No one wants to learn how to use new software, and yet at latest count there are over 5,300 software as a service products in marketing technology alone!
The average business uses 16 different software products (think Salesforce, Hubspot, Hootsuit, Leadpages, Mailchimp, Wordpress, and so many others). And while many of them share data with each other, we often feel like we’re working for our software and not the other way around.
Big data further complicates all of this as there is simply too much of it. Unless you are a trained data scientist using a data wrangling product from a company like Trifacta, its no wonder most people feel overwhelmed by the amount of data they have access to and are expected to make “data driven” decisions in real-time.
Enter Artificial IntelligenceDespite the frequently debunked job-killing robot myth, the growing trend is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in software to better understand what’s really going on inside your company. And according to a report from Accenture, AI could boost productivity by up to 40 percent. Another report estimates that by 2020, more than 85 percent of customer interactions will be handled by AI.
In the past 10 years, for example, Conversica's AI has been used by more than 17,000 sales reps worldwide and helped create more than $10 billion in sales revenue. That’s because with AI, you are able to reach out to all those Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and verify if they are truly Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). The success of Conversica's AI is based on the 4 P’s. It is prompt, personal, and persistent while optimizing for performance.
Raz Choudhury is the Founder and CEO of SAM, the first sales and marketing platform developed with AI from the ground up. “With the advent of big data and AI, SAM has built a platform that understands your role in the company and helps you make better data-driven decisions” say Raz.
That sounds nice, but what does it really mean to have AI “understand your role” in your company?
“I believe that the next phase of business growth is about curated data,” says Choudhury. “Today, there is no shortage of data or even dashboards. But deciphering that data and making sense of it is difficult (if not impossible) for the average business professional. Specific branches of AI including Natural Language Processing and expert systems curate the data as if you had your own data scientist guiding you through the most difficult business decisions.”
After all, isn’t that what the promise of great software was really all about? Assuming you have access to all sorts of data, the theory goes that you should be able to interpret the data and have a level of intelligence that helps you make better decisions. The problem is, when there’s simply too much data for the average person to process, you end up with paralysis rather than real-time decision-making.
Making Big Data Actionable
How many times has someone pulled up Google Analytics in order to “prove a point”? Often, it feels like most people are starting with a gut feeling and looking for data to support their idea, rather than having a complete picture of what’s really going on and what to do about it. With “selective” big data, you can run the risk of justifying inaccurate decisions as you only show a thin slice of the full story.
With AI, however, machines are able to learn from massive amounts of data and recommend the appropriate course of action. From predicting how your organic search rankings will do to sales projections, AI provides real-time insights that you can act on rather than justify a gut feeling.
“From the CEO to the most junior person on the team, your ability to make data-driven decisions is a key component to your success,” Choudhury explains. “Powered by AI, SAM makes big data understandable and actionable.”
Leapfrogging Ahead in MarTech
In the same way China and India decided to skip legacy copper wire phone lines in favor of the latest mobile and fiber optic technology, todays companies have a choice to leapfrog a patchwork quilt of 16 disparate software solutions for a single platform built from the ground up with artificial intelligence. AI-based software is no longer the future, but the present.
Those who chose to take advantage of AI-based platforms such as SAM, will spend a lot less time learning how to use software and a lot more time taking the recommended actions needed to grow and prosper. Isn’t it time we stopped working for our machines? The future of software will be more human because AI will empower us to simply ask questions and get insights – instantly.
Just as Siri changed how you interact with your iPhone and Alexa is changing how we engage with the vast amount of Amazon services, so too will AI play a larger role in where you spend your time inside your company on a day-to-day basis. As software becomes more human, we will be freed up from the mundane tasks and empowered to do the things that really matter. As software becomes more human, so too will our ability to extract the value out of the investments we’ve made.
