Tag: Artificial Intelligence

Sydney, Australia – Digital experience platform Optimizely has announced the launch of Optimizely One, its new operating system for marketing practitioners built on their previously established platform.

Composed of Optimizely’s integrated capabilities built on a modern SaaS, Optimizely One offers a highly composable architecture, giving teams the flexibility to choose what they need in their marketing ecosystem.

Optimizely One is enriched through a single, unified workflow accelerated by AI, making it simple for marketers to create, manage, deliver, and optimise content all in one place. Secure and scalable, Optimizely One provides teams with the future-proof stack they need to create and optimise digital experiences for their customers.

With the new operating system, users can design entire web experiences with a low/no-code interface, benefit from automatic upgrades, aggregate, manage, and deliver content efficiently, from any source, and apply pre-built templates and customer data to create engaging experiences via an all-new, user-friendly editor. 

Optimizely One also aims to connect teams through a unified workflow based on a single integrated platform that allows you to log in once and seamlessly navigate across all Optimizely applications. New capabilities include experiment collaboration through a purpose built tool, and an omnichannel authoring feature. 

Taking an ecosystem approach, Optimizely One embeds their own Opal AI with their newly announced solution partner, Writer, helping teams work faster and make better decisions through business-focused language learning models (LLMs) to create enhanced AI-generated content that includes specific industry knowledge.

Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely, said, “Optimizely One provides exactly what marketers need to orchestrate their content, monetize experiences and experiment across all touchpoints – all enriched through smart workflows and accelerated by AI. The time is now for companies to seize the opportunity to reinvent how marketing, product and growth teams work together to create content-driven digital experiences.”

Meanwhile, Rupali Jain, chief product officer at Optimizely, commented, “Optimizely One is a shared operating system that gives teams unprecedented levels of transparency, flexibility and simplicity to manage their entire marketing lifecycle. With the guidance of Opal and the power of experimentation data, every part of the lifecycle is rooted in science.”

Singapore – Data and AI company Databricks announced that it has agreed to acquire Arcion, a Databricks Ventures portfolio company that helps enterprises quickly and reliably replicate data across on-prem, cloud databases and data platforms. 

This acquisition of Arcion will enable Databricks to provide native solutions to ingest data from various databases and SaaS applications into the Databricks Lakehouse platform, with a transaction valued at over $100 million, inclusive of incentives.

In turn, the acquisition will enable Databricks to natively provide a scalable, easy-to-use, and cost-effective solution to ingest data from various enterprise data sources. Building on a scalable change data capture (CDC) engine, Arcion offers connectors for over 20 enterprise databases and data warehouses. 

Furthermore, the integration will simplify ingesting such data either continuously or on-demand into the lakehouse, fully integrated with the enterprise security, governance, and compliance capabilities of the platform.

Talking about the agreement, Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO at Databricks, said, “Arcion’s highly reliable and easy-to-use solution will enable our customers to make that data available almost instantly for faster and more informed decision-making. Arcion will be a great asset to Databricks, and we are excited to welcome the team and work with them to further develop solutions to help our customers accelerate their data and AI journeys.”

Meanwhile, Gary Hagmueller, CEO of Arcion, commented, ”Arcion’s real-time, large-scale CDC data pipeline technology extends Databricks’ market-leading ETL solution to include replication of operational data in real-time. Databricks has been a great partner and investor in Arcion, and we are very excited to join forces to help companies simplify and accelerate their data and AI business momentum.”

Singapore – Integral Ad Science has revealed ‘Made for Advertising; (MFA), an AI-powered site detection and avoidance product. The company’s MFA site technology is aimed at increasing transparency about advertiser campaign quality, pinpointing ad expenditure allocation, and providing insights for optimising campaigns to reduce inefficiencies on MFA sites.

When used for advertising purposes, MFA sites, which are web pages designed to display advertisements alongside poor content and frequently tuned for conventional metrics like viewability, frequently fail to deliver significant results, such as conversions or brand enhancement.

IAS’s latest product, which makes use of AI technology, efficiently identifies MFA sites on a large scale, allowing advertisers to regain control over their media quality and reduce inefficient spending. IAS provided extensive campaign analysis during alpha testing, demonstrating exceptional MFA site recognition for some of the global advertisers and agencies.

IAS’s product is in line with the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) most recent definition of an MFA site, which uses factors like ad-to-content ratio, ad refresh frequency, and traffic source to identify MFA sites. 21% of all measured advertising impressions were found to be delivered on MFA sites, according to the ANA’s Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study.

