High tech (24)
4 Ways How Small Businesses Can Fuel Growth with Artificial Intelligence
20 Jun 2023 Written by Admin SAEArtificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for businesses, and AI has been referred to as "the next big thing" in the business world in recent years. But today, talk about artificial intelligence is no longer about future speculation, but rather a tangible reality, and the stories that filled the news about ChatGPT are only evidence of that. It is also no longer limited to large companies such as self-driving cars, but startups and small companies can benefit from it as well. So we have an opportunity to benefit from the developments of artificial intelligence in the business world, but how?
This article we review four ways in which small businesses can leverage AI to boost their growth and gain a competitive advantage:
1- Enhancing customer service: While customer service often requires a human touch, AI can make it more efficient. AI's efficiency is evident in its ability to serve as an initial point of contact for responding to customer inquiries. Thanks to AI advancements, conversational robots have become more effective in written and spoken communication, even in different languages. They can efficiently handle customer queries and provide personalized experiences by understanding and responding to customer needs.
The benefits of using AI in customer service extend beyond cost reduction. AI can collect and reuse customer information, offering clear insights into customer requirements and desires. It can use data for predictions, identify areas of improvement, and even indicate potential expansions or advanced services, ensuring customer satisfaction.
Some popular AI tools that can enhance customer service: (ChatGPT, IBM Watson Assistant, LivePerson, Ada, Salesforce Einstein, Bold360, Nuance Nina, Zendesk Answer Bot).
2- Improving email interactions: Dealing with a large volume of customer emails, tracking requests, responding to inquiries, and managing other tasks can lead to chaos even in well-organized teams. Slow and inadequate responses to customer queries can frustrate customers and create a negative perception of a company's brand.
Email robots offer various solutions to overcome the challenges associated with managing email correspondence. They automate comprehensive response services, including addressing pricing inquiries, product quality, delivery services, order updates, and more. They can also escalate more complex messages to the appropriate department within the company. With advancements in robotics, the tone and language can be tailored to enhance communication with customers. This saves time in addressing repetitive customer queries that can be resolved through automated responses.
Some popular AI tools that can help improve email interactions: Grammarly, Crystal, Boomerang, PoliteMail, Respondable by Boomerang (AI-powered tool integrated with popular email platforms like Gmail), Clearbit Connect, X.a.
3- Marketing and sales: AI has numerous applications in the field of marketing. The main advantage of using AI in marketing is that decision-making and communication processes are based on accurate and comprehensive data. AI applications provide a more holistic and accurate view of sales, helping create customer prospect lists and identify strengths and weaknesses before planning marketing campaigns. One survey found that 61% of sales teams exceeded revenue targets by leveraging automation in their sales processes. AI can also be employed to analyze sales data and marketing performance, facilitating better decision-making.
Some popular AI tools that can be useful for marketing and sales: Salesforce Einstein, Marketo Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Drift, InsideSales Predictive Playbooks, Gong.io, Conversica, IBM Watson Marketing.
4- Blog writing and search engine optimization (SEO): AI helps increase the quantity and quality of blog content by significantly reducing writing and editing time. It does so by inputting and analyzing keywords, determining their appropriate usage and distribution, and formulating or restructuring sentences and paragraphs related to the keywords. AI simplifies content writing and blog optimization, saving time and effort, reducing errors, and enhancing content quality. In fact, one study indicated that the use of AI by marketers increased from 29% in 2018 to 84% in 2020.
Some popular AI tools that can be useful for blog writing and search engine optimization (SEO): Frase, SEMrush, Surfer SEO, Clearscope, WordLift, MarketMuse, Yoast SEO, TextOptimizer.
Determining the best AI tool to use depends on several factors and considerations, such as: your needs, ease of use, compatibility of the tool with your existing systems, software, or platforms, scalability, pricing of the tool, flexibility and customization within other factures. It is recommended to thoroughly evaluate different AI tools based on the user's specific context and requirements before making a decision.
By leveraging AI in several areas, startups can gain a competitive advantage by streamlining operations, improving customer experiences, and making data-driven decisions. By embracing AI, small businesses can unlock new opportunities for growth and remain competitive in an increasingly data-centric digital business environment.
While the science was front-and-center in Elon Musk’s presentation about Neuralink, his human brain computer inference company, the surgical robot the company debuted made a splash of its own.
The rounded polycarbonate sci-fi design of the brain surgeon bot looks like something out of the Portal franchise, but it’s actually the creation of Vancouver-based industrial design firm Woke Studio.
To be clear, Musk’s engineers and scientists have created the underlying technology, but Woke built the robot’s look and user experience, as well as the behind-the-ear communication end piece that Neuralink has shown in prior presentations.
Neuralink’s bot features clean white (required for ensuring sterility, per Woke), arcing lines and smooth surfaces for a look that at once flags its advanced technical capabilities, but also contains some soothing and more approachable elements, which is wise, considering what the machine is intended to do.
“While the patient may not be awake to see the machine in action, it was still important to design a non-intimidating robot that can aesthetically live alongside the iconic machines in Musk’s portfolio,” the company explains in a press release.
“It also needed to meet a long list of medical requirements in terms of sterility and maintenance, and provide safe and seamless utilization for its operators.”
Woke says the Neuralink surgical robot can be separated into three main parts: The head, the body and base. The head of the robot is that helmet-like piece, which actually holds the head of the patient.
It also includes a guide for the surgical needle, as well as embedded cameras and sensors to map the patent’s brain.
The intent of the design of this piece, which includes a mint-colored interior, is to give the robot “an anthroprmorphic characteristic” that helps distract from the invasive nature of the procedure. There are also single-use disposable bags that line the interior of the helmet for sterile operation.
The Neuralink robot also has a “body,” that humped rear assembly, which includes all the parts responsible for the motion of the robot as it sets up from the procedure.
The third element is the base, which basically keeps the whole thing from tipping over, and apparently also contains the computing brains of the brain-bot itself.
Neuralink is an Elon Musk-founded company that’s seeking to mitigate what Musk sees as a potential existential threat to human life: The ascendancy of general artificial intelligence.
While its near-term goals are aimed at helping address medical conditions incurred by damage to brain tissue, Musk ultimately hopes that Neuralink will be able to help humans keep up with advanced AI by providing them with a latency-free, direct high-bandwidth connection to their computers — using direct thought input.
source: techcrunch
Global Wireless Solutions: What 5G Will Mean for Innovative Startups and Small Businesses
02 Aug 2020 Written by Admin AdminThe vital role that technology plays in connecting communities and powering almost all aspects of our daily lives has been drawn into sharp focus during the pandemic.
Digital transformation has gathered pace, with the global population now working, learning and socialising remotely on a scale never seen before.
We have seen huge wireless network enhancements in recent months as a result of shifting traffic patterns, increasing connectivity requirements and changes in consumer behaviour.
Many creative and dynamic startup companies and small businesses have been helping to drive this movement through the remote delivery of a range of product and service offerings to businesses and consumers across the world.
