How voice-enabled AI is transforming industries Why every business should be thinking about conversational AI

New voices are being raised in business today. These voices are helpful, informative, and often persuasive. Like the virtual shopping assistant that understands your preferences and offers personalised recommendations. Or the virtual advisor that assesses your financial goals and risk tolerance, before providing tailored portfolio advice. Or the learning companion that helps you master a new language.

These are just some examples of how new AI-powered voices are disrupting industries, right now.

Of course, the business landscape is no stranger to disruption. Two previous waves—the internet and mobile—transformed industries and forced businesses to adapt or risk obsolescence. Now, as examples like the above show, we’re on the cusp of the third wave: generative AI. This technology is poised to reshape consumer expectations and redefine how we interact with businesses.

Soon, instead of clicking buttons or tapping icons, we’ll be conversing with devices and apps using natural language. And we’ll carry high expectations that the apps we’re chatting with can anticipate our needs, understand our preferences, and act on our behalf. 

It makes me think of J.A.R.V.I.S, Tony Stark’s natural-language user interface computer system in Iron Man—only a little less heavy metal armour, and more in the palm of our hands. It also makes me think that the predictions in Google Cloud’s Data and AI Trends Report 2024 are spot on, and that gen AI is truly going to be a game-changer.

What will your customers expect from you now?

Just like with previous waves of tech transformation, organisations will have little choice but to keep pace in order to deliver on customers’ evolving expectations.  

Here’s what customers will soon want you to deliver:

• Natural language interfaces Instead of navigating complex menus or websites, consumers will become more comfortable interacting with brands in an intuitively conversational manner, through voice and prompts.
• Elevated expectations of personalisation Consumers increasingly expect brands to understand their unique preferences and needs. AI allows for hyper-personalised product recommendations, content curation, and even dynamic pricing based on individual data.
• Real-time interactions Conversational AI enables immediate responses to inquiries, tailored product suggestions based on current browsing or purchase behaviour, and instant customer support.
• Proactive anticipation AI algorithms can predict future needs or preferences, suggesting products or services before the consumer even realises they want them.
• Shift towards conversational commerce AI-powered virtual assistants can guide consumers through the entire buying journey—from product discovery to checkout—answering questions, addressing concerns, and even completing purchases on their behalf.
• 24/7 availability Conversational AI provides round-the-clock support and engagement, ensuring customers can get help or make purchases whenever they want.

And how can you deliver on your customers’ evolving expectations?

As a starting point, you’ll need to make sure your infrastructure’s up to speed, literally and figuratively. To build the foundations for conversational AI at scale, you’ll need to invest in AI-ready platforms. 

Then, you’ll also need to check your data strategy. AI models thrive on data, so make sure you have robust systems in place to gather, store, and process customer data in a secure and ethical manner.

When building your conversational tools, think about user experience (UX). You know how important UX is to websites and mobile apps. The same goes for conversational interfaces. These interfaces—the spaces where voice and prompt interactions can occur—should be user-centric, intuitive, and capable of handling complex interactions.

To extend the reach of your conversational AI and create more holistic customer experiences, you could explore partnerships and integrations with other platforms and devices (e.g., smart home devices and wearables). Just remember, whether you’re going it alone or working in partnership with others, always establish clear ethical guidelines for AI development and usage, ensure transparency in data practices, and proactively address any concerns about bias or discrimination.

And finally? Keep experimenting. Foster a culture of innovation and experimentation, encouraging teams to test different approaches and learn from your failures. With gen AI evolving so fast, this really is the best way to stay one step ahead.

For more inspiration and ideas about how AI is reshaping business, I encourage you to read the 2024 Data and AI Trends Report. #GenerativeAI #ConversationalAI #AIinBusiness #CustomerExperience #DigitalTransformation #FutureofBusiness #AIInnovation #AIAdoption #VirtualAssistant #Personalization #NaturalLanguageProcessing (NLP) #AIethics #AItrends #FutureOfWork