Encountered in almost every aspect of daily life from vehicle navigation systems to film/music play lists, translation programs to cancer diagnosis in recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to expand its area of impact. Today, it is almost impossible to discuss efficiency without investing in artificial intelligence research and application projects. Consequently, increasing information-processing efforts, big data and developments in machine learning indicate that artificial intelligence has changed the way people work and that countries are considering the issue with a focus on “efficiency”. Based on, for instance, the report regarding the economic effect of artificial intelligence prepared by the International Data Corporation (IDC), AI is anticipated to provide an increase of 1.1 trillion dollars in global operating revenue and create 800,000 new jobs in the next five years.
So what is Artificial Intelligence and what does it refer to?
Artificial intelligence refers to systems that fulfill the task assigned to them by imitating the way a human thinks. In other words, it is computer systems-pieces of software capable of fulfilling the tasks that require human-like thinking. Search engines, virus email filters, robot vacuum cleaners, etc. are listed as examples of artificial intelligence in the strictest sense. Robo-financial advisors, smart drugs developed by biopharmaceutical companies, and predictive analytics software in the transportation industry, etc. are other examples of artificial intelligence in the broadest sense. In the business world, artificial intelligence offers the opportunity to utilize customer data to the fullest extent for the first time. It provides modelling customer behaviors by making the data from many channels meaningful. This makes pre-planning easier for customers in their new experiences.
As a technology with impact on several industries, artificial intelligence is being adopted in almost every company in the business world. Based on the data from the Global Artificial Intelligence Adoption Index 2022, the global artificial intelligence adoption rate among companies reached 35%, increasing by four points from the year before. However, 44% of companies continue their research on how to apply artificial intelligence to their own domains. According to the report, there is an increased interaction thanks to artificial intelligence, including cost savings and efficiency in 54% of companies and improvements in 53%. Above all, 48% of companies state that artificial intelligence provides positive contributions in terms of new customer experiences.
Artificial Intelligence technology in terms of customer experience
As is already known, customers can easily add a product to their basket or check on customized lists or even schedule product deliveries on their own regardless of the company simply by using voice commands. So companies use solutions which enable faster responses to customer demands due to such customized customer experiences and changing customer expectations. Voice response systems designed to answer frequently asked questions and guide the customer to rapid/accurate sources are one of the first solutions with artificial intelligence technology that spring to mind. The world’s best CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions provider, Salesforce also leads the artificial intelligence realm. As INSPARK who is Salesforce’s first and most experienced business partner in Türkiye, we help you deliver these solutions through rich, consistent and customized experiences. For example, we produce solutions which allow businesses to change their way of thinking and operating and also to place customers at the heart of all processes. In addition, we provide services tailored to customized product demands from consumers rather than standardized and uniform demands.
Business world, Artificial Intelligence and CRM
Again, the report by IDC regarding the economic effect of artificial intelligence on CRM includes the varieties which artificial intelligence companies globally plan to use or discover as machine learning (25%), voice/speech recognition (30%), text analysis (27%) and advanced numerical analysis (31%). Considering the analysis of these variations in terms of growth and efficiency, the figures and rates of global economic growth are very high. Moreover, the report presents numerical data on productivity increasing commensurately with the technology cost saved by companies in their artificial intelligence-driven CRM services.
While it seems a complicated process to integrate artificial intelligence into CRM operations/services, it is relatively easier to find and apply the technology that would steer this process. The hardest thing is having the capability to collect and organize data on customer behavior for the platforms needed. Now, the accurate analysis of relationships with customers, service users, business partners and suppliers is only possible through a good CRM for companies. If companies are to develop (or to continue developing) an artificial intelligence-aided CRM, they need a good strategy for the future. Focus on artificial intelligence alone forms the framework of this CRM strategy for companies with foresight. For this very reason, we recommend planning with importance attached to quality and accuracy when creating customer data. In addition, receiving data directly from the customer is a highly important issue . Otherwise, it would be difficult to develop models that truly reflect the target audience specific to a company.
How is Artificial Intelligence technology involved in CRM software?
Artificial intelligence aided CRM operations are actively sustainable in almost every department of companies. Additionally, the rise of artificial intelligence in business suggests that it increases the number of jobs automated and will also transform the employment environment at the same rate as it creates new opportunities. In addition to all these aspects, we, at INSPARK offer application solutions that change the way you collect, analyze and manage customer data. Whilst preparing the data needed by sales teams in companies, we develop analyses regarding how to achieve higher sales with the data collected on Sales Cloud. This enables real time monitoring of sales and after-sales service performance. Thus, companies are able to view and interpret the data from several sources on a single screen and take necessary actions. Additionally, the support unit in companies can create a specific ticket to solve customer problems faster, escalate the issue to a unit of higher rank, and execute status update and all these processes using any mobile device or smart phone, thanks to our products such as Service Wave Analytics and Service Cloud.
Business world, and productivity of Artificial Intelligence
Whilst the possibilities and investments for artificial intelligence technology seem infinite, Thomas H. Davenport and Randy Bean from NVP (New Vantage Partners) describe in a section from The Quest to Achieve Data-Driven Leadership: A Progress Report on the State of Corporate Data Initiatives (2022) as follows:
“At least we have a persistent measure of the ongoing effort to transform organizations to become data-driven, drive the required cultural change, and track the progression of large enterprise data (Big Data), analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. This survey and result report was prepared with the data pertaining to the largest 1000 companies (Fortune 1000) in the U.S. between 2012-2022. The most important information in this report that allowed us to numerically see the transforming effect of big data and artificial intelligence was that the use of artificial intelligence increased from 12% to 73.7% in a decade. And this indicates that companies are reportedly making profits by enhancing their investments in artificial intelligence as they show less bias towards the use of AI and witness greater satisfaction with their customer experience. For instance, there is a measurable profit rate that increased from 48.4% in 2017 to 70.3% in 2020.”
So what will Artificial Intelligence look like in the future?
The idea that artificial intelligence will certainly have a larger presence in our daily lives – while revolutionizing the business world since its emergence – is becoming increasingly widespread. Seemingly, predictable tasks and big data management will increasingly be delegated to bots. Most importantly, however, the concern that the tasks performed by artificial intelligence in the future professions will not be replaced by new tasks is one of the important issues discussed in the business world. Nevertheless, our children are thought to be expected to have 800,000 new professions in the future, which have not yet been invented as in the aforementioned report by IDC.
