The Rise of Machines - AI disruption that no one's noticed !!!

AI-powered digital assistants from the tech leaders such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Samsung are becoming smarter with each passing day, a trend that will only accelerate going forward. It is the same set of powerful players who are also at the forefront of driving AI-infused chat-bots. The new-gen bots are leveraging AI capabilities such as machine learning and natural language processing to return far more accurate, relevant results than ever before, ushering in a new era of interactive and personalized consumer engagement.

However, These bots are just one small part of what AI is about and not the part that will matter the most for the enterprise companies that actually buy almost $4 trillion in software and services each year.

A somewhat less-flashy avatar of AI, also referred to as "Headless AI" is changing the nature of work itself by fully transforming the crucial machinery of business - processes like resource management, lead generation, operations, financial modeling, and information security. Legacy software has become a commodity in all of these areas, and custom-built AI solutions are poised to get a larger and larger share of wallet of these huge enterprise cost centers.

Combining machine intelligence with continuous learning, these constantly-evolving algorithms are bang on target, since headless AI "doesn't try to replace people; it gives them superpowers" for example, predicting the future; algorithmic trading to name a few. Industry tech leaders argue that headless AI is delivering "radical productivity leaps that they haven't seen from software in decades. In the near future, every core business function will have been transformed by AI, be it hiring, sales, security, marketing, finance, manufacturing or anything else.

As one ML veteran speaks:

"Legacy software will get squeezed down into a smaller portion of the IT wallet as the most valuable services become the native AI platforms - just as form-based desktop software got squeezed out by the cloud in the last generation... the real enterprise revolution is happening in the companies that are using headless AI to transform their core businesses."

The benefits to the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google are clear. They have got huge dumps of customer data coupled with solid competence they have built in such AI platforms. This gives them the power to pull consumers more deeply into their service ecosystems, which in turn holds out the possibility of increased revenues.

The ultimate goal is to increase user engagement and time spent with their services – and those of third parties that join these ecosystems. But before brands, service providers, and others commit to an AI assisted ecosystem, there are several complex issues they need to consider:

A brand, service provider, or enterprise's relationship with its target market might weaken because a consumer's primary link is with a digital assistant, rather than the party it calls into a conversation. This carries the risk of disinter-mediation.

The AI capabilities of digital assistants will improve with use and exposure, making them more autonomous over time. The ultimate scenario will see digital assistants from Google, Apple, and others making decisions for your customers.
Service providers and other parties could lose valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences if consumers move away from a brand-owned mobile app or website to a digital assistant.

As AI capabilities become more embedded in digital assistants, they will be able to surface unprecedented levels of consumer, product, and service data, which in turn will ratchet up privacy concerns. There is no question that AI-powered tech, be it headless AI, digital assistants or chat-bots; have huge potential, but as the points above underline, they are not without challenges.

Service providers, enterprises, and brands must proceed with caution and be sure the terms of engagement work in their favor. It would be interesting to see how companies combine AI with ones personal data to enhance the customer experience.

For example, I use a grocery store that collects data on all my purchases. They use that in a number of ways, most of which only serve to increase their margins and take more money out of my pocket. But imagine if they were to expose my data-set to me paired with AI to help me take better decisions..

"Mr Aggarwal, you know that corn flakes you like? They are on sale this week so make sure to grab a few extras if you stop by."

"Mr Aggarwal, seems like you spend a lot of money on soda. Did you know that the average human who drinks 6 less sodas per week loses 3 kg's in a month and reports feeling better?"

"Mr Aggarwal, seems like you have a habit of shopping here at 1 pm on Weekends. It's always super busy at that time. Here are some hours that are less busy which you might find a more pleasant time to shop here."

"Mr Aggarwal, if you switched these three name brands items you purchase regularly to these other brands it would save you ~ 2000 Rs a month or even ~ 20-25 k a year. Check it out. Their Ingredients are almost same"

Helpful transparency and experience like that builds serious trust and brand loyalty with customers and I am sure we will be experiencing this sooner than later !