To step-change the future of innovation and facilitate the next generation of pioneering startups, we will need to see a corresponding evolution in terms of wireless network capabilities.
A new generation of tech
5G represents a new generation of network technology that will power tomorrow’s most innovative companies.
The new network is much faster and more reliable than existing networks like 4G, meaning digital content and services of all types can be delivered quicker and at higher quality levels. 5G also has significantly reduced latency – the delay in transmitting data – enabling futuristic real-time applications such as autonomous cars, AR, VR and remote robotics. It is also far more efficient in terms of utilising network spectrum and available capacity, meaning that more people can do more things at the same time.
The new network’s significant improvements in speed, latency, capacity, reliability and overall wireless performance mean great things for how the startups and small businesses of the future will operate. 5G will result in positive and productive changes in terms of customer experience and the delivery of enhanced products and services that not only weren’t possible before, but likely weren’t even conceivable.
Levelling up the capabilities of 4G
So many of the activities, technologies and applications that we now rely on in our daily lives were only made possible because of the development and deployment of 4G. Everything from the rise of smartphones and tablets, to mobile video calling and streaming, to secure online transactions and more would have been both unachievable and unthinkable with older generations of mobile networks.
The same is true of the businesses providing those products and services. Where 5G promises to integrate itself into people’s lives in an even more profound way, it also promises to level-up the capabilities of startups and small businesses in ways that haven’t even been considered today.
Today, the mobile industry is already preparing for innovative concepts that could well be rolled out on 5G networks in the near future – from autonomous vehicle technology, to smart connected cities and infrastructure, to widescale industrial IoT applications, and more. But 5G is also a blank canvas for the innovators of tomorrow.
The range of applications, equipment, products and services that exist today are built and designed around the speed, latency, capacity, reliability and coverage capabilities of today’s network.
5G promises to revolutionise what is possible for businesses of all sizes. What might be possible for the innovative companies of the future? We won’t quite know for sure until we get there.
source: techround
Connected machines and digital twins will help drive 6G networks, Samsung says.
Samsung has started to publicize its direction for 6G, the next generation of wireless networks likely to supercede 5G sometime in the next decade.
The company joins Nokia and a few other organizations that are exploring the upgrade.
Connected machines and artificial intelligence will feature prominently in future use-cases, as will digital twins, hi-fi mobile holograms and immersive extended reality (XR), the company says in a white paper.
6G features will include better spectral and energy efficiency and a requirement for trustworthiness that, “addresses the security and privacy issues arising from the widespread use of user data and AI technologies,” Samsung says in an associated news release.
Faster data rates
From a technology standpoint, Samsung says it will be aiming for peak data rates of 1Tbps and latency less than 100 microsec, "fifty times the peak data rate and one-tenth the latency of 5G." 6G will use terahertz frequencies, which are well above microwave and millimeter wave, along with optimized antennas.
Spectrum sharing enhancements and more sophisticated duplexing will be used to better utilize wireless frequencies, Samsung says.
Reliability also is mentioned as a focus. But it’s the projected megatrends that Samsung says will propel 6G that are most interesting.
6G will connect machines
While legacy products like voice may still be a feature, it will be vehicles, robots, construction machinery and factory equipment that will become prime “connected machine” users. “Smart sensors installed in various infrastructures” will be a part of that, Samsung says.
In terms of new use-cases, Samsung thinks that a combination of virtual reality, artificial reality and mixed reality called XR will be set in motion by 6G.
Roadblocks to XR include hardware limitations, in particular processing power, and battery performance, but also wireless capacity. Samsung thinks 6G will solve these issues. An example: AR alone needs 55.3 Mbit/sec to support 8K displays, Samsung says, and XR needs even more.
With enough bandwidth, holograms could display gestures and facial expressions in real time, but with a peak data rate of 20Gbps, 5G is too slow, Samsung says. Holograms of 19.1 gigapixels, for example, require 1Tbps throughput, which would be Samsung 6G's top speed.
Digital twins, too, could enter mainstream usage with 6G, Samsung says. Industrial uses could include detecting problems in sensors remotely. “A user could physically move within a remote site by controlling a robot in that space entirely via real-time interactions with a digital-twin representation of that remote site,” Samsung says.
“Increasingly, machines will need to be connected by means of wireless communications,” Samsung says.
source: networkworld
How to define an appropriate budget for digital transformation - one that’s realistic yet takes into consideration the aspirations of and opportunities available to your organization
This a difficult balancing act, and never more so than for digital transformation projects. Here, we share some tips to deliver you a budget that effectively serves your transformation aims, helping you maximize the impact of your initiatives.
With so many different moving parts, digital transformation projects require a rock-solid foundation from which to build - including a budget that accurately reflects the scale and complexity of the initiative, while remaining achievable and realistic.
However defining such a budget - not to mention getting it signed off - can be challenging. We’ve all heard the horror stories of projects going over budget, stalling, or even being abandoned altogether.
If you’re currently in the early stages of your digital transformation journey and want to avoid a similar fate, this post shares practical tips to put you on the right path from the start, covering some of the key considerations you’ll need to address to ensure your budget truly supports your organizational requirements and strategic goals.
8 tips for your digital transformation budget:
1. Involve everyone
You can’t involve everyone from across your organization in your budgeting process, and nor would you want to. However, where digital transformation is concerned it’s important to consider alternatives to those traditional budgeting approaches that have typically been managed on a departmental basis, with the financial director approving a high-level budget that is then distributed across the team.
These models simply aren’t viable today, when digital stretches across different departments, roles, and locations to touch all parts of the enterprise. Instead, the ubiquitous nature of digital calls for a collaborative approach that facilitates an overarching understanding of core business processes, to ensure that every element of these is factored into your budget. Without this holistic picture, you run the risk of creating bottlenecks that will draw investment down and away from the revenue-generating activities that matter.
2. Consider potential ‘hidden’ costs
Alongside the disparate requirements of the different business functions within your organization, there are almost certainly going to be additional areas that will need to be accommodated in your digital transformation budget. These can be easily overlooked, so be sure to undertake rigorous requirements gathering activities to uncover any supplementary demands.
For example, consider the following:
Infrastructure. How will your digital solutions be supported?
- Do you have any vital information/content that needs to be migrated from your existing systems?
- Is the investment required to meet relevant compliance and security standards?
- What skills and knowledge are needed to ensure your team can perform effectively?
- Change management. If your transformation is going to impact your processes, how will any necessary changes be rolled out?
… and not forgetting the costs associated with your requirements gathering activities themselves!
3. Create a shared vision
As mentioned in the introduction to this post, defining your budget is only part of the battle. You’ll also have to secure sign-off, meaning that those individuals in control of the purse strings need to be bought into your vision. It’s crucial therefore that you raise awareness of the need for - and benefits of - digital transformation at an early stage.
Even if you think this is already understood across your organization, it often isn’t the case. Indeed, as budgets are typically agreed in advance without any understanding of the complexity or dependencies involved it’s easy to assume a shared vision at the outset, only to find out further down the line that you don’t have the resources you need to move as quickly as you’d like, or achieve your desired results.