Speaking about the launch, Yannis Dosios, chief commercial officer, Integral Ad Science, said, “Our MFA product was built to deliver unprecedented transparency to advertisers and provide them with the ability to both detect and avoid MFA sites in order to redirect their ad spend to publishers that drive a return. The industry faces a significant challenge in combating MFA sites. By leveraging AI, we have developed a scalable way to identify these low quality sources of inventory and improve overall campaign performance.”

Meanwhile, Bill Duggan, executive vice president of ANA group, commented, “Advertisers should recognize that MFA websites can account for a significant portion of their overall campaign and should determine, independently, if MFA sites fit with their brand suitability standards for content and user experience. We applaud IAS for taking action after we released the findings from our programmatic transparency report and for supporting our definition of MFA.” 

He added, “We have found that awareness of MFA sites among the ANA community of media professionals to be limited – which is surprising. We look forward to further developments from IAS around MFA site identification and ad spend optimization to help better educate and inform buyers.”

Singapore – Marketing and monetisation technologies provider InMobi, unveiled InMobi Addressability Gradient, a platform designed to support marketers throughout the transition from identity-centric targeting to new solutions that have limited consumer identity signals.

InMobi’s AI-powered platform aims to mark a significant stride forward in addressing the challenges posed by the ever-evolving landscape of digital advertising through its personalisation and other campaign enhancing features.

Delving into said features, the Gradient enables advertisers to navigate the evolving complexities of data privacy, user consent and personalised targeting. Fueled by InMobi’s ID Graph, the Gradient provides advertisers with an adaptable playbook and visual roadmap for addressability, offering a wide spectrum of options that seamlessly align with changing consumer behaviours.

From precise ID-based targeting to privacy-conscious ID-less approaches, the Gradient also empowers advertisers to personalise content while upholding data privacy and user content. Spanning from personalised 1:1 targeting and household amplification to inventive privacy-compliant techniques like cohort audiences, modelled audiences, contextual targeting and bidstream amplification.

Lastly, the Gradient can enhance campaigns by integrating a variety of identifiers like mobile advertising identifiers (MAIDs) and interoperability with people-based identifiers including LiveRamp’s RampID. By leveraging the ID Graph, this bid augmentation strategy ensures precise targeting, boosted further by the ID Graph’s connections between users with shared interests. For ID-less solutions, InMobi leverages SDK and contextual signals to broaden addressability without compromising consumer privacy.

Todd Rose, senior vice president of addressability at InMobi, said, “In the evolving landscape of ad tech, the ability to understand audience signals and use them to enhance media strategies and creative executions has become increasingly refined; by embracing the Gradient, advertisers can continue to deliver relevant, effective, and privacy-conscious advertising experiences to consumers.”

“The Gradient empowers advertisers to optimise their campaigns, achieve unparalleled precision, and unlock the full potential of addressability in the ever-changing world of digital advertising,” he added. 

Singapore – In today’s dynamic business landscape, the ability to deliver exceptional customer experience (CX) has become a critical differentiator. Customers, now more than ever, demand exceptional service and are even willing to pay a premium for it. And so, with growing customer needs and demands, businesses must learn how to leverage technology to deliver a truly seamless customer experience that will set them apart from the rest.

In this journey towards revolutionising CX, the capabilities brought about by artificial intelligence (AI) serve as a powerful ally. With AI technology’s ability to process huge volumes of data and predict customer behaviour, it can address customer needs and resolve issues more efficiently for businesses. 

For Admir Mašin, head of platforms in Asia-Pacific at Infobip, businesses must develop strong omnichannel CX strategies to drive growth while providing a favourable customer journey across all channels. He further highlighted the power of conversations in elevating businesses, advising brands and platform businesses to engage with customers in real-time in their preferred channels and to be present when and where their customers expect them to be.

Mašin also talked about CPaaS X, a set of modular and flexible APIs that is made to eliminate the complexities brought about by CPaaS integration for platform businesses. He highlighted how Infobip’s CPaaS X speeds up onboarding and time to market, reduces operational load, and streamlines engineering efforts, thus simplifying a customer’s workload and giving them more space to focus on scaling their business.

Meanwhile, industry leaders Lisa Collins, director of experience platforms at Accenture; James McIntyre, customer experience lead at Cashrewards; Prerna Pant, co-founder of Radarr; as well as Mašin, also provided their industry insights on how brands can revolutionise their current customer experiences to become more future-proof and efficient. 

The industry experts in Asia-Pacific shared their advice on what are the best practices in establishing the best CX strategy for brands and businesses aiming to revolutionise their customer experience strategies by utilising cutting-edge technologies.

