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Maverick uses AI capabilities from IBM Watson to help provide quick answers to veterans about a wide array of benefits topics AUSTIN —Today Texas Land Commissioner and Chairman of the Veterans Land Board, George P. Bush, announced the official launch of the VLB virtual assistant, fondly named, Maverick.  Using IBM Watson, the virtual assistant is the first of its kind for the agency and will provide Veterans with faster access to answers to help them access the benefits they've earned. From VLB home improvement loans to questions on Texas Veterans Homes, Maverick will provide the responsiveness needed in these unique times. "The VLB seeks to serve as a central point for information in the Veteran community, and service for our men and women who served our country means providing far beyond minimum expectations," said Chairman George P. Bush. "While the VLB continues to provide a call center helpline with staff who stand ready and waiting to answer during business hours, not all questions arise between eight to five, and we know that. The VLB is proud to announce the release of Maverick, a virtual assistant using IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence (AI), that can quickly answer questions regarding our programs, 24/7. We are excited to take advantage of this innovative AI technology to provide the best possible service for our Texas Veterans." In addition to answering questions regarding loans, Veteran homes, and Texas State Cemeteries, Maverick will also serve as a directory that can point Veterans in the right direction to find answers to common questions outside the wheelhouse of the VLB, from VA related questions to Texas Parks and Wildlife for inquiries on how to obtain a fishing license. Maverick can answer questions on 119 different topics. Maverick utilizes cutting edge AI solutions from IBM Watson and is designed to help save Veterans time and frustration. IBM Watson is AI that helps organizations predict and shape outcomes, automate complex processes, and optimize employees' time. Maverick is using IBM Watson Assistant and IBM Watson Discovery on IBM public cloud. It uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand questions from users and deliver answers in real time. IBM Watson Assistant was trained on data and information from the VLB. It is designed to understand when to ask for clarity and, if needed, can direct users to the VLB call center to get additional insights and information during business hours. Users can access the virtual assistant from anywhere on the VLB website. The VLB call center remains fully staffed, operational and equipped to answer questions. Media contact: Karina EricksonCommunications DirectorTexas General Land OfficeGeorge P. Bush, CommissionerOffice: 512-475-5144Cell: 737-210-9347Karina.Erickson@GLO.Texas.Gov 

- Digital transformation designed to reduce costs and lay foundations for the future- IBM Services to architect industry-specific new platform around IBM hybrid cloud environment LONDON, Aug. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), the world's largest Coca-Cola bottler based on revenue, has signed a multiyear agreement with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to accelerate its transformation to an open hybrid cloud environment using Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The move is designed to reduce its operational expenses, increase IT resiliency and leverage analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its daily operations to bring enhanced business insights and deliver greater service to its millions of customers.   A key priority for CCEP is to streamline its existing IT infrastructure to create a platform for standardised business processes, data and technology. This will create a springboard from which to leverage data analytics, IoT and AI technologies to provide new insights across its operations to help drive further efficiencies. As part of the agreement, IBM Services, with its deep industry expertise, will help CCEP transform to a IBM hybrid cloud environment managed by IBM, including the use of IBM public cloud, and several large SAP workloads. IBM will also provide CCEP with a consolidated view and single point of control over its entire IT infrastructure. Peter Brickley, Chief Information Officer of Coca-Cola European Partners, said: "Our successful collaboration with IBM over the last few years has given us the confidence to take the next step in our strategic cloud-first digital transformation. The selection of IBM's hybrid cloud architecture with Red Hat OpenShift gives us the flexibility to optimize across different public cloud platforms according to our future needs." "As businesses shift to cloud, we understand that each industry and client has unique business needs in their cloud adoption journey. IBM is excited to take Coca-Cola European Partners on this next chapter of their cloud journey delivering on an industry-specific solution as they migrate mission critical workloads to the cloud," said Howard Boville, SVP IBM Cloud. "By selecting IBM for its hybrid cloud environment with decades of industry expertise and experience, CCEP is embarking on a journey towards an open and secure cloud architecture driving greater digital advancement." IBM will help CCEP modernize its IT environment by using Red Hat Enterprise Linux to provide an open standard, cost-effective platform. A cornerstone of this transition will be Red Hat OpenShift, the industry's most comprehensive Kubernetes platform, which will allow CCEP to build mission-critical applications once and run them on IBM public cloud . IBM's Multicloud Management capability will be used to allow the legacy systems, private and public clouds, to be integrated and managed from a single dashboard. IBM and CCEP began their journey to the Cloud in 2018, when IBM successfully moved one third of CCEP's enterprise workloads from a dedicated US data centre to the IBM Cloud in Europe. Red Hat and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. About Coca Cola European Partners For further information visit: www.cocacolaep.com/ About IBM Cloud For further information visit: www.ibm.com/cloud/ CONTACT:Kaveri CamireIBM Communicationskcamire@us.ibm.com SOURCE IBM