A dedicated ‘discovery’ phase can help you more clearly articulate your vision, and so communicate this to stakeholders - particularly if it includes the creation of low-fidelity deliverables such as prototypes and proofs of concept, which allow you demonstrate your ideas and objectives in a highly visual way, and provide increased confidence to help secure buy-in.
4. Demonstrate value
The key driver behind any digital transformation project should be to deliver value. If you focus solely on the features you want to be delivered without thinking about how they serve your overall vision, the project is unlikely to deliver the results you’re after. As you define your budget, then, think about the precise reasons why you want to undertake the work you’re planning.
This will not only help you justify your budget by providing specific examples of the benefits you aim to realize that you can reference - for example, streamlined processes, higher revenues, or a larger user base - but will provide a valuable baseline against which you can measure the success of your initiatives, and so inform any future programs of work and their associated budgets.
5. Facilitate agility
If you’re undertaking a digital transformation project, you’re no doubt very aware of the rapid rate of change being driven by technological advances and changing user behaviors. But is your budget also flexible and fluid enough to allow you to capitalize on new trends and market conditions in a timely fashion?
While many organizations have embraced more agile ways of working in their operational processes, the commercial elements of a project typically still follow more traditional approaches and areas such often focused on fixed cost, defined requirements, annual cycles, and allocated spend. It’s clear that a change in mindset is required to deliver the greatest possible value from your digital transformation initiatives - and the following tips explore in more detail some of the ways that this can be achieved.
6. Support change where required
While strict budget plans may offer high levels of predictability, they can seriously impact your ability to respond to change, and so leave you at risk of being overtaken in your digital transformation efforts by nimbler and leaner competitors. However, when introducing increased flexibility you’ll still need to provide the governance required by those allocating budget, who will be unlikely to want to relinquish control altogether.
One way to achieve a balance between these competing demands is to adopt a model that budgets for ‘epics’ (large, overarching projects) while moving the responsibility of more granular decisions away from budget holders towards those with a closer working knowledge of individual initiatives.
The very structure of your budgets can also be adapted, to give you a closer steer to reality. As the rate of change in the digital landscape continues to outpace traditional annual budget cycles, some organizations are choosing to plan two six-month budgets instead - increasing the frequency with which they can assess project deliverables and monitor the market for potential opportunities. This allows the budget to be more quickly reinvested in productive areas, and be halted where value isn’t being realized, to minimize waste and accelerate the rate of returns.
7. Allow for innovation
Another way of supporting change while still keeping budgets under control is to invest in dedicated ‘innovation’ projects. Offering the opportunity to try out new ideas on specific parts of the wider transformation piece, this kind of initiative allow you to prove the business case in a low-risk environment, and get a feel for the challenges and benefits associated with a project before committing significant resource.
You might also want to include a dedicated Research and Development (R&D) line in your budget, using this to explore various opportunities for innovation and disruption outside of the stricter frameworks and processes you may have in place elsewhere. By removing unnecessary overhead you can reap the rewards of increased velocity, and the first-mover status that often comes with this.
8. Keep it going!
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when budgeting for digital transformation is that it isn’t a single, distinct piece of work, but an on-going journey. While you likely won’t (and probably shouldn’t) try to capitalize on each new trend and technology that emerges, you will need to ensure your strategic roadmap aligns with the latest conditions and priorities, and have the necessary resources in place to execute this.
Adopting an iterative approach that encourages continuous improvement can prove extremely beneficial here. By focusing on regular deliveries and short feedback loops, this way of working will provide you with a model that’s ideally suited to the complex and evolutionary nature of digital transformation, which can then be adapted and extended beyond the initial launch to ensure you continue to deliver value at every stage of your journey.
source: smartinsights
COVID-19 sparked an unprecedented global health crisis around the world and ushered us to a ‘new normal’ way of working from home almost overnight. Not all companies were ready to adapt to this unexpected disruption, and business suffered. Many organisations faced massive structural changes and looked at alternative business strategies to sustain themselves through this global pandemic. But there is always an upside to every crisis – innovation leaders such as SAP have introduced innovative solutions specifically designed to help businesses in the post-COVID-19 global economy.
Winning in the new normal
We are a long way from business as usual these days, as many of us juggle work and home responsibilities, having video conferences interrupted by our kids, dogs barking and kitchen appliances whirring in the background. The way we live, work, play and consume has been turned upside down and most changes will not be reverted. According to a new study by Gartner, 74% of CFOs intend to permanently shift employees to remote working after the pandemic. We have been forced to embrace the new ‘future of work’ and we have quickly adapted to this change. But the question remains, how will businesses evolve? Many companies in the Middle East have already embraced the vast potential that a digital world makes possible. CIOs across the region have the vision and the appetite to accelerate digital transformations, tapping into technologies such as Cloud and AI to overcome the crisis we find ourselves in.
Indeed, countries in the Middle East, and particularly the GCC, were early adopters of cloud solutions, which has made it easier for them to quickly embrace the latest innovations. Last year a YouGov survey, conducted by SAP, showed that 88 percent of UAE companies increased their cloud spend in 2019, with 83 percent running partially or entirely on the cloud. It also found that 76 percent of IT decision-makers in the UAE agree that cloud is essential for integrating the benefits from Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, the Internet of Things, and blockchain.
Digitalisation enables new and improved processes and can help companies build resilience to reimagine their business post-COVID-19. In the coming months and years, organisations that can smartly integrate Artificial Intelligence with cloud, the Internet of Things and blockchain will see the biggest business benefit.
Customer experience, revisited
The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought about a renewed focus on enhancing citizen and customer experiences, especially as more services must be delivered remotely. Customer experience is especially important for industries such as banking and finance, retail, supply chain, logistics, and healthcare that need to transform how they engage with customers through digital platforms.
SAP recently held one of the largest technology events in the region, SAP NOW Middle East South, showcasing digital solutions specifically designed to help organisations navigate both the pitfalls and opportunities their business may face during the COVID-19 era and beyond. With over 2,300 registrations, and 600 visitors from the UAE, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and Libya, it set a new record for SAP virtual events.
The number of attendees and the level of engagement across different countries and industries were incredible. Executives in the Middle East have always realised the value of digital transformation. The current circumstances have only amplified the need to prioritise it.
SAP’s global flagship conference, SAPPHIRE NOW, was also reimagined to go virtual for the first time. The event usually draws huge crowds every year in Orlando, Florida. Today, technology has transformed this conference into a massive complete digital experience, with over one million views and 200.000 attendees: more than 5 times the reach of the previous on-site version. Attendees could experience innovation through both live and on-demand sessions hosted by SAP leaders, Customers and Partners, as well as guests from some of the world’s leading companies like Porsche and Chobani.
To match customer experience demand and further help companies’ resilience, SAP has opened access to SAP Ariba Discovery for real-time procurement between buyers and sellers to maintain the supply chain. SAP has also opened access to TripIt Pro from Concur to manage safe, easy and changing travel itineraries.
