☕ Look at the numbers

How Mastercard's AI chief wrangles data.

August 16, 2024 PRESENTED BY It's Friday. Tech Brew's Patrick Kulp filed the third profile in his series on the hot new office in the C-suite: the chief AI officer. Mastercard's Greg Ulrich detailed to Patrick how he manages the credit card company's approach to AI. In today's edition: How Mastercard's AI chief connects the dots across the company's vast data operation Recent news reports hint at AI's newfound role in election misinformation Why putting EV chargers at convenience stores could be a win-win-win —Patrick Kulp, Jordyn Grzelewski, Annie Saunders AI Data management Francis Scialabba Every time a Mastercard is swiped at checkout, the credit card company taps AI to score the likelihood of fraud based on patterns in training data. It can sweep preview snippets of card numbers for sale on the dark web and attempt to ID them with predictive algorithms. Generative AI also cuts down on the number of false-alarm fraud alerts you get, according to Mastercard. These are a few of the operations Greg Ulrich oversees as Mastercard's chief AI and data officer. The credit card giant created the new perch in May as part of a larger reorg that merged data and AI operations and aimed to recognize the importance of both. It's one of a growing number of companies that are giving AI a seat in the C-suite as businesses fine-tune the way they operate with generative AI. (You can read Tech Brew's profiles of more of these leaders here.) Talk to enough of these companies, and some common threads tend to emerge—generative AI is perhaps most intuitively useful off the bat for coding, marketing, and maybe some customer service experiments. Mastercard is doing all of that, to be sure, but there are also some aspects of its AI operations that make Ulrich's job unique. Data deluge: For one, there's the sheer scale of the data: With billions of transactions per year, it doesn't make sense to centralize data operations into one department, Ulrich said. Instead, he works across the company to coordinate among data scientists in different areas. "We have a lot of people in the company with incredible skills in data science and data engineering that are already in place and are there to experiment and help build and create new opportunities," he said. "It is my responsibility to create a community around that, to create consistency and best practices around that, to create coordination around that, to make sure that…we're learning from each other and we're all moving in the same direction." Keep reading here.—PK PRESENTED BY QUICKEN Your financial goals won't reach themselves Do you have a plan for your financial future? Quicken does. Whether you're well on your way to reaching your savings goals or just getting started, Quicken Simplifi makes it easier to manage your personal finances like a pro. And with tools for taxes, budgeting, data, investments, and more all in one place, it's no wonder PCMag calls Simplifi the "best personal finance app." The best part: You can have it all for less than a week's worth of lattes. Sign up for an annual subscription of Simplifi today, and get your first year for only $23.94. AI Election deception Francis Scialabba As if the US presidential election needs more twists, there are signs that generative AI could play a more disruptive role in information warfare around the November contest. Some experts have long predicted that this year's presidential race would mark the first "AI election," given that it's the biggest political event in the US since generative AI output reached new heights of realism in the last couple years. So far, its role has been overshadowed by unprecedented turns of events in the race. But some recent developments hinted at AI's reality-warping hazards: A recent report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center found that Iran-backed groups have laid the groundwork to stoke political divisions around the election further. Those efforts include setting up fake news sites and targeting the email accounts of campaign advisors. The report found evidence that these groups tapped generative AI to create article titles and SEO keywords, as well as to paraphrase real news sites. The Iranian operations build on similar activity the report also observed from Russian and Chinese actors. In a testament to how the mere existence of AI might be used to shake trust in visual media, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that photos of crowds at Vice President Kamala Harris's Detroit rally had been deepfaked: "She 'A.I.'d' it," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Harris's campaign denied the claim, and journalists present, media photos and footage, and an expert in digital forensics and misinformation interviewed by the Associated Press confirmed the image was real. Keep reading here.—PK FUTURE OF TRAVEL A matter of convenience Tartezy/Getty Images Convenience is king for American consumers—and the EV charging sector is taking note. Convenience stores stand to play a key role in easing the EV charging experience for US drivers, many of whom remain wary about battery-powered vehicles because plugging in can be a hassle. Installing EV chargers at road-trip stops like Circle K and 7-Eleven could be a winning proposition for C-stores, charging providers, and drivers alike. Drivers are even willing to make a detour to charge at a more appealing location, according to a new survey by industrial mobility tech firm Vontier. Vontier found that "78% of EV drivers would go out of their way to use a public charger in a safe location," and 67% would do so to shop while they charge. Three in five are willing to veer from their route to charge close to food options. Andrew Bennett, CEO of EVolve, Vontier's EV charging software unit, told Tech Brew that he expects charging in the US to eventually look something like it does in Europe and Scandinavia, where charging hubs often feature appealing amenities. Already, he noted, many C-stores there provide such amenities to ease the refueling experience—and have highly loyal customer bases. "They have gyms, they have playgrounds for your kids," he said. "The second you pull in, there's free internet. The food is fantastic." And charging could be a boon for convenience stores. Keep reading here.—JG BITS AND BYTES Stat: 58%. That's the percentage of adults in the US who say they're on their phones too much, the Washington Post reported, citing a Gallup survey. That's up from 39% in 2015. Quote: "The cars are robotic and they're honking at each other and there's no one in the cars when it's happening, and that's absurd."—Christopher Cherry, a resident of San Francisco, to NBC Bay Area News about "repeated honking" from Waymo driverless cars Read: Politicians don't get how popular climate action is. That's a problem (Grist) COOL CONSUMER TECH Fongfong2/Getty Images Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech. Heat wave: Between brands and the fall-is-my-whole-personality friend we all seem to have, everyone's ready for autumn. But summer's not over yet, and a hot (🫠) new accessory emerged during the sweltering temperatures of the past few months: neck fans. Yes, regrettably, neck fans are apparently how we're dealing with the reality of living on a burning planet. The Atlantic and Wirecutter both made a case for investing in tech to keep cool (at least temporarily). OOO: Got one more European tour planned before summer wraps? Us, too. CNET rounded up a list of iPhone features that could ease your trip to a new time zone where you don't speak the language. JOBS Break free from the job-board cycle. CollabWORK connects you with relevant job openings curated specifically for communities you're already part of—like Tech Brew. Find high-quality opportunities and land your next big break by joining CollabWORK today. Head of Product at IBT Media (in person) Senior Product Manager at a large technology company (remote) Principal Product Manager Conversational Intelligence at ZoomInfo (in person) SHARE THE BREW Share Tech Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We're saying we'll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. 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