In 2017, Artificial Intelligence crossed the barriers from being as 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 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 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 has 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. Business 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.
WHAT THE INDUSTRY PREDICTS FOR 2018:
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“AI is poised to merge with core software systems of IT infrastructure of large enterprises and owing to enhancements in processing power, memory, storage, and data tools, it will get more main stream and become a key component in the digital transformation journey.”
Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan
Vice President Enterprise Business
SAP Indian Subcontinent
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“We will start focusing on ‘machines + humans’ working together continually coexisting and co-creating; bringing changes where we invest, whom we attract, what we patent and how we develop competencies that outperform competitors.”
Mandar Marulkar
Chief Digital Officer
KPIT Technologies
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“AI will redefine operations across businesses; as capitalizing on the possibilities of the new machine age, the early adopters would win when compared to those who choose to remain in the comforts of legacy systems.”
Aan Chauhan
Chief Technology Officer
Cognizant
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“More use cases will become apparent as the technology continues to develop, but what’s already clear is that the potential of AI when it comes to ERP is significant.”
Thiru Vengadam
Regional Vice President
Epicor India
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“We are already witnessing an upward trend in the number of companies embracing AI to enhance the customer experience, and this will become the new business standard in the coming year.”
KT Prasad
Country Sales Director
Zendesk India
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“In 2018, AI and ML will enable businesses to unlock the value of their data and make immediate contributions towards critical business decisions leading to increased profitability for the organizations.”
Aashish Kalra
Chairman
Cambridge Technology Enterprises
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“Technologies such as AI, voice assistants and social messaging will give birth to the intelligent experience economy, making customer experience more conversational than transactional.”
Sunil Mittal
EVP & Chief Sales and Marketing Officer
CSS Corp
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