Together with our partners, SAP and Qualtrics continuously collaborate to provide resources to governments around the world as they battle the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. This includes access to resources such as COVID-19 Pre-Screening and Routing, Dynamic Call Center Script, Healthcare Workforce Pulse, and Critical Care Protocol Solution.
In Germany, in less than 50 days of development, together with Deutsche Telecom, SAP published the Corona Warning App downloaded by 8 million citizens in less than 2 days.
Re-evaluating the future of work
COVID-19 jolted organisations into remote working, also necessitating a re-evaluation of skills relevant to rapidly changing technology. An educated and skilled workforce positively impacts the overall development of the economy, making it critical to assess skills gaps accurately and provide the necessary training to fill them.
There is an immediate need to upskill the existing workforce with digital skills as the region continues to transform digitally. According to a recent report by strategy&, the GCC countries will need to fill more than 3 million digital jobs by 2025. Some employers have been encouraging employees to re-examine their skill set and participate in remote trainings and coaching programs. Post-crisis, organisations will likely continue the reskilling trend to develop a workforce with the capabilities needed to anticipate and manage the unexpected.
In this together
Relationships are built when times are good, but they are put to the test when times are tough. SAP lives by its purpose today more than ever: to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Customers and members of the community will not forget soon gestures of kindness and solidarity during these challenging times.
Considering the pandemic, for example, SAP recently launched TrackYourBed, a responsive, Web-based solution that indicates hospital bed availability in real-time. The company is currently exploring further investments in this and many other ventures as part of the SAP One Billion Lives initiative, a social intrapreneurship program that allows employees to use their skills to make a difference to their communities.
The COVID-19 outbreak has proven that companies can stand together for a common purpose, providing hope in a time of crisis, and opportunity in a time of change. The customer-first imperative must remain the building block for businesses across the region. Coupled with digitalisation, businesses truly have the power to reimagine the customer experience and capitalise on disruption to thrive in the new normal.
source: networkmiddleeast
لم تعد مسألة الانعكاس الشامل للتحول الرقمي على عالم الاعمال محطة للجدال، بل أصبحت أمر بديهياً بالنسبة للمشتغلين في السوق، فالتحول الرقمي يمكن ان يعكس جميع العلميات التي تستخدم التكنولوجيا الرقمية للاستجابات للمتغيرات في عالم الاعمال ومتطلبات السوق، وعليه فإنه يمكن الانطلاق طرح الأسئلة الآتية: ما هو بالتحديد الدافع الأساسي للشركات للتحول الرقمي؟ كيف يقوم رؤوس قسم المعلومات بقيادة الشركات لمبادرات التحول الرقمي على نطاق واسع؟ وماذا يمكن ان تعلمنا اتجاهات التحول الرقمي حول الكيفية التي يسير بها العالم بخطى متسارعة؟ يحاول التقرير الصادر عن "MuleSoft" الاجابة عن هذه الأسئلة عبر تحليله للاتجاهات السبعة للتحول الرقمي الذي سوف تشكل عام 2020 كما جاء في عنوان التقرير الذي سوف نعرض فيما يأتي اهم ما جاء فيه.
أولاً: تجربة المستهلك
باتت الشركات اليوم بحاجة الى حل مشكلات وتعقيدات تكنولوجيا المعلومات بهدف فتح الطريق لإيصال التجارب المخصصة لعملائهم الى الشركاء ومن الشركاء الى الموظفين ومنهم الى المطورين. أي وضع سلسلة مترابطة تبدأ بتجربة العملاء للخدمة/ المنتج المقدم من قبل الشركة لتمر عبر طرف ثالث، والمقصود به الشركات المختصة التي تقوم بجمع وتحليل بيانات تجربة العملاء، وتعيد تقديمها الى موظفي الشركة لتنتهي بمطوري الخدمة، وبهذه العملية فقط تستطيع الشركات الاستفادة من الخبرة التي تكتسبها بعد تعاملها لفترة ما مع الزبائن.
يرى التقرير ان "تجربة العملاء" تشكل جوهر عملية التحول الرقمي وليس من المستغرب ان يصل معدو التقرير الى هذه النتيجة فاستنادا الى البيانات التي يعرضها التقرير فإن 76% من المستخدمين يعتقدون بانه ينبغي على الشركات ان تفهم توقعاتهم واحتياجاتهم و75% منهم يفضلون التعامل مع شركات تعرف أسمائهم وتاريخ مشترياتهم وتقترح عليهم منتجات بناءً على تفضيلاتهم كما اشار 69% من المستهلكين بانهم سوف يضعون في الاعتبار تغيير مزودي الخدمات الذين لا يوفرون التجربة المستهلك، أي ان الشركات التي لا تعتمد على تجربة العملاء في عملها مهددة في المستقبل بخسارة حوالي الثلثين من حصتها السوقية لصالح شركات أخرى توفر خدمة تجربة العملاء، كما ان تطوير خدمة تجربة العملاء لتكون اكثر فعالية يشكل امر حاسماً بالنسبة للعملاء، إذ يعتقد 81% بان الشركات لا تقدم خدمة تجربة العملاء.
كما ابد 65% من المستهلكين رغبتهم باستخدام وسائل تواصل مع شركة غير تقليدية كخدمات المراسلة عبر "واتس آب" و"فيس بوك مسنجر" للتفاعل مع منظماتهم.
الملفت أيضا، بما يتعلق باستطلاع اراء المستهلكين حول تجربة العملاء، هو ميل جيل الألفية الى مشاركة بياناتهم الخاصة مقابل الحصول على خدمات تلاقي تفضيلاتهم الشخصية، حيث ابدا 61% من المستخدمين في الفئة العمرية ما بين (18-34) سنة رغبتهم في مشاركة بيانات عمليات الشراء مع طرف ثالث مقابل حصولهم على خدمات تلاقي تفضيلاتهم الشخصية.
كما ابدا 79% من جيل الألفية استعدادا أكثر للشراء من علامات تجارية تمكنهم من الحصول على خدمات عبر تطبيقات الهواتف المحمولة.
اما على صعيد عمل الشركات، فتشير البيانات بان 71% من صانعي القرارات في تكنولوجيا المعلومات يعتبرون نقل تجربة العملاء من أهم أهدافهم، كما أعرب 93% من قادة الاعمال بان نقل التجربة الموثوقة للعملاء سوف تكون امراً حاسماً لأداء أعمالهم في السنتين القادمتان من الان.
يقدم التقرير عدد من الأمثلة تجربة العملاء التي تم تطبيقها على ارض الواقع في قطاعات مختلفة، منها ما قدمته شركة Walmart التي حازت مؤخرًا على براءة اختراع لتقنية التسوق الافتراضي عبر استخدام سماعات وقفازات محملة بأجهزة الاستشعار للتفاعل مع متجر Walmart، وخدمة ""Online Store Stock التي قدمتها شركة GANT والتي تمنح العميل القدرة على البحث عن المنتجات المتوفرة في المتاجر القريبة منه.
