Software firm Salesforce has rolled out 17 features on its artificial intelligence technology, beginning with customers who use the e-commerce and marketing products on its customer relationship manager (CRM) suite.
Called Einstein, the new technologies will have more features added during Salesforce’s regular software updates which are scheduled three times a year in spring, summer and winter.
Senior product manager Allison Witherspoon said that customers who subscribe to its CRM service will not have to pay for the features. However, additional AI specific-products like lead scoring and opportunity insights are add-ons and are chargeable.
Explaining how Einstein works, she gave the example of lead scoring which helps sales executives cull through their long lists of potential customers and identify them into different groups like those ready to purchase, evaluating or merely looking.
“Einstein works with the rules given by the sales department. Based on the rules, it goes through the data and ranks the potential customers according to their readiness to buy. This intelligence takes over the tedious job of someone who has to manually go through the sales leads.
Einstein automates this task leaving the sales executives to work smarter by zooming in to focus on customers most likely to make a purchase, said Witherspoon in an interview at Dreamforce 2016, a yearly customer event held by Salesforce in San Francisco.
Customer feedback shows that companies are overwhelmed by data, she explained. They know AI can mine the data for the insights faster and more easily than manual processes but they often do not know how to use the technology.
Over the last two years, Salesforce has employed about 170 data scientists to take out the complexities of AI and make it easy to use, she added.
Customers like sales and marketing executives do not need to code. They access an online dashboard where they can adjust the sales parameters they are looking for. Then the AI will work towards the stated outcome.
Not all the AI was developed in-house. Salesforce acquired AI companies such as Metamind and PredictionIO for their technologies which have been integrated into the the CRM service.
Einstein uses three types of AI technologies, namely machine learning, deep learning and natural language processing. Machine learning is where the software learns from structured data like customer demographics while deep learning is about unstructured data like photos and e-mails.
Natural language processing means that the computer can understand a conversation in a specific language.
Artificial intelligence is a technology that has been in development for decades. Consumers come across it when they receive recommendations on what books to buy and what movies to watch based on their purchase history.
However, Salesforce believes that companies will benefit from AI’s deductive and predictive power of machine learning to improve sales, service and marketing initiatives.
Alex Dayon, Salesforce president and chief product officer, said at a pre-Dreamforce media event that Einstein will help its customers improve their customer interaction and automatically discover relevant insights for various activities and functions.
It will also be able to predict future behavior and even proactively recommend the next actions after a user has taken the first step of entering an online store, he added at a media briefing on Monday.
Salesforce general manager for Einstein, John Ball, said at the media event that Einstein would be the most pivotal thing this year for the company.
“It will change every aspect of the products we deliver,” he added.
Einstein was introduced in September and details of its release were given out at Dreamforce 2016, which is held at the Moscone Convention Centre from October 4 to 7.
The AI technology is the centrepiece of Salesforce’s next generation Customer Success Platform. It is embedded in across the software firm’s products and services.
About 170,000 customers, developers and other attendees are expected at Dreamforce this year. Company banners are all over the city. Moscone is bathed in blue which is Salesforce colour. A street in front of Moscone is closed and paved with artificial turf where tents and seats for customers have been set up.
There are more than 2,500 seminars and workshops over the four-day event. Chief executive officer Marc Benioff will give his keynote speech on Wednesday (US time).
This is a tech conference unlike others. Melinda Gates, wife of software mogul Bill Gates will take part in a fireside chat on the state of women and girls in tech around the world. Sports icon Billie Jean King will also participate in a session on diversity and its impact on business.
Veteran tech writer Grace Chng was invited to Dreamforce 2016 by Salesforce
