The world of enterprise software is smack in the middle of disruption. The rapid advancement of technology, mobile devices, and the development of faster internet connectivity is driving transformation across myriad industries. Monopolies in the tech sector are losing their footing as any company with the right digital strategy can enjoy market share. Artificial Intelligence (AI), a buzzword that you may come across often if you are associated with a software solution company. The impact of AI on enterprise software is relatively vague as AI technologies are nascent and have to be developed more before they could be included in the enterprise world.
With AI slowly but surely making its way into our daily lives with products such as SIRI or Alexa for instance, this article outlines a few ways in which the technology could impact and transform traditional enterprise software. Despite increasing fears of AI taking over human jobs, businesses are showing great interest in using AI technologies to gain a competitive advantage.
The Role of AI in Marketing
Data-driven insights can help marketing teams take the customer experience to the next level. Unlike a purely statistical approach, AI systems learn. This means the system is able to highlight to adapt and analyse consumer behavior, this can immensely aid decision making, provide deeper customer insights, and facilitate predictive analysis. This could help marketing teams significantly reduce costs by building better products and selling to highly targeted groups of potential customers. AI systems help businesses respond to changing consumer behavior through trend analysis.
Virtual Assistants
Businesses are showing great interest in the deployment of chatbots for customer assistance. There is a certain degree of doubt on machine-human interaction when it comes to customer service but there is potential if human operators use AI to provide customer service. For example, AI could be used to answer simple questions such as the price of a product and the human operator could focus on dealing with more complex problems.
Business Workflow Automation
AI is being used to automate repetitive cognitive tasks. A number of AI-powered machines are being developed in the automobile sector and are being used presently in the automobile sector. Experts predict that it is only a matter of a few years until AI robots make their way into industries like retail, hospitality, and finance. Simple tasks being automated gives employers the opportunity to use human operators for more complex tasks, this is an important benefit AI provides in addition to the fact that they can work round-the-clock.
Making use of Unstructured Data
Large enterprises produce large volumes of data. It is no easy task to capture or store this data let alone analyse them to derive insights. These large volumes of data that is not being utilized is called unstructured data. Traditional enterprise systems do not have the ability to efficaciously analyze data to aid decision making. AI technologies, however, could be used to tap into this valuable resource. This could be a game-changer for most online businesses.
Improve the Sales Process
The sales process has changed dramatically over the past five years. Gone are the days where simple cold calling and email marketing were good enough to make a sale. Consumers are exposed to different media from TV to social media and smart devices. The best tactic to make a sale in the current era would be to reach the customer at the right time and place with tailored solutions. AI could be used with customer relationship management (CRM) software, for instance, this will help the sales team get to know the customer and their preferences better thus increasing the possibility of making a conversion.
Incorporating AI into enterprise software can potentially help SMEs gain a competitive edge. Robots in manufacturing plants, self-driving cars, and personal assistants are being utilized to great effect in the current business environment. Data-driven decision making through AI technologies can help businesses of any size and scale to achieve optimum growth.