يلتقي هذا النوع من التجارب مع رغبات العملاء في قطاع التجارة التجزئة إذ قال 60٪ من المستهلكين بأنهم يفضلون التسوق من خلال امتلاك "أمازون جو" ، حيث يمكن للمستهلكين شراء البضائع في المتجر دون الحاجة الى الخروج والتعامل مع أمناء الصندوق.
بطبيعة الاحول لا تنحصر رغبات المستخدمين في عملية التحول الرقمي وتجربة العملاء في القطاع الخاصة بل تمتد الى الاعمال الحكومية بل تعد الرقمنة، كما أشار التقرير" مفتاح مشاركة المستخدمين مع الخدمات الحكومية" حيث أبد 51% من المستخدمين رغبتهم بزيادة استخدام االخدمات الحكومية إذ استطاعوا الوصول إليها عبر بوابة إلكترونية.
و49% منهم يريدون أن يكونوا قادرين على ذلك تسديد المدفوعات للحكومة والوكالات التابعة لها عبر الإنترنت.
ثانياً: الأعمال القائمة على البيانات
يعد فتح وتحليل البيانات جوهر العمل بحسب معدي التقرير إذ بلغ 83% من صناع القرار في قسم تكنولوجيا المعلومات ان البيانات المجمعة تعتبر تحدياً لأعمال شركاتهم، كما قال 55% منهم بان شركاتهم تخطط للاستثمار في البيانات الضخمة/التحليل البيانات.
تهدف الشركات من خلال الاستثمارات في البيانات الضخمة وتحليل البيانات الى تحقيق ثلاثة غايات وهي: تحسين خدمة العملاء، تبسيط العمليات، تسريع عملية الابتكار.
فمن خلال استخدام البيانات وتحليلها اطلقت "لين كروفورد" تطبيق الهواتف الذكية لزيادة تفاعل العملاء، حيث يسمح هذا التطبيق للمستخدمين الجدد بالتسوق الفوري، وعرض معلومات المنتج وتحديث معلومات الحساب، وتلقي إشعارات حالة الطلب أثناء التنقل.
ثالثاً: الذكاء الاصطناعي والتعلم الآلي
تعمل المنظمات بشكل متزايد على الاستثمارات في قدرات الذكاء الاصطناعي لتسريع وتخصيص خدمة العملاء، تقليل التحيز البشرية، وزيادة الإنتاجية. فقد أثبتت الذكاء الاصطناعي بانه أداة قوية لتخصيص تجربة العملاء ، والحد من التحيز البشري ، وأتمتة المهام، فمن جهة إضفاء الطابع الشخصي على تجربة العملاء فيعتبر التحول الأكبر والاهم في مستقبل خدمة العملاء هو استخدام التنبؤات المتطورة التي تدفعها القرارات المتخذة من خلال تجربة العملاء.
ولجهة الحد من التحيزات البشرية فستسمح تقنيات الذكاء الاصطناعي والتعلم الآلي وكذلك المعالجة اللغوية، للشركات بتحديد الأنماط، والاتجاهات والتحيزات قبل أن تصبح مشكلة.
تشير البيانات الواردة في التقرير على تعويل الشركات على الذكاء الاصطناعي المعزز في تحسين الإنتاجية إذ تظهر الاستطلاع عن نية الشركات بأتمتمة 40% من المهام العملية.
كما ان 25% من عمليات خدمة الاستجابة للعملاء سوف تستخدم وكيل افتراضي مساعد في عام 2020.
يظهر التقديم في مجال الاستثمار في الذكاء الاصطناعي للشركات عبر إجاباتهم عن السؤال الذي طرحه عليهم معدو التقرير حول أنواع تكنولوجيا الذكاء الاصطناعي الي تم نشرها في مؤسساتهم؟ فجاءت كالآتي: 39% من قالوا بان شركاتهم تستخدم تقنية الوكيل الافتراضي/ Chatbots (روبوتات الدردشة) فيما أجاب 53% بأتمتة المهام الأساسية، و56% البريد الإلكتروني.
تعد تجربة تطبيق WienBot الذي أطلقته مدينة فيينا من ابرز تطبيقات "روبوتات الدردشة" الرائدة في مجال الخدمات العامة لمساعدة المواطنين في العثور على مواقف للسيارات والاستراحات والمعلومات أخرى كما يجيب على مجموعة من الأسئلة وهو قابل للتطوير الذاتي عبر التعلم المستمر من خلال تفاعله مع تجربة العملاء.
بعيدا عن استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي في مجال خدمة العملاء فانه استخداماته في المجالات الطبية والزراعية والصناعي اكثر شيوعا وتقدما فالروبوتات والطائرات بدون طيار باتت تنتشر بالفعل في الزراعة لتقييم الجفاف والوباء، وكذلك المساعدة في شحنات الطوارئ والإنقاذ والحوادث وتقييم أضرار الكوارث والنفط والغاز والتنقيب عن الطاقة، وغيرها الكثير من الاستخدامات العملية التي تحقق كفاءة عالية وتخفض من مخاطر الإصابات بين العاملين.
اما في المجال الطبي فقد أصبحت الروبوتات الجراحية تتواجد في غرف العمليات كـ "مساعدين" للأطباء ويأتي هذا الانتشار بعد التوسع الكبير في عملية الإنتاج لهذا النوع من الروبوتات وانتشار استخدامها في المستشفيات الامر الذي أدى الى تحسن تقنيتها وانخفاض تكلفتها.
اتخاذ القرار عبر تحليل الخوارزميات يعد أيضا من المجالات الرائدة في استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي وتعتبر مؤسسة" "ZestFinance للائتمان من المؤسسات الرائد في هذا المجال والتي تستخدم الذكاء الاصطناعي في حلول نمذجة ومحاكات المخاطر للآلاف من المتغيرات للحصول على رؤية اعمق للتخفيف من مخاطر الائتمان ومعرفة المقترضين ذوي الجدارة الائتمانية.
رابعاً: الحوسبة السحابية المتعددة
تعتمد معظم الشركات الكبيرة (أكثر من ألف موظف) على نظم الحوسبة السحابية في عمليات التخزين، حيث يعتمد 84% منهم على الحوسبة السحابية المتعددة، و10% منهم على الحوسبة السحابية الأحادية العامة، و3% منهم فقط على الحوسبة السحابية الأحادية الخاصة، فيما 3% فقط لا يخططون للعمل وفقط نظم الحوسبة السحابية، كما أشار 58% ممن يستخدمون الحوسبة السحابية المتعددة ان يعتمدون على نظام سحابي هجين، و17% على نظام سحابي متعدد عام عام، و9% على نظام سحابي متعدد خاص، وهنا يثار سؤال عن الاختلاف في تفضيلات الأنظمة سحابية المستخدمة من قبل الشركات، وهو ما طرحه التقرير بالفعل، وكانت الإجابات تتركز حول الملائمة لنظام عمل الشركة، خاصة فيما يتعلق بالأنظمة السحابية المتعددة، فحسب المستجيبين لا يمكن لنظام سحابي واحد ان يلاقي جميع احتياجات الشركة.
