Generative AI will transform customer experiences

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most exciting technologies in decades, with an exponential adoption curve, making it critical for business leaders to prepare for the way it will show up across the enterprise. Combining AI technologies, automation at scale and real-time data analytics can help organisations improve every customer experience and make every employee more productive. 

Generative AI - which not only classifies or predicts, but creates its own content with a human-like command of language - won’t just enhance work, but transform it fundamentally. 

AI is placing tools of unprecedented power, flexibility and even personalisation into everyone’s hands, requiring little more than natural language to operate, assisting us in many parts of our lives, taking on the role of super-powered collaborators. 

Connecting with customers in new ways 

Research shows that 65% of consumers say they will remain loyal to companies that offer a more personalised experience, with over 60% expecting companies to react instantly with up-to-date information when transferred between departments. Generative AI has the potential to elevate the customer experience through deeper insights to help organisations connect with their customers in new, more relevant ways. 

For example, customer service agents can automatically generate knowledge articles from past case notes and auto-generate personalised agent chat replies to increase customer satisfaction through personalised and expedited service interactions. Sales representatives can auto-generate sales tasks like composing e-mails, scheduling meetings and preparing for the next interaction. Similarly, marketers can generate personalised content faster to engage customers and prospects across e-mail, mobile, web and advertising. 

Of course, AI is not what most influences business growth and customer retention. Across every industry, costs and the availability of products and services are among several factors which support or hinder companies’ efforts to meet customer expectations. It is how organisations understand the key dimensions of growth and customer loyalty, and thereafter embed AI into their business processes, that will make them more powerful. 

Combining generative AI and collaborative technologies will deliver greater productivity for customers and companies alike. AI-powered conversation summaries and research tools, for instance, will help users catch up on what’s happening quicker, and will instantly find answers on any project or topic — whether they’re researching best practices or prospecting a new account. The drafting of messages in seconds to communicate with customers and teams, and the spending of less time crafting replies and meeting notes, mean there is more time putting plans in action. 

Accelerating employee productivity and connecting directly with customers will be key drivers of business efficiency and growth. 

Making AI a safer and transparent partner 

The power of generative AI is not without risks, however. Though it gets a lot of things right, it can get many things wrong. As businesses look to adapt these technologies it’s critical that they do so with care. 

At Salesforce, we’re embedding ethical guardrails and guidance across our products to help customers innovate responsibly — and catch potential problems before they happen. We’ve set out  

five guidelines for the development of trusted generative AI: accuracy, safety, honesty, empowerment and sustainability. 

AI is only as good with keeping humans in the loop to check and verify as the data that’s powering it. Trust must be the most critical element of its development, the content these models create, and the platforms on which they run. 

To make AI safer and more transparent, we must begin with awareness. Business leaders must educate themselves about the implications of AI and equip users with a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Providing explainability or citing sources for why and how an AI system created the content it did can also address issues of trust and accuracy. 

The world must be given good reasons to trust these models at every level. If we can deliver that, without compromise, there’s no doubt that this technology will change the world for the better. 

By Zuko Mdwaba, Area VP / Africa executive and South Africa country leader at Salesforce.