Why Are Our Solutions Dumb?
By Michael Tessler, Managing Partner
After a week of SXSW sessions (and a few parties) I wanted to return to a topic that I have considered the key to unlocking the next level of customer engagement: enterprise knowledge. Now, to be honest this is not my idea but one beaten into my head by Conversational AI pioneer Raj Tumuluri, a good friend for 25 years. Raj, with his team at Openstream, has been helping large enterprises with building enterprise knowledge.
Some might ask, what is enterprise knowledge? I like to describe it as a capability that brings together all the company’s information so that decisions and automation can be enabled. Imagine for a company that means melting together the vast array of documents like policies, procedures, product information, production data, transportation and logistics and customer information and sales trends. And these documents could be PDF, data files, recorded conversations, video, etc. Bringing all of this together and enabling users to query this massive graph truly enables new applications and levels of automation not previously available. Knowledge is truly the foundational element needed to build a better customer experience. Ingesting all your data into a single searchable, semantic database can unlock huge competitive advantages.
Now that you have your database, you need to be able to use it. Imagine being able to search all of your company's knowledge as simply as doing a search on Google. If you combine the ability to process complex and compound queries, then you have the foundational elements required to leverage your knowledge. Imagine running a sneaker company and being able to ask, "What is the closest blue sneaker, size 10 that can be delivered to a customer's home address?" Processing this query is not simple. It requires the ability to recognize terms like “closest” and compound search parameters like size and color.
To bring this example to life, imagine asking your virtual assistant, “Please find the best table for 5 around the Austin convention center after my conference session." This would be a real-life example from this past week at SXSW to illustrate the complexity and usefulness of complex queries. With today's tools, I need to make a bunch of queries and stitch them together myself. Or in my case, I call Josephine and ask her to help.
You can get a good overview of the Conversational AI ecosystem by downloading the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant report. I would like to hear about other experiences and examples of building enterprise knowledge.
