April 2017
Digital Business
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the age of digital consumerism, customers are always on active on the Web, e-mail,
social media, mobile devices, and tablets. To keep up with this trend and compete effectively
in an increasingly connected marketplace, brands must continually fine-tune their customer
strategies. This requires investing in technology platforms and applications that anticipate
customers needs and understand their behaviors early in the buying cycle. By taking a
proactive stance, companies can spare customers from having to start over when
researching or purchasing a product or service.
This white paper outlines three disruptive technology trends and their applications
artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) that are
gaining momentum across enterprise environments. We will discuss how AI and ML
strategies are enabling leading businesses to gain customer mindshare, and reshaping the
customer experience as we know it with informed, hyper-personalized information and
services across touchpoints. Last, we highlight how we are helping companies apply these
advancements to retool the customer experience and achieve long-term, profitable growth.
Have you ever wondered how Netflix makes movie and TV show recommendations, how Facebook
prompts friends to be tagged in photos, how Alexa, Siri and Cortana assist us in answering questions
or going about our day-to-day activities? Or how Amazon and Airbnb make personalized product or
lodging recommendations? These are all real-life examples of machine learning in action.
Whether we are searching the Web, driving a car, purchasing a product, automating a task, ordering
dinner from a robot at a restaurant, or using speech recognition on our smartphones we are
benefiting from machine learning. ML uses a customers historic data and behavioral patterns to
create high-quality predictive intelligence concerning their future behavior. IDC reports that
applications with advanced predictive analytics will grow 65% faster than those that do not have this
functionality built in. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2018, most consumers will interact with services
2
based on cognitive computing.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Cloud-based applications for artificial intelligence have already staked their claim. Salesforce
(Einstein), Microsoft (Azure), SAP (HANA), Adobe and Oracle use machine learning as a core
component of their offerings, along with natural language processing, deep learning, predictive
analytics and smart data discovery, to help their clients transform CRM.
Tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Facebook are on an acquisition mission to beef
up their AI and ML capabilities. For instance, Google has upgraded its image search and recognition
capabilities to identify individuals or objects in photos on the Web. Meanwhile, Apple is investing
heavily in artificial intelligence in areas such as self-driving autonomous vehicles, deep learning,
image recognition and processing, and voice control. It is also enhancing its mapping technology with
a full-featured AI navigation system. It may not be long before Siri and other iOS apps find a place in
autonomous vehicles.
Future-Forward Innovators
Figure 3
Sales
Sales people are constantly on the move, and rely on their mobile devices to stay connected to their
company and their customers. Given the enormous amount of data (structured, unstructured, and
semi-structured) generated by various systems across different channels (social media, e-mail and sales
CRM tools, for example) sales leaders are challenged to qualify leads and identify the right opportunities
to engage and win. So how does machine learning help improve sales productivity and efficiency?
Figure 4 offers some insight.
Machine learning offers powerful capabilities in In most sales activities, lead qualification
predictive analytics enabling enterprises to is a major area that can drive up
analyze data from every point in the sales process customer acquisition costs. Sales teams
(apps, e-mail, CRM systems and social media) and often spend a lot of time and effort
develop actionable recommendations such as: contacting the wrong prospects.
Improving sales forecasting (predicting credit With natural language processing,
companies can add real-time virtual
risk, customer churn, win/loss rate, etc.).
assistance to their initial lead-
Automating account management and lead-
qualification efforts and correctly
identification activities, such as closing deals
classify leads as interested, not
and enhancing sales operations.
interested, or needing nurturing. This
Pin-pointing missed revenue opportunities.
frees sales teams to focus on the most
Applying ML algorithms to the sales pipeline to
promising opportunities while lowering
increase win rates and further improve sales
acquisition costs.
productivity.
Uncovering new up-sell and cross-sell
opportunities.
Figure 4
Marketing
Marketing organizations key role is to establish, sustain and extend customer relationships. As more
customer information becomes available through big data, machine learning will become an essential
element of customer-focused marketing campaigns. Among the top challenges marketers face include
lead generation, ROI measurement, and generating personalized offers/messages in real time by
utilizing customers personal data, demographics, historical purchase patterns, and social sentiments,
for example. (See Figure 5).
