In an all-digital world businesses need to adapt quickly to decentralized teams and changing customer behaviors.
As flexible work continues and customer expectations continue to rise, artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful ally in delivering successful customer and employee experience strategies. On one hand, this technology allows employees to be more productive in an all-digital, work-from-anywhere world and on the other, it frees up employees from repetitive processes, enabling them to slow down and focus on customers with empathy where they need it most. The International Data Corp (IDC) predicts that global spending on AI will double over the next four years – reaching $110 billion in 2024 (up from $50 billion in 2020). AI is helping us to save time and boost productivity, freeing employees from repetitive work. With automation and AI – “intelligent automation” – we can solve numerous problems that neither companies or these technologies can tackle on their own. In an all-digital world businesses need to adapt quickly to decentralized teams and changing customer behaviors. Where meal delivery services, for example, during the pandemic faced a significant rise in case volume, with AI-powered chatbots they managed to scale their customer services, helping customers track their orders, report issues and receive credits or refunds. When entire workforces shifted to working from home, AI-powered recommendations helped IT departments support requests from teams, like requesting new equipment. Efficiently analyzing historical data allows IT teams to predict which type of equipment to deploy based on a user’s parameters and needs. By using an automated workflow, items can be quickly shipped while the inventory system is updated. AI is also giving businesses a competitive advantage. Take service teams, for instance. With the ability to see insights, key moments and trends highlighted in conversational and chat data, they’re better able to understand common and repetitive issues. In real-time, customer service agents can see suggested next best actions to facilitate solutions faster, and leaders can better understand trending areas that can be better handled by self-service articles or bots. For example, agents may be overwhelmed by address or billing change requests, so a team can decide to publish a self-service article or create a bot to handle these time consuming but simple issues. Integrating insights into action saves teams time and helps them make better decisions.
