It’s no secret that corporations globally plan to spend a significant amount on digital transformations in the next few years. But how much? And exactly what are they spending money on?

Machine learning has created exciting prospects for industry, science and humanity. It’s also hyped and heavily marketed in misleading ways.

Five years ago, Microsoft Corp. was in a tight spot. It was unable to take the smartphone market from Apple, the cloud sector from Amazon.com or search from Google, according to Nigel Vaz, digital transformation consultant and CEO of Publicis.Sapient. Microsoft seemed to be teetering right as Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014 and began transforming the company.

Criminals have figured out they don’t have to hack into computer systems or try to get Social Security and credit card numbers. They realized they could just ask for the money. And that’s what they did.

The next major cyber threat isn’t in the healthcare industry. It isn’t banking, either, thanks in part to both of those industries’ strict regulations. Manufacturing is undergoing a transformation that will increase risk in that industry, so is that the next major area at risk of cyber threats?

The very technology that helped the oil and gas industry gain efficiency is now creating additional risks. The Internet of Things, IoT, which refers to the growing inter-connectedness of devices, has helped the oil and gas industry to monitor its operations. But with so many connected devices, cyber thieves have greater access to hack into a company’s system undetected and wreak havoc, financially, reputationally, and operationally.