With the proliferation of smartphones, the rise of smart devices, combined with the developments of the internet of things,big data and cloud computing;comes the emergence of a new product category of intelligent systems.Intelligent systems collects data in from connected devices, makes intelligent decisions based on relevant events in real-time, and takes action on our environment,objects and even people to create preferred situations.This paper examines what intelligent systems are, the developments leading up to intelligent systems, the elements of intelligent systems, how intelligent systems work, and the challenges and benefits of designing intelligent systems.