على الرغم من الفوائد الجمة التي تحصدها الشركات من خلال اعتماد الحوسبة السحابية، لكنها تواجه مجموعة من التحديات الكبيرة لاسيما عندما يكون الحديث عن نظم الحوسبة السحابية المتعددة. يرصد التقرير اهم هذه التحديات التي عبرت عنها الشركات، والتي جاء في مقدمتها التعقيد بنسبة 79% و55% ترحيل التطبيقات، و42% في إدارة التكاليف، فيما قال18% منهم بانهم لا يواجهن أي تحديات في استخدام الحوسبة السحابية المتعددة.
خامساً: الشراكة مع تكنولوجيا المعلومات تعزز الأعمال
تضع المنظمات تكنولوجيا المعلومات كعامل تمكين أساسي للأعمال، لذلك فإن كفاءة تكنولوجيا المعلومات أمر حاسم لنجاح مبادرات التحول الرقمي.
تتركز الأهداف الرئيسية لمبادرات التحول الرقمي في المؤسسات حول الأمان وتحليل البيانات وانترنت الأشياء والحوسبة السحابية المتعددة والذكاء الاصطناعي كما جاء في بيانات استطلاع الرأي التي يعرضها التقرير.
سادساً: المشاركة في خلق القيمة مع أصحاب المصلحة الخارجيين
عندما تهبط الأسواق بسبب تقنيات جديدة او دخول منافسين جدد، غالبا ما تكون الشركات القديمة غير مستعدة لتطوير منتجات وخدمات جديدة، لذلك تلجأ إلى عقد شراكات مع أصحاب المصلحة الخارجيين، فبفضل هذه الشركات تخلق الشركات شبكة بيئية تعاونية مع أصحاب المصلحة الخارجيين.
لا يعود النفعة من هذه الشراكة للشركات لجهة قدرتهم لمواكبات تطورات السوق واطلاق وتطوير منتجات جديدة فقط بل تعود بالنفع أيضا على المستخدمين الذين يتمكنون من الحصول على عدد متنوع من الخدمات ومن شركات مختلفة عبر تطبيقات الهواتف الذكية او المنصات على شبكة الانترنت.
ومثال ذلك تحاول شركة Uber استثمره باستمرار عبر اطلاق خدمات جديدة عبر التطبيق المستخدم في خدمات التوصيل الخاص بها، كخدمة توصيل الطعام " Uber Eats" و"Uber "pass المخصص لعملاء أمازون فقط، أكبر موقع إلكتروني للتسوق، والذي يحقق الفائدة لكلا الشركتان عبر جمع المزيد من المعلومات حول تجربة العملاء، وتحقيق إيرادات اكبر من خلال حصر الخدمة بمستخدمي امازون.
سابعاً: تعزيز أداء الاعمال باستخدامات واجهات التطبيقات البرمجية
يعزز استخدام واجهات التطبيقات من أداء الاعمال عبر زيادة الإنتاجية ونمو الإيرادات وإتاحة مساحة أكبر للابتكار، وباللغة الأرقام تظهر الاستفادة من استخدام واجهات التطبيقات، وطبقاً للبيانات التي ابلغ عنها المستجيبون للاستطلاع الذي يستخدمون واجهات التطبيقات البرمجية، ما يلي، 53% من المستجيبين قالوا بان الإنتاجية قد زادت بنسبة 53%، 46% زيادة في الابتكار، 40% زيادة في مشاركة الموظفين وتعاونهم، 33% مرونة أكبر لفرق خدمات تكنولوجيا المعلومات، 30% انخفاض في التكاليف التشغيلية، 29% نمو في الإيرادات.
في الختام يمكن الخروج من العرض الموجز لهذا التقرير الهام بنتيجتان أولاً: ان التحول الرقمي في أعمال الشركات ليس مجرد سباق تتنافس من خلاله الشركات على مواكبة موجة عابرة لاستخدام الابتكارات الحديثة في الأعمال، بل ان التحول الرقمي يعمل على رفع كفاءة الاعمال وزيادة الإنتاجية والنمو في الإيرادات وخفض التكاليف، والمنافس مع شركات اعتمدت التحول الرقمي كتوجه عام في اعمالها هي خاسرة بالضرورة، فلا يمكن الصمود امام منافسين استطاعوا التخفيض من تكاليفهم وزيادة إنتاجية أعمالهم ورفع كفاءته، وهو بطبيعة الأحوال هدف أساسي لكل شركة تعمل على زيادة حصتها السوقية. ثانياً: ان التفضيلات الاستهلاكية للعملاء لم تعد قاصرة على تقديم الخدمة/المنتج بأسلوب مبسط وسهل ويعتمد على التكنولوجيا الحديثة، بل اصبح العملاء يطمحون للحصول على تجارب تلاقي تفضيلاتهم الشخصية.
We have evolved from the era of standalone devices, drugs and surgery. Bio-absorbent stents, connected pumps, capsule endoscope, digital stethoscopes amongst others are innovations of the last decade.
The buzz words in the industry today are artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual care (VC), electronic intensive care unit (eICU), robotics, blockchain, data monetization, digital transformation etc. It is no longer just quality of care, but efficiency of “care and costs” that is key to disruption.
In the Middle East, we have seen adoption of various technologies in the last decade.
Robotic Surgery was launched in 2003, closely followed by adoption of various digital platforms and artificial intelligence tools in the latter half of the last decade. So far, we have only witnessed introduction of technology in the region.
The required penetration that is needed to transform care is yet to be seen. The region has focused more on investing in building infrastructure and setting up equipment in hospitals in the last decade.
The optimum utilization of this equipment, necessary training requirements for clinicians and affordability for patients etc., were not focus areas.
This led to lower utilization and lower return on investment. However, during the latter part of the last decade, there was increased focus on training clinicians, adopting products that address efficiency requirements for disease and patient management.
Hence, we anticipate that countries would leverage the benefits of digital transformation in healthcare with increased savings, reduced expenditure and better quality of life for patients.
The 2020s would be the decade for transformation. With 44+ surgical robots installed so far, it would be appropriate to say that robotic surgery has just dawned.
The region witnessed 3-fold increase in volumes of robotic surgery from 2010 to 2019. The launch of Saudi Vision 2030 and the goals of UAE Centennial 2071, have enabled adoption and utilisation of these new age solutions.
The launch of haptic gloves, micro-robot cameras, new products beyond the da Vinci Surgical System has further strengthened transformation.
Until 2017, 90 per cent of the robotic-assisted surgeries were only being conducted for urology; today, surgeons are open to utilizing these robots to conduct procedures on patients with issues of obesity, oncology, orthopaedics, etc.
Robotic surgery assures highest quality of care as it reduces complication risks to 1-4% and increases speed of recovery (ALOS - average length of stay - reduced to less than 3 days on average). This is resulting in patients and surgeons wanting to benefit more from these technologies.