Collins shared how important it is for brands to employ a life-centric approach when assessing and dealing with customers. She emphasised how brands that are thriving are those that focus more on how they can help people with their needs, personalising what they can offer, and improving the customer’s journey with the brand.

In addition, Pant also discussed the relevance of understanding customers at each stage of their journey. By using advanced technologies like social media listening tools, brands can track and understand what’s driving customers in each stage of their journey, helping them solve problems and anticipate trends in the future.

Meanwhile, McIntyre pointed out the importance of having the right measurement in a brand’s CX programme. Businesses must learn how to choose the right metrics and visualise data so that it measures what matters for the customer and business.

Mašin also suggested investing in conversational technologies, leveraging AI capabilities to increase efficiency while also fostering interactions with audiences to create satisfaction and drive success.

The webinar, titled CX Revolution: Leveraging AI Tech for Seamless Customer Experience, is made in partnership with omnichannel communications platform Infobip. It was attended by industry experts and marketing representatives from countries inside and outside of APAC.

If you missed going to the event, you may register HERE to obtain your on-demand access.

Singapore – According to recent Adobe research, Singaporean brands are attempting to improve operational efficiency through the implementation of technology solutions, with 70% focusing on improving workflow efficiency and 59% implementing generative AI. This is despite the fact that there has been an evident lag of firms adopting it not just in Singapore but also in the region.

In Southeast Asia (SEA), only 64% of brands prioritise technologies that improve workflows, and 56% incorporate generative AI into their operations in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. However, the research shows that Singaporean brands’ formal integration of generative AI into their business processes lags behind both consumer demand and employee utilisation.

Consumers in Singapore are positive about how generative AI can improve products and services (33%), as well as improve the customer experience (37%). Notably, 39% of Singaporean consumers believe that adopting generative AI is critical for businesses to remain competitive, outpacing the 35% figure in the rest of Southeast Asia (SEA).

In work settings, 94% of Singaporean employees have already used generative AI in marketing and customer experience campaigns, while only 31% report that their employers are currently using generative AI tools. Text-to-image generators are used by 58% of these employees to create promotional brand materials and content, and 55% use them to develop campaign concepts and mock-ups. Furthermore, half of the workforce (50%) uses conversational AI for tasks like copy generation, research, and insight gathering.

In Southeast Asia (SEA), 95% of employees use generative AI tools for marketing campaigns, while only 42% of SEA respondents say their companies are currently implementing generative AI tools.

Simon Dale, vice president and managing director, Southeast Asia & Korea, Adobe, said, “A large majority of employees across SEA are incorporating generative AI tools at work, underscoring an urgent need for organisations to get ahead of the curve in AI usage regulations and policies. As generative AI technologies continue to evolve, an absence of a set of strong guardrails and AI ethics principles can pose risks to the organisation and even erode consumer trust.” 

Singapore – Marketers in APAC are ready to embrace AI with a majority of them feeling confident about using the technology, according to new research from global business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn’s study with over 700 respondents in APAC revealed that 76% of marketers in the region believe that AI will change the way they work in the next year, with 46% hoping it will improve their efficiency.

The research also found that 87% of respondents also believe AI will support their work and help create space for teams to think innovatively, freeing up time for marketers to build impactful creative campaigns. 

Notably, 6 in 10 marketers in APAC are using the technology today, with 1 in 2 in the region experimenting with tools such as ChatGPT. The report also finds that nearly 82% of B2B marketing leaders in Singapore plan to increase their use of generative AI in the next year.

Furthermore, marketers in APAC plan to use AI for day-to-day tasks, such as summarising lengthy articles and videos (82%), creating first drafts of written content and presentations (78%), and helping them problem solve (77%).

Talking about the results, Matt Tindale, head of enterprise, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Asia Pacific, said, “AI is permeating all aspects of work, including marketing. It is now more crucial than ever to create campaigns that enhance brand value. However, many B2B CMOs say they’re pressured to drive results with limited resources, which often leads marketers to favour short-term business needs over long-term strategic efforts.”

“As the landscape of B2B marketing continues to evolve, AI tools will enable marketers to dedicate more time to crafting creative campaigns that drive engagement, establish connections with customers, and yield positive results,” he added.

Singapore – A new report from Indeed notes that job opportunities utilising generative artificial intelligence (AI) are increasing in Singapore, with one in every 490 Singapore job postings are related to generative AI recorded by end of August.

Callam Pickering, APAC senior economist at Indeed, said, “The number may not seem like a big number but it is rapidly increasing. Artificial intelligence is hardly new but it continues to evolve. This year, we’ve seen the emergence of large language models, such as ChatGPT, which create the illusion of real intelligence. These tools have the potential to fundamentally change the future of work and are already being incorporated into many Singapore jobs.”

