Tag: Artificial Intelligence

Singapore – Salesforce, together with IMDA, has announced the launch of the Data + AI Boost SME Program. This initiative aims to provide 5,000 small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in Singapore, at all stages of digital maturity, with the tools and expertise they need to utilise the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) by unlocking the value of their data.

Businesses and employees will receive help implementing digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), gaining an advantage, and providing personnel with the training they need to make the most of these technological advancements. Salesforce and IMDA are working together to make this initiative available to 5,000 Singaporean SMEs. 

Salesforce’s new Data+AI Boost SME Program intends to assist SMEs in utilising their valuable but frequently underutilised data assets, which are generally dispersed across numerous systems such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, data lakes, and legacy systems. This effort aims to establish a strong data foundation for AI. 

As part of the Data+AI Boost program, SMEs can receive one-on-one consultations to help them evaluate their needs and business obstacles. It also provides Trailhead, Salesforce’s online learning platform, with access to information and learning resources. With the aid of these materials, SMEs will be able to fully utilise their data assets, comprehend the moral applications of AI and data, and make responsible use of technology. 

The usefulness of AI depends on the quality and integration of the underlying data, even though it presents SMEs with a huge chance to improve operational efficiency, customer service, and income. According to 61% of Singaporean workers surveyed by Salesforce’s AI Trust Quotient, lacking data makes it harder for people to trust AI. This indicates that data is essential for fostering confidence in AI. 70% of employees who don’t trust AI said it doesn’t have enough data to be helpful. 

Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may expand and compete by leveraging AI and valuable, integrated data to better identify and address market trends, consumer preferences, and areas for improvement. SMEs can make use of the tools and expertise offered by this program to scale their businesses more quickly and achieve faster growth. 

The new Salesforce initiative was unveiled at Asia Tech x Enterprise 2024 in collaboration with IMDA. This program is a component of the partner commitments that support the Ministry of Communications and Information’s Digital Enterprise Blueprint (DEB).

The DEB aims to empower Singaporean enterprises and their workers in the next phase of their digital transformation efforts by focusing on four areas: empowering enterprises to be smarter by adopting AI-enabled solutions, enabling enterprises to scale faster through integrated digital solutions, equipping enterprises to be safer through improved cyber resilience, and upskilling workers to fully leverage digital capabilities.

SMEs identify developing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the top business trends impacting their operations, according to the Singapore Business Federation’s National Business Survey 2023/2024. Increasing revenue was also stated as their main objective for the coming year. 

Speaking about the launch, Leong Der Yao, assistant chief executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA, said, “Aligned with Singapore Digital Enterprise Blueprint, IMDA is excited to partner with Salesforce to enable our SMEs to stay ahead of the curve. The Data + AI Boost SME program by Salesforce will help strengthen AI adoption for the broad base of SMEs by firstly providing them with the know-how to unlock the full potential of their data assets as well as providing access to resources to understand the ethical use of data and AI. We look forward to the support of industry partners to enable SMEs to leverage technology to be more competitive and scale faster in today’s fast moving digital economy.” 

Meanwhile, Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager for Salesforce ASEAN, stated, “SMEs are the bedrock of the Singapore economy, and need access to AI and its foundational building blocks to support their growth and competitiveness in the future. Setting up the right data foundations will put them in the best possible position to embrace AI. After all, AI tools are only as good as the data those tools are accessing and acting upon. The immediate challenge for SMEs is to ensure that their data sets are interconnected in a way that is valuable.” 

He added, “Through the Data + AI Boost SME Program, Salesforce is making AI more accessible for SMEs to compete and succeed in today’s economy.” 

Singapore – Experience management company Qualtrics has announced that travel retailer Flight Centre is now utilising their AI program to enhance customer experience and agent productivity through a new ability to analyse and respond to every piece of structured and unstructured customer feedback being shared with the company.

