To gain an insight into the key trends reshaping with artificial intelligence, Digital Journal spoke with Anil Kaul, CEO of AI and analytics company, Absolutdata. Kaul explains that businesses need a reset in 2021 and sees a variety of new technologies making their way to the forefront because of this.
Digital Journal: How damaging has 2020 been for businesses?
Anil Kaul: Since the downturn was triggered by a pandemic, the damage has been uneven. The economic turmoil has been devastating for many small businesses, but even large, well established corporations have felt the impact in uneven ways. The travel and hospitality sectors were hard hit, and analysts say it might take years to recover. Meanwhile, the tech sector has mostly fared well, and some companies even saw record-breaking growth. Zoom went from 10 million daily meeting participants in December 2019 to 200 million in March 2020.
It remains to be seen how 2020 will affect business over the long haul. We don’t know the long-term effect on consumers yet, but we do know buying patterns have changed, and there is reason to believe that at least some of the changes might be long lasting. The pandemic will be an economic force until vaccines are widely distributed, so it be a factor well into 2021.
DJ: Which types of businesses are best place to turn things around in 2021?
Kaul: The likelihood and speed of business recovery is more a question of which strategies and technologies companies embrace rather than the type of business they run. The winners and losers of the 2020s are sorting themselves by choosing whether to embrace analytics and AI, which can help them create scalable impact that grows over time. This was true before the pandemic, and it’s even more true now.
The pandemic introduced additional layers of complexity by scrambling buying patterns and having a disparate effect across regions, demographics, etc. Companies that use analytics and AI to accurately predict consumer behavior will be better positioned to turn things around in 2021 because they’ll be able to anticipate and meet demand while mitigating risks.
DJ: How important will digital transformation be to this?
Kaul:Digital transformation is absolutely critical to business success going forward, and companies understand this. According to a recent Twilio report, the pandemic accelerated digital transformation by about six years as companies were forced to rethink customer outreach, product/service delivery, sales, remote working and much more, virtually overnight.
Digital transformation was proceeding at a steady rate before COVID-19 changed everything, but now it’s a matter of company survival. In 2021 and the years to follow, companies will invest more in digital transformation, but the focus will shift from creating workarounds to continuous previous ways of doing business to adoption of more sophisticated approaches that incorporate automation and analytics.
DJ: What is meant by hyperautomation, and how will this assist firms?
Kaul:Hyperautomation is the application of advanced technologies like AI and machine learning to automate tasks. In a business context, it means using a disciplined approach to identify, evaluate and automate as many approved business and IT processes as possible so that companies can achieve “digital first” objectives and compete more effectively.
The digital twin concept can play an important role in hyperautomation when companies create a digital twin of their organization and use it to visualize the value creation chain, looking at the role of key performance indicators, business processes and other functions. It creates real-time intelligence companies can use to identify opportunities and reduce risks.
DJ: Can almost anything be automated?
Kaul:Everything that can and should be automated will be automated. That’s required to maximize speed and efficiency in operations as well as the value companies deliver to their customers. That said, human involvement and decision-making are also required to drive value creation. Basic forms of automation free people from doing repetitive, low-value tasks.
The more advanced forms of automation enhance human decision-making. AI and machine learning can drive real-time analysis and create simulations to identify emerging opportunities and risks and provide recommendations so that business decision-makers can respond before competitors are even aware of the trends. This is high-value automation.
DJ: What is ‘Headless Tech’ and what does this entail?
Kaul:It may sound like a modern twist on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” but headless tech is actually a way to allow the front-end presentation layer of a platform to operate independently from the back-end data functions so businesses can deliver custom shopping experiences. To cite just a couple of examples, headless tech allows instant purchases from social media and lets you ask Alexa to reorder your favorite laundry detergent.
There are at least two factors driving the popularity of headless tech. The first is that companies need to maximize ROI from existing customers since customer acquisition costs are rising. The second is that connecting everything from the warehouse to the storefront to online interfaces allows companies to streamline processes and operate more efficiently.
DJ: What role will Digital Twins play in businesses success?
Kaul:Digital twins — a virtualized model of a customer, product, store, organization or other entity — will play a huge role in business success in the future. We discussed how it can improve operations within an organization with hyperautomation, but that’s just one application.
It’s such a powerful concept because users can identify problems and opportunities before they occur using simulation. Digital twins are already routinely preventing downtime in manufacturing, assisting planners with exploring proposed changes to complex organizations and helping healthcare workers create custom treatment options for patients.
Digital twins combined with AI and analytics can help sales, marketing and product development teams get a leg up on competitors. Real-world business applications include custom marketing campaigns to improve response rates, product launch simulations that accurately predict results, and assortment and package simulations that enable product mix optimization. In the years to come, there will be digital twins for just about everything.