The data also noted that Singapore job postings fell 1.9% in August compared with a month earlier – the tenth consecutive monthly decline – which left postings almost 20% lower than a year ago. 

While Singapore job postings are at their lowest level since August 2021, they are still 63% above their level prior to the pandemic.

Moreover, postings in 16% of occupational categories have increased over the past three months, led by strong gains in veterinary (+59%), physicians & surgeons (+42%) and pharmacy roles (+27%). 

By comparison, declines have been widespread, with postings in beauty & wellness and civil engineering both down by around 21% over the past three months. Sizable declines were also observed in legal, cleaning & sanitation, chemical engineering and driving roles.

“Singapore’s labour market remains incredibly tight, with unemployment low and job vacancies still elevated. Nevertheless, job postings continue to moderate, having fallen for ten consecutive months. These declines have been broad-based, reflecting most occupational categories. A more challenging economic environment will likely lead to a further decline in job postings over the remainder of the year,” Pickering concluded.

Manila, Philippines – Local livestreaming platform Kumu and Google Cloud have announced a partnership in order to build AI tools to assist content creators in terms of entertainment, education, and customer service.

This collaboration between Kumu and Google Cloud aims to encourage more startups and enterprises alike to embrace the power of generative AI and to understand how this technology can best complement and strengthen their businesses. 

At a showcase event at the Google office in the Philippines, Rexy Dorado, co-founder and president at Kumu, showcased a live demo of “Crisostomo A.I. Barra”, Kumu’s first AI streamer who can respond to questions about Philippine history (even beyond what’s written in “Noli Me Tangere”, the novel that his character and personality was based on), the Kumu app, and general pop culture. Dorado also gave the attendees a sneak peek into other AI avatars in the pipeline: AI game show hosts, fortune tellers, tutors, tour guides, and customer support agents. 

An early adopter of Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities for businesses, Kumu has been building its AI streamer and other AI avatars using Google Cloud’s PaLM 2 for Text and Chat first-party models, Embeddings for text and images, and Generative AI Studio – all of which can be accessed through the Vertex AI platform.

For the company, it has always sought ways to make Filipino content more fun and engaging with innovative technology. They added that as soon as generative AI started gaining traction, Kumu looked to an AI-first company like Google Cloud to explore how the technology could be applied to enhance its live content experiences.

Manila, Philippines – Philippine Airlines (PAL) has announced that it has tapped Salesforce to improve its current customer experience (CX) strategy, aimed at redefining its customer service and engagement.

The agreement was signed at a recent ceremony at the Conrad Manila, with top executives of PAL, Salesforce, AF Digital, Amadeus, and other key stakeholders in attendance.

Through the partnership, PAL will integrate Salesforce Customer 360, Salesforce’s integrated CRM platform powered by AI, across the airline’s contact center and customer feedback handling units. This will provide a comprehensive view of customer interactions to elevate the overall passenger experience while enhancing internal processes to improve efficiency.

Moreover, PAL will be using Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Customer and Partner Portal as well as Slack to provide employees with the insights and tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint. 

The airline also plans to harness the power of AI through the Salesforce Einstein Chatbot, leveraging its ability to use natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer inquiries.

Capt. Stanley K. Ng, president and chief operating officer at Philippine Airlines, said, “This is more than a partnership. It is a statement of Philippine Airlines’ commitment to the future — a future where digital transformation isn’t just a buzzword but a strategic imperative. It’s about reimagining what Philippine Airlines can be, driven by technology, but always focused on the human experience. We welcome Salesforce as our partner in PAL’s pursuit to create a unified, trustworthy and enriching customer journey.”

Meanwhile, Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce ASEAN, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Philippine Airlines on their digital transformation journey, and on their mission to deliver exceptional customer experiences. We share values and a customer-centric vision that aims to redefine the very concept of airline customer service for the modern age. We look forward to helping PAL realize the value of AI, data, CRM and trust with data-driven insights to predict, personalize and respond to evolving customer preferences at every touchpoint.”

Lastly, Aurea Vidal, chief information officer at Philippine Airlines, said, “Agility is not just an approach for Philippine Airlines; it’s a way of life, especially as we navigate the complex, fast-paced demands of the airline industry. By partnering with Salesforce, we can build a framework that can swiftly adapt to the evolving needs of our customers and the market. Salesforce CRM will provide us with the strategic agility we need to meet, and exceed the evolving needs of our passengers.”