Many consumer goods producers are taking control of their business by listening to what the millions of consumers have to say about their brand and using that input to tweak their messaging or even their product features. Computer algorithms crawl through the billions of blogs, tweets and other social platforms to filter and capture pertinent words about a specific brand. The words then can be analysed through predictive modelling to understand the likelihood of a successful launch and which other features consumers would like in their product. This type of man-machine collaboration and the use of analytics could help a business stay ahead of competition. According to the concept of ‘Internet of things’, the future holds great promise for almost all machinery capable of being tracked and dynamically readjusted in real time. Soon, all household appliances will have sensors feeding live data to the central warehouse, which will track the performance of each part, and just-in-time maintenance process will ensure the replacement of any expired component. A few of such examples are already seen in some industries, but this trend is likely to see explosive growth in the next decade. Already certain automobiles are geared with Artificial Intelligence to detect and prevent accidents if the driver fails to prevent an imminent accident. Robots are placed in bio-hazardous job roles, who imitate human limb movements to perform dangerous functions. Gradually, all health-risk related tasks may be given to robots. Although, the machine learning capabilities can bring about tremendous benefits through its disruptive technologies, human intervention will still be necessary to understand the context and drive the business forward. The author is Practice Manager- Analytics, Blue Star Infotech Ltd END