Customer ML algorithms analyze customer behaviors in real time and use personas
Segmentation (fictional groups that reflect the buyers associated with a companys marketing
and sales efforts) to create effective, highly personalized interactions.
Personalized Leading e-commerce companies such as Netflix and Amazon use ML
Recommendations algorithms to recommend TV programs, movies, and other products based on
individual customers preferences.
Optimized User Marketing organizations can use ML techniques to determine where and how to
Channels reach customer segments and tailor ads and marketing communications
accordingly.
Reduced Customer ML uses data from previous customers to target others that are most likely to
Churn & Predictable generate churn. ML-based customer segmentation may thus be used to target
Buying Behaviors
customers for retention offers.
Figure 5
QUICK TAKE
Facebook uses machine learning to post relevant content and ads based on the things you liked, groups you joined
and pages you follow. Have you ever wondered why only certain people appear in your News Feeds? ML algorithms
run on your News Feeds and analyze the types of content you prefer.
Google uses a machine-learning artificial intelligence system, RankBrain to help process, organize, and refine its
search results.
Amazon sends periodic e-mails when a product you searched for is available at a lower price, as well as product
recommendations that may be of interest to you. All of this is the result of machine learning.
TripAdvisor uses ML through different phases of the customer experience to track member habits, build segments
based on behavioral patterns, and push suggestions/offers at the most likely time of purchase. The company
follows up with an e-mail or ad prompting members to complete the booking process.
Customer Service
Regarding customer service, we see human-assisted virtual agents like chatbots taking over traditional
call center IVRs to route customers to the right agent or queue and improve the overall quality of
customer service. AI technologies such as natural language processing and speech recognition support
contact center agents during live customer-service interactions by looking up relevant information and
suggesting how best to respond. Another AI technology, conversational voice interfaces such as
Amazons Alexa and Apples Siri, provides the ability to conduct a natural conversation with the user and
suggest the next best action. Additionally, intelligent/predictive ML algorithms and AI analytics are being
integrated with high-volume customer data and transactions enhance enterprise areas such as the call
center, technical support, interactive troubleshooting, self-help, and interactive sales and customer
activities to serve customers better.
One of the biggest service-related challenges that enterprises face today is to maintain consistent, high-
quality customer service across channels and devices. Figure 6 highlights how ML can make this happen.
Automate Uses virtual assistants, or chatbots, to automate routine tasks that would
Routine otherwise require a live agent to reset passwords, address account issues, and
Tasks provide sales support.
Frees the live agent to focus on handling more complex and revenue-generating
tasks, which helps to improve top and bottom-line performance.
Improve Employs ML to classify and route incoming tickets to the agent team queue with
Ticket the best capabilities to respond to the customers questions/issues.
Routing &
Uses natural language processing to clearly understand what the customer is
Response
saying and route the call to the appropriate agent. This reduces call durations and
Times
increases the likelihood of first-call resolutions.
Predict Predicts customer purchase patterns and positively impacts satisfaction indices in
Customer real time across service channels, such as phone, chat, e-mail, IVR or social media.
Behavior &
Enables agents to look at the CSAT meter and fine-tune the conversation instantly,
Satisfaction
or escalate to another team.
in Real Time
Empower Using ML search algorithms, most relevant content can be made available at the
Customers customers fingertips across different channels, enhancing self-service and
through improving omnichannel experiences.
Self-
Service
Reduces the number of calls made to the IVR or any other channel. By integrating
this capability with predictive ML analytics, companies can uncover new insights
into customer behavior and send out targeted. personalized offers through
various channels.
Figure 6
QUICK TAKE
QUICK TAKE
Note: All company names, trade names, trademarks, trade dress, designs/logos, copyrights, images and products
referenced in this white paper are the property of their respective owners. No company referenced in this white
paper sponsored this white paper or the contents thereof.
FOOTNOTES
1 http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartners-top-10-technology-trends-2017/
2 http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20141211005981/en/IDC-Reveals-Worldwide-Big-Data-Analytics-Predictions
ABOUT COGNIZANT
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technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run more innovative
and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 230 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most
admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital atwww.cognizant.comor follow us @Cognizant.
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