While traditional customer experience programs focus on structured feedback, such as satisfaction and post-sale surveys, Flight Centre is gaining a more complete view of its customers with the integration of Qualtrics.

Using purpose-built, AI-powered, advanced conversational analytics and natural language processing capabilities, Flight Centre can listen to and analyse customer feedback from a range of structured and unstructured channels – such as emails, chat, messaging, social and online reviews, traditional surveys and more – and understand the emotion, intent, preference, and effort behind every engagement.

The customer experience-specific insights enable Flight Centre to custom-craft and deliver tailored experiences addressing customers’ unmet needs and points of friction, creating opportunities to enhance the customer experience in the moments and channels that matter.

Notably, Flight Centre is one of the first organisations in Asia Pacific to go-live with Qualtrics’ AI-powered conversational analytics and natural language processing technologies.

Talking about this integration, Andrew Stark, global managing director at Flight Centre, said, “Flight Centre is able to deeply understand and respond to their needs better than ever before with Qualtrics. With these new capabilities we’re able to uncover even more actionable, specific insights that can help us deliver greater services, experiences, and products for our millions of customers.”

Meanwhile, Brad Anderson, president of product, UX, and engineering at Qualtrics, commented, “Using Qualtrics AI, organisations like Flight Centre are pioneering an impactful new age for experience management by deepening their ability to understand and meaningfully respond to their customers, which is driving greater outcomes for customers alongside bottom-line business impact.”

The new era of contextual advertising is not just focused on becoming more privacy-centric following the impending phaseout of third-party cookies but rather it is also focused on driving efficiency for businesses and offering new ways to engage with its consumer base through multiple channels and varied advertising stipulations.

As part of the What’s NEXT Interview series, MARKETECH APAC spoke with Marc Zander, global chief client officer at Teads, to learn more about the new strategies and insights in the new era of digital advertising. The company’s cloud-based omnichannel platform enables brands to implement programmatic advertising campaigns across the global ecosystem of quality digital media.

To begin with, Zander shared that while artificial intelligence has been at the core of the latest trends in digital marketing and advertising, there has a been a shift from predictive to generative AI in the industry, noting that Teads’ proprietary contextual advertising runs on predictive AI and has been in effect for a significant period of time.

“From a Teads perspective, we’re in a great position because we use AI in everything we do and have been doing that for the last 10 years. And we use it very much from a predictive perspective to make sure that we maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of our client’s advertising budget,” he said.

Zander also added, “We’re moving very much from predictive AI to generative AI and looking again to see how we can create multiple variations in ad context to provide the best possible solutions.”

He also notes how Teads is using AI for creative optimisation, as well as measurement and prediction tools in its system, making AI an integral part of their offerings for their clients.

Part of the change that he also observed in the industry is the shift in media consumption, specifically moving away from linear TV to connected TV (CTV). Such shift has made Teads fully embrace this shift, resulting in them building a quality brand safe for clients that ensures a fraud-free ecosystem for brands online.

Meanwhile, when asked about his perspective on the move to cookieless advertising, Zander mentioned that this is more of a good news for Teads, as its services is centred around contextual advertising. This means that with them having access to data from their partner publishers, they are able to get much more quality and quantity of data that doesn’t infringe any consumer privacy.

“We’ve been essentially cookie-free for the last three years, and we’ve been working over the last two years to prove to our clients and our advertisers that we can deliver at least the same, if not better results, in a cookieless world. Whilst a lot of advertisers may think “what do we do in a cookieless world”, Teads is already cookieless by default, and over 75% of everything that we do is cookieless,” he explained.

In terms of advice for brands to future-proof their digital advertising strategies, Zander offers three particular actionable advice for marketers to follow. They include having a strategic look on the media supplies being put in the system, deciding on who you want to work with and leverage what they can do, practise responsible advertising, as well as reducing carbon footprint.

