IBM Bets Big On Watson's Ability To Power 'Cognitive Era’

At her big CES keynote, CEO Ginni Rommety (pictured) said IBM's Watson supercomputer is poised to power the "cognitive era," which will have a transformative impact on digital-savvy businesses that can make sense of big data.

"Here at CES I look around and I see wearables, sensors, car tech. There is data everywhere. Digital is no longer a destination. It’s a foundation," Rometty said.

Companies need to understand the vast amount of data they already, have along with data that isn’t currently being collected, such as video and sound, she said. "Those companies that can understand that data will be at an advantage."

Rometty disclosed key partnerships with Under Armour, Medtronic and SoftBank in which IBM’s Watson supercomputer will provide the back-end intelligence in what Rometty called "cognitive IoT."