Companies like to talk about being on the “cutting edge” with their methodology, but only the successful entities actually put it into practice. Taking a general concept and turning it into tangible dollars is easier said than done. This is where Amazon has been at the forefront of their field, adapting a business model that places research at the top of the agenda.

The company has gone on to amass a staggering $280 billion in assets with CEO and founder Jeff Bezos becoming the wealthiest individual on the planet. What would begin as a modest online bookseller would quickly transition to a behemoth that caters to a myriad of services around the world. From videos and music to delivering home packages and everyday products, this e-commerce concept would spawn into an overarching enterprise that dominates the marketplace.

Amazon is an entity that has not escaped controversy or derision, yet they have understood the need to study the market, integrate new technologies and develop a model that will be attractive to all parties. That incorporates the customer and investor class. Through careful prudence and analytics, they have managed to go beyond the 100 million mark for unique subscribers as of 2018.

Customer research is where Amazon takes their mode of operations to the next level. Bezos has always been a figure who has been obsessed with this subject, wanting his specialists to dig deep into user behaviors. When a project like Amazon Local failed, it wasn’t a matter of cutting the losses and moving on but using surveys and customer feedback to shape how they maneuvered their resources and made investments for future creations.

Narrowing down the data for industry-specific products is where Amazon has developed an edge over the competition. They will breakdown each item in isolation rather than assessing the market in a generic sense. From audiobooks in the thriller section to portable vacuum cleaners and drones for business use, they will utilize their research capabilities with qualitative data that is narrowed down to the absolute minutia of their profile.

Working alongside accountants and monetary specialists in their field, Amazon will undertake a series of financial analytics to better understand how they can maximize their revenue streams. Especially when shipping such a vast array of stock from one location to the customer’s door, they have to assess tariffs, road tolls, staffing costs and the fluctuating price of goods for any given period.

It might not be a pretty part of the business, but Amazon will allocate time and resources to researching the competition. The likes of Google, Microsoft and IBM are comparable on a number of fronts and their expert team members will assess how they do business and whether or not those ventures enjoy cut-through with the community. Some will see this as an intrusive and aggressive stance, but it is simply a means for these giant multimedia enterprises to have their finger on the pulse, tapping into a practice that is well and truly uniform in the 21^st century.

A brilliant strategy that allows Amazon to tap into this intellectual property and build a thriving research department is their desire to simply host their website for other sellers to promote their stock. While others were desperate to create their own content and run everything in-house, Amazon would quietly but astutely examine all of the data that dictates consumer movements, product popularity and anything else that the global marketplace would tell them about digital shoppers and their habits.

What defines the success of Amazon can be attributed to a range of factors. Some will put it down to sheer luck or fortunate timing coming out of the Seattle innovation bubble of the mid 1990s, but the evidence would suggest a more methodical approach that leverages research as an essential asset. It is the foundation that allows the brand to aggressively buy out successful start-ups and commercial ventures including IMDb and Twitch.

AI development is a hot topic among engineers and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Everyone can benefit from this explosion, seeing manufacturers, communicators, managers and investors take their operation to the next level. With a push to make this technology mainstream and adapt it to their environment, there are others who are less inclined to jump into the trend with abandon.

Of all the famous figures that would likely be on the optimistic end of the AI development spectrum, Elon Musk would be at the top of many people’s list. Yet in 2014, the innovator would discuss AI development as an existential threat to the global community. Rather than extolling the virtues of this field, he would exercise a degree of caution over the subject, arguing that the rate of advancement will outpace the intelligence of the human race.

Musk’s interests with his SpaceX division sees ventures to Mars and out of space high on the agenda. This is the type of exploration through colonization that intrigues the creator. He has hired over 8,000 employees spanning almost two decades to make that project possible, pushing the boundaries and test the limitations for space travel. As a private aerospace engineering firm, SpaceX could be an entity that stands to gain as much as anyone from the development of AI technology.

Government intervention is where Musk believes AI development should be managed. Although he is an advocate for free market innovation, the man with a net worth exceeding $70 billion is of the opinion that a careful and calculated approach under government supervision will afford time for businesses and investors to get a grasp of the technology. There are challenges and conflicts of interest when it comes to private enterprises advising public institutions, especially with different administrations having unique priorities, but the Pretorian native believes this is the best space to rollout these tools.

Another component of AI development that requires further consideration from Musk is the commercialization of the technology. With the likes of Facebook and Google potentially coming in and owning many of these tools, there is a fear that AI won’t truly be democratized for the benefit of everyday communities. This has been an opinion echoed by other professors and engineers who want to ensure that the intelligence is leveraged for organic purposes and not simply for commercial gain.

What would support this cautious approach to AI development is the reactions of other peers and scientific luminaries in the field. The late Stephen Hawking would go as far to say that it could spell the end of the human race. Bill Gates would be less extreme in his pronouncements, admitting that these creations are equal part dangerous and exciting depending on the context.

If humanity can get it right with AI development, then there is an entire world of exciting innovations that will genuinely save lives and forge a path to success. Disease, famine, crime, corruption and other elements that plague society can be combated. This is where figures like Musk will always keep an open mind about the potential that lies with scientific advancement.

It will help to reduce human error, offer round the clock performance, engage repetitive tasks, take health and medicine to new heights and venture to new planets and solar systems that would not be possible without their intervention.

Those benefits should be weighed against the notes of caution from respected figures like Musk. Their knowledge and insight into this domain carries weight, giving them the opportunity to outline where the real risks are and what types of restrictions and checks should be implemented with these programs.