In 2017, Artificial Intelligence crossed the barriers from being a buzzword to a major business driver for enterprises. AI coupled with improved machine learning capabilities made inroads into numerous fields. Organizations have started investing in smart systems aimed at marked improvements in business efficiency, security, data analysis, and delivery. AI has been helping companies redefine the customer experience. Big data, powered by AI is transforming how businesses are defined, designed and delivered.
Gartner forecasts that AI will lead to $200 billion in the new revenue and 768,000 new positions in 2018 alone. Another study predicted that almost every new software product or service will adopt AI by 2020. Humungous amounts of data being generated each day have been the main driver as enterprises apply this data-driven intelligence to automated machine learning to meet business goals.
Businesses will start to experiment with collaborative and conversational technologies in order to revamp and contextualize customer-centric experiences. Chatbots have been the first deployments of AI and are rapidly evolving and can now almost mimic humans perfectly. 2017, also witnessed widespread adoption of smart voice-enabled devices like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and Cortana in the consumer space. Businesses will start to leverage these voice-enabled devices in 2018 and find new use cases for it.
AI-driven products and services are enabling businesses to drive sales & support cycles and explore new revenue channels. Businesses and customers alike will witness a growing AI influence in their life. Businesses will inculcate intuitive decision making and enhanced interactive capabilities between chatbots with humans. AI will also impact solutions like ERP and CRM systems in a number of diverse ways in 2018.
“Technologies such as AI, voice assistants and social messaging will give birth to the intelligent experience economy, making the customer experience more conversational than transactional.” – Sunil Mittal, EVP & CSMO, CSS Corp