IBM’s Watson is no longer just the world’s most famous Jeopardy! game-playing computer. IBM yesterday announced that it has put Watson to work as the world’s most intelligent digital assistant in the first consumer-facing app for veterans making the transition from military to civilian life.

IBM and the United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a financial services provider for the military community, today announced they have teamed up to offer IBM’s Watson Engagement Advisor in a pilot program to assist USAA members. USAA provides insurance, banking, investments, retirement products and advice to 10.4 million current and former members of the U.S. military and their families.

Named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, IBM Watson uses natural language processing and analytics, and can process information similar to the way people think. This helps organizations to quickly analyze, understand and respond to vast amounts of Big Data. IBM’s Watson Engagement Advisor analyzed USAA’s business data and now understands more than 3,000 documents on topics exclusive to military transitions.

During the initial phase of the pilot program, veterans can log into USAA’s website or use a mobile browser to ask Watson questions specific to leaving the military including “Can I be in the reserve and collect veterans compensation benefits?” and “How do I make the most of the Post-9/11 GI Bill?”

This is the latest in a series of moves that IBM has made to commercialize Watson. Since IBM unveiled the IBM Watson Developers Cloud platform in November 2013, more than 2,500 businesses have applied, seeking to build cognitive apps. In January 2014, IBM invested $1 billion into the new New York City-based Watson Business Group to advance cognitive computing in the marketplace.

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Watch this Cube Conversation in which Wikibon analysts Stu Miniman and Jeff Kelly discussed IBM’s new Watson Business Group:

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Photo courtesy of IBM and USAA

Video courtesy of theCUBE