, I've been privileged to get to know Vik Atal, and interact with him closely. In an era where reputations, especially in banking, get built and damaged so quickly, it's inspiring to see the near-universal respect that Vik commands. It's not...
"Banks have to upgrade themselves, or risk being burnt to the ground" – an interview with banking expert JP Nicols
I recently interviewed JP Nicols, the co-founder of bank innovators council, for Big data made simple(Crayon's big data content hub). It was truly an honor to have the opportunity to speak to, and learn from, one of the most influential voices in banking. We talked...
How banks can power their loyalty programs
I read an article on The Huffington Post the other day, about how Canadians are unhappy with their banks’ loyalty programs. It got me thinking about what Crayon is offering to the world, and just how much the world needs it. There are a lot of loyalty programs out...
Relational vs Non-Relational data bases – Part 3
In the first and second part of this blog series, we saw some basic differences between scalability of Relational and Non-Relational Databases. In this post, I will show you how to use these databases correctly, and also tell you about some well known companies that...
Hong Kong has 'RISE'n
The Web Summit, billed as one of the “best tech conferences on the planet” by Forbes, has long been considered the gold standard in technology events. In July 2015, TWS decided to host its inaugural Asia-focused tech conference RISE in Hong Kong. And I got to go for...
New-age cab services, Venture financing and more
I took an Uber taxi ride last week to Indiranagar (Bangalore). My car was at the garage for repairs and I had a digital wallet balance to consume. The cab was a brand new Maruti Swift Dzire, and I was concerned that the man behind the wheel was just as new to driving!...
Why we chose Docker to build Crayon’s data processing platform
Historically, it has been a struggle for enterprise software vendors to control the deployment environment on their client’s installation base. Without proper control on the deployment environment, troubleshooting any issues on the client’s setup was a nightmare....