Virginia M. Rometty, the chief executive and newly appointed chairman of I.B.M., answered a mysterious and pressing question on Tuesday: Where is Watson?

Watson is the room-size computer that defeated its human rivals to become a “Jeopardy!” champion. The answer, Ms. Rometty said at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit, is that Watson is in medical school.

The computer is working with many health care organizations to learn medical data so it can diagnose cancer, and that is just the beginning. It has so far ingested 80 percent of the world’s medical data.

“Watch it work, and it’s almost as if he’s talking to a colleague,” Ms. Rometty said. “The beauty of it is it tells you what’s right or wrong,” and explains with confidence why it believes what it says.

Watson’s skills – from “Jeopardy!” to oncology to working with banks and call centers – are part of I.B.M.’s bigger aim. It is called cognitive computing, which she described as machines that can learn.

“In this world of huge and big data, you won’t be able to program machines for everything they should know,” said Ms. Rometty. “These machines will have to learn what is right, what is wrong, what is a pattern.”

It is the third wave of computing, she said. At first, computers could count. Today, they are programmed to follow “if this, then that.” Next they will need to discover and learn on their own, she said, not just as a search engine, but proactively. The next era, for all jobs, not just those in computing, will be to help businesses sift big data, she said.

“It’s going to be a whole era to help you get through this, and everyone’s job, from chief marketing officer to chief of police, their jobs are going to be redefined by that,” she said.

New retail technology by IBM lets shoppers scan items to purchase with a smartphone and then head directly to a self-checkout station to pay

The IBM Mobile shopper app runs on the Google Android and Apple iOS.

(Credit: IBM)

IBM is introducing its own in-store shopping companion app.

Dubbed the “digital shopping assistant,” this mobile app allows consumers to scan items they want to purchase at retail stores with their smartphone and then use an IBM self-checkout station to pay.

“Retailers can now deliver a more personalized shopping experience that is less of a chore and more of a convenience for consumers,” IBM Retail Store Solutions vice president John Gaydac said in a statement. “By enabling consumers to scan and check-out a wide variety of products at their own pace, retailers can not only create a more customized shopping environment, but also increase in-store traffic.”

The app runs on Google Android and Apple iOS and uses Honeywell Mobile bar code decoding software that lets shoppers scan any type of bar code found on retail items. Along with the app, shoppers will also get digital coupons, loyalty programs and special promotions at the IBM self-checkout stations. This “digital shopping assistant” app is available as of today.

There’s no doubt that developing mobile software is now one of the key concentrations of tech companies, with the influx of mobile apps and payment systems and digital wallets. In fact, areport on U.S. patents last month found that about 21 percent of all patents in the first quarter of this year were for mobile technologies, with Samsung, Microsoft, and IBM leading the charge.

CEO’s are finally embracing social media’s role in engaging business and customers, according to a recent IBM Global CEO Study.

For businesses, social media is currently the least-utilized method for connecting with their audiences. The hierarchy of connecting is as follows: face-to-face interactions, websites, channel partners, call centers, traditional media, advisory groups, and then, finally, social media.

However, social media is expected to jump to the number two spot within three to five years — and traditional media will plummet to the bottom of the list — according to IBM’s report of their findings.

Out of the 1,709 CEOs interviewed for the study — hailing from 64 countries and 18 industries — only 16% currently participate in social media. However, that percentage is expected to grow to 57% within the next five years, according to the IBM analysis.

As Mashable previously reported, these numbers coincide with the “conservative optimism” regarding social media engagement for businesses. More than half of business owners (64%) believe in social media as a useful tactic for marketing — they just aren’t willing to jump into it full-force yet.