Frost & Sullivan estimates that by 2025, the region will witness 12 per cent growth rate in sales of surgical robots and higher double-digit growth rate in volume of robotic surgical procedures conducted across specialties with more focus on bariatric and orthopaedic procedures.
AI in healthcare in the Middle East has been driven by customised platforms, solutions for varied care settings across countries. The AI adoption in the region has been driven by government initiatives. The focus has been more on diagnosis, prevention and monitoring than treatment.
The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) partnership with Agfa Healthcare care in 2018 to utilise the chest x-ray screening programme AI algorithm was a great success, as it ensured 95 percent accuracy in identification of tuberculosis and resulted in 28 percent reduction in screening time, thereby improving both clinical and operational efficiency.
The launch of AI Lab by Abu Dhabi Department of Health in 2019 is the first-of–its-kind initiative in the region to develop and leverage AI, blockchain, predictive analytics and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) amongst others to transform healthcare. AI is likely to be an integral part of the daily activities of at least 3 million GCC patients by 2023.
Digital Transformation is not always clinically driven. The “Smart Pharmacy” solution in the Middle East is one such solution that reduces errors, increases efficiency and improves patient happiness. The newly launched automation robot solution can support storage for 35,000 drugs, prepare 12 prescriptions in less than a minute and dispense around 8,000 medicines in an hour.
DHA states that the pharmacies have helped reduce average processing time from 22.5 minutes in 2016 to 7.9 minutes in 2018 and increased outpatient satisfaction rate from 69 percent in 2016 to 94 percent in 2018 during the same period.
It is interesting to see new start-ups in the region focusing on developing these digital tools. This enables better adoption as solutions are customised to both cultural and business requirements in the region.
Surveys conducted in the region by various organisations like you.gov have revealed that more than 65 percent of clinicians and patients believed that digital and new age solutions would transform care and their lives and were willing to adopt these solutions.
However, only 37 percent of them believed that business (including infrastructure and processes) is ready for adoption, an aspect being mitigated by government initiatives to enable digital transformation.
Frost & Sullivan estimates the adoption and utilisation of digital and robotic tools in healthcare would account for USD 20 billion in the Middle East by 2023.
It is estimated 60 percent of the countries in the region have some form of framework for digital transformation in healthcare. KSA and UAE would lead the way for this transformation with increased utilisation.
source: investinabudhabi
Code41, A Swiss start-up in the watch industry, in the footsteps of Nicolas Hayek? Interview with Mr. Claudio D’Amore, founder of CODE41
02 Apr 2020 Written by Admin SAE
History of CODE41
CODE41 is a new brand in the Swiss watch industry. What sets it apart? Its community aspect. Its objective is to bring together enthusiasts with brilliant ideas and to take those imaginative designs from concept to fruition. Each supporter of the brand becomes a valuable member of the project.
Its founder, Claudio D’Amore, has worked for the biggest watch brands, such as Tag Heuer and Montblanc. In 2016, he founded CODE41 based on a policy of total transparency relating to the origin, costs and development of watches. Today, the company has managed to amass a community of over 300,000 members.
Swiss Arab Entrepreneurs participated in one of these community events to discover the latest CODE41 watch, the DAY41.
Swiss Arab Entrepreneurs (SAE): CODE41, a Swiss start-up in the watch industry, "a Swiss watch" in the footsteps of Nicolas Hayek of the 80s?
Claudio D’Amore: CODE41 is a Swiss watch brand that was launched just 3 years ago. It’s one of the up and coming brands, and it has been generating a lot of buzz in recent years.
SAE: Why this name, CODE41?
Claudio D’Amore: +41 is the country code for Switzerland and, in computer science, CODE 41 is a system error. We liked that analogy, since our project represents an anomaly in the Swiss watch system, so we ran with it.
SAE: Can you tell us about your professional and entrepreneurial journey?
Claudio D’Amore: I initially studied design and I have created many furniture and accessory pieces over the course of my career. But watchmaking has always fascinated me, and I’ve now decided to concentrate on this sector. In the first instance, I created my own design workshop where I had 3 employees working alongside me. Here, we carried out work for around forty different watch brands. But I was always interested in going through the experience of creating and establishing my own brand, from the first steps to the last.
SAE: How did you get the idea to create CODE41?
Claudio D’Amore: Basically, I am a watch designer, but the desire to launch my own watch brand steadily began to intensify, year upon year. Yet it never seemed the right time to go it alone with my own brand (economic situation, saturated market, etc.). However, at the beginning of 2016, in a contextual watchmaking crisis, where every watch suffered from an overly rigid and conservative approach, I told myself that it was time to shake up the established rules while taking advantage of the revolution started by the internet. And so, the CODE41 project was born.
SAE: In three years, succeeding in launching a successful watch and conquering watchmaking companies that are well established in the Swiss economic landscape, is not it an easy mission? What are your tools / secrets for success?
Claudio D’Amore: Believe in your ideas, have a vision, do not look back, market research does not allow you to innovate, you have to create unique products by thinking outside the box.
SAE: Your business model and your marketing strategy?
Claudio D’Amore: We share all stages of watch development with a community of enthusiasts by being completely transparent. We contact our consumers directly and sell the watches upfront before turning our attention to producing them.
SAE: Your success is linked to the fact that you had a media echo, or the support you get from your fans on social networks ... etc?
Claudio D’Amore: IIt’s all about our community, we rely a lot on word of mouth. The press is important too, but they will only cover your story if you have interesting things to say. That’s why we have to continually innovate.
SAE: To cross the wall of silence and publicize your project, you have embarked on a daring communication which denounced the label "Swiss made". Can you tell us about this label please, what does it mean?
Claudio D’Amore: This desire for transparency stems from my own personal feelings. As a consumer, I like to understand what I buy, who is behind it, and how it is made. The day I discovered that a so-called “Swiss Made” watch could have almost all of its components from Asia, I felt betrayed and it’s not the kind of feeling that I want any of my customers to experience.
Some have called our approach to transparency revolutionary. But in reality, we are simply reconstituting what a customer-brand relationship should be: a clear explanation of our process, without distortion or hyperbole. I think that this approach pays off in the medium and long term because the customer is never fooled. With our company, they have the opportunity to learn, compare, and pass comment before buying.
SAE: Aren't you likely to have counter attacks?
Claudio D’Amore: We are totally transparent. We have nothing to hide. We are not afraid of attacks just because competitors prefer not to make noise around the true meaning of a Swiss Made designation.
SAE: You put a lot of community spirit into developing your project, and you managed to attract fans and detractors very quickly. This community is currently made up of 300,000 members who share the values of CODE41. Can you tell us about your fans? Who are your clients?
Claudio D’Amore: These are mainly men between 35 and 50 years old, who are already fans of watchmaking and often have more than 3 watches. They find, through our project, a way to advance their passion even further. They become an agitator, giving their opinion, participating in the design process, and ultimately wearing a watch that they proudly co-created.
