Sales process recommendation and automation is in the top ten use cases for AI at the workplace, according to analyst firm IDC, which co-hosted a roundtable with iGenius on applied AI.
“In the context of what IDC refers to as multiplied innovation — the adoption of new technology at multiple levels — one of the main challenges companies face is prioritizing the use cases, the applications, the processes to focus on,” said Fabio Rizzotto, Associate VP & Head of Research and Consulting at IDC Italia.
“So far, the main focus has been on boosting customer experience,” he continued. “Which is not surprising, considering that a survey by IDC highlighted that 60% of European companies saw AI technologies as an enabler for a new type of customer experience and support.”
Investment has paid off
Based on IDC conversations with business leaders worldwide, the application of AI to customer experience and interaction has generated up to 20% spike in revenues for companies worldwide, while the use of AI to predict customer churn has resulted in a 40% churn reduction.
“If AI and the adoption of new technologies are successfully reshaping the way businesses interact with their customers — and vice versa,” continued Rizzotto, “the flip side of the multiplied innovation coin is the relationship between humans and machines at the workplace, the way we as professionals interact with technology at work. AI can optimize internal processes too — an aspect that is perhaps less visible, but nonetheless important.”
IDC predicts that by 2024, 50% of structured, recurring tasks will be automated by AI, while 20% of workers in knowledge-intensive tasks will have AI-infused software available or digitally connected technology as a co-worker.
So AI will probably not steal our jobs, but it will surely reshape the way we work in the with the adoption of AI projects resulting in a close collaboration between humans and machines.
Introducing Crystal
iGenius’ AI advisor, Crystal, is available on sales reps’ smartphones and allows them to access data such as income monitoring, performance of a particular product and client profiles in real time, wherever they are.
Powered by conversational AI and natural language processing (NLP), crystal understands users’ voice queries, and can respond via voice or easy-to-read data visualizations. This gives sales professionals and sales teams easy access to their data.
Big data is back
Big data is definitely not a trendy term anymore but, let’s face it, neither is AI. Data is to artificial intelligence what fuel is to an engine — AI runs on data, so in this sense, big data is a head start for companies who want to develop AI projects. AI automation can help companies make sense of large amounts of data, which otherwise is nothing but a storage problem.
Data analysis is the tip of the iceberg. “Data in itself is useless”, said Uljan Sharka, iGenius CEO.
AI has the potential to bridge the gap between data and the expertise of workers — sales pros, for example — who have the ability to turn it into operational decisions.”
The ability for users to access insights via voice, regardless of their data literacy, and with no need for data science training, makes extracting value from data accessible.
“For the first time, companies can enable anyone to make data-driven decisions in real time, instead of relying on technical solutions accessible only by a small percentage of the workforce.”
“Combining these three elements — human intelligence, data, and an accessible tool, is our core strength as an AI company,” said Sharka.