SAE: You offer a price that is three or four times cheaper than the big brands, how do you get there?
Claudio D’Amore: We simply removed some intermediaries by selling directly to the end customer. Additionally, we do not utilize marketing positioning, we just apply a fixed multiplier to the production price, and that’s it.
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SAE: You talk about the hidden costs in traditional industry. Can you tell us a little bit more?
Claudio D’Amore: The price of a watch is generally established by estimating its perceived value, in other words, how much someone is willing to pay for it. For luxury items, the price is often pushed up because it is deemed to be a sign of quality. For our part, we explain the costs of each component and apply a multiplier that allows us to make the project profitable.
SAE: Can you please tell us about the different types of watches that you offer to your customers?
Claudio D’Amore: We only have mechanical movements, because that is what we think is the most magical. We have either standard movement, mass-produced (which has the advantage of being inexpensive), or manufactured movements such as our very own X41. These specific movements are a result of watchmaking excellence. They are produced in small batches, assembled by hand, and have special features like the peripheral mass.
SAE: Do you have offers for female customers and young people?
Claudio D’Amore: At the request of our community, we launched our women's project, DAY41, whereby women had the sole right to vote. The result demonstrates that women really appreciate mechanical watches just as much as their male counterparts.
SAE: What are the biggest challenges for your project?
Claudio D’Amore: We have to strengthen our market share over the course of the next decade since, for watchmaking in particular, most people rely only on the big established brands. As a relatively new brand we must prove that we can deliver beautiful watchmaking without having a century-old history behind us.
SAE: Can you tell us about the Chinese competition?
Claudio D’Amore: We are not affected by Chinese competition.
SAE: Do you use direct online distribution? Is this your secret weapon of success, can you tell us more about it?
Claudio D’Amore: Being in direct contact with the client is indeed a powerful weapon, but our most effective tool is the creation and proposal of new ideas. We will soon be working with retailers in order to expand our reach.
SAE: What advice do you give for choosing a watch? How can we buy your watches?
Claudio D’Amore: In watches there are many aspects to consider. But for me, real watchmaking is defined by mechanical movements as opposed to electronic. The X41 watch that we launched a few months ago represents what I like most in watchmaking. It has a unique movement, made 100% in Switzerland exclusively for us along with special features (such as the peripheral mass) which is controlled only by a few brands. Our watches are available for sale only on our web site.
SAE: Are you ready to hear the ideas of your potential customers? like for example making a high-end watch with the Hijri months - Arabic calendar? Or if not a design inspired by Arab culture?
Claudio D’Amore: Our project is based solely on listening to our customers. All the projects we launch are voted for by the community. We propose various different projects and develop the one that secures the most votes.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are sure to have heard of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): it is the current buzzword, and every technology company worth its salt talks about how AI is going to transform everything.
The strange thing is that most business leaders, especially in consumer businesses, claim to be excited about AI, but they will be hard-pressed to give a tangible example of how AI has been used in their business, or what difference it has made to business performance.
So, is this all just hype, or is there some real impact that AI is going to have on businesses? If you think about your everyday life, it is almost certain that AI-based technologies are an integral part of your everyday experience.
See content and posts that you like on social media? Powered by AI algorithms.
Talk to your smartphone assistant to search for answers, or set a reminder? AI again. Order food on a food aggregator app, and chat with customer support? You’re likely talking to a machine for the first few minutes.
If you watched the latest Google I/O, you’d have seen the new Duplex AI, where it can have whole conversations with real humans, and do things like book appointments for you.
AI is slowly but surely transforming the way consumers experience the world by allowing for personalized and easy experiences.
The algorithms are able to gobble up the vast amounts of data created every second, and use it to predict and take decisions on what is most likely to be relevant and appeal to different people.
This is leading to consumers increasingly living in an “easyverse,” an easy universe of connected and seamless experiences.
What’s more, AI and ML gets better at its job as it learns from data and interactions.
For any business to survive, being able to be part of this easyverse, and provide consumers with the experience they have come to expect is critical. To be able to compete, deploying AI is going to be mission critical.
So, what are the areas where AI is likely to have maximal impact in the short-term? While there are several long-term bets being made, from self-driving cars to cyborg technology or robots as friends, here are a few of the tangible competitive advantages consumer businesses should be looking for immediately.
1. Quicker, better insights
Say a business wants to know why sales are down the previous week. The traditional way would have taken a team of analysts a few days to come up with answers, and the accuracy of these answers would be limited by what questions have been asked. With AI, tens of thousands of questions can be processed, and the impact of these factors on the business can be assessed in mere seconds.
It can throw up surprising insights on what action is likely to have most impact on the business. This can be an incredible advantage in a fast moving and evolving environment.
2. Personalized and connected experiences
AI can learn from your consumer’s behavior, and make predictions of what they may like.
This allows for the most relevant products and recommendations to be served up.
In various studies, it has been proven that personalization improves conversion by as much as 30%-50%. Think big marketplaces like Amazon, where each customer sees a different set of products and recommendations based on what is most relevant.
This is now easily possible on your brand website!
3. Better, 24x7 customer service
Deploying AI as chatbots and using natural language processing algorithms as call agents means that they can do a credible job of handling and resolving the vast majority of routine queries that typically hit customer service centers. This allows for quicker resolution, 24x7 service, lower cost and, of course, happier customers!
4. Automation, personalization of campaigns, and marketing ROI
Marketing is typically an area with a lot of spend and where it is difficult to keep track of return on investment (ROI).
As American marketer John Wanamaker famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” With AI tools, it is now possible to manage campaigns on an individual level, with each consumer being put on their personalized lifecycle, with messaging that is almost unique, tailored to their unique behavior and needs.
It is also possible to track thousands of signals across the marketing lifecycle, both in traditional and digital media to continually optimize the marketing mix and improve sales performance and marketing ROI. Indeed, the holy grail for any marketer!
5. New powerful streams of data from offline stores
The past decade has been a story of online marketplaces and e-commerce stealing consumers away from offline retail.
While convenience and easy experiences are an important factor, with the advent of omni-channel retail, offline retailers are able to hold their own and, in fact, have an edge in providing consumers with a great experience.
A big gap however, continues to be the amount of data available, and how it can be used to create personalized experiences, and to optimize the business. In the online world, you know who is visiting the mobile site or app, what they are looking at, how much time they are spending, and so on and so forth. This was typically information that was just not available offline.
Now with AI tools including computer vision and natural language processing, it is possible to anonymize and track visitors to store, generate style profiles, track trends, identify hot zones and in effect create an offline clickstream.
This data can have profound impact on the consumer experience and business results- with sales impact of upwards of 10%!
These are just a few of the key areas where every consumer business should be looking to deploy AI-powered solutions so as to be able to win with their consumers.
There are several reasons as to why, a lot of businesses are not able to make meaningful progress in driving digital transformation that delivers results, let alone deploying AI within the business; but that is a conversation for another time!
source: entrepreneur