“From our perspective, a phrase that I use a lot is “we’re only just starting to scratch off the surface of our potential”, and so we are working with more and more partners, [and] we’re really excited because we’ve grown very quickly,” he said.

Zander also advised, “We live in a world now where the best marketers are breaking down the silos between creative, media, data and insight. Whilst it’s a more complicated ecosystem, it also has tons more potential than it had in the past.”

For more of Zander’s insights on the future of digital advertising in 2024 and beyond, check out the full video interview on our official YouTube channel or check out the podcast version at our official Spotify page.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Ravi Shankar Mallavarapu, most recently with Carsome, has been recently appointed as the chief marketing officer of AirAsia MOVE, airasia’s travel and lifestyle app–and formerly known as airasia Digital.

In an exclusive conversation with MARKETECH APAC, Ravi said, “I am entrusted with shaping and implementing our comprehensive branding and marketing strategy. This strategy is designed to enhance brand recognition and become a top-of-mind travel companion for ASEAN travelers, aligning with our business objectives.”

He also noted his particular interest in adopting AI strategies to AirAsia MOVE’s marketing strategies, stating, “I am particularly keen on leveraging AI in our marketing strategies. This includes leveraging AI across multiple marketing functions to increase productivity; prioritising the adoption of AI will help us stay competitive and relevant in the rapidly evolving travel market. The other priority is to build a community of creators who are loyal to the brand and keep generating content for us.”

Prior to this new role, Ravi was recently the chief marketing officer at Carsome for over two years, where he handled the brand’s marketing, digital, social media, public relations, growth, market research and customer experience. He also worked closely with Derek Tan, chief brand officer at Carsome, on brand, creative, production and sponsorships.

It is also worth mentioning that this marks Ravi’s return to the airasia ecosystem. He was with AirAsia for five years, where he had served various leadership roles that included group head of digital marketing and chief growth officer.

“My tenure as CMO at Carsome taught me how difficult it is to build a brand and that it is not just a marketing responsibility. I’m looking forward to working with the fantastic team [at AirAsia MOVE] and working on the vast amounts of data,” he stated.

When asked about challenges and opportunities related to AI-integrated marketing strategies, Ravi said that adapting strategies in Gen AI presents both opportunities and challenges, and it depends on how fast the industry leverages and implements them in daily work.

“In 2024 and beyond, I foresee a continued emphasis on personalised travel experiences. At AirAsia MOVE, aligning with these trends involves adopting more sustainable practices in our operations and marketing and utilising technology to tailor unique travel experiences that meet evolving consumer expectations,” he concluded.

Singapore – Global travel technology company Expedia Group has announced the launch of its own leading travel media network. Building on two decades of advertising experience from Expedia Group Media Solutions, the travel media network leverages its first-party traveller intent and purchase data, so advertising partners reach even more travellers across the purchase journey. 

Through the travel media network, advertisers can leverage Expedia’s first-party travel intent data to meet travellers wherever they are online, such as YouTube and connected TV. In addition, advertisers can also target high-intent travellers with industry-leading onsite advertising tools such as TravelAds, connecting our travel audience to 200 booking sites in over countries.

Moreover, advertisers can also develop curated media campaigns with their expert media teams, using partnerships such as Netflix and Disney+, and tap into Expedia Group’s vast B2B network of over 60,000 partners to extend global footprints to new markets and audiences.

Rob Torres, SVP at Expedia Group Media Solutions, said, “We’ve pioneered the travel retail media network model. Our robust, first-party data and network of industry-wide partnerships gives us the exclusive ability to translate traveller shopping behaviour to actionable insights for our advertising partners.”

He added, “Our travel media network targets travellers at various touchpoints on the journey with highly relevant travel content, driving conversion. We’ve only just scratched the surface with building bespoke media campaigns for partners, I’m excited for what’s to come.”

This new feature was launched during their annual conference EXPLORE™. Some of their other products launched include Romie™, an AI travel assistant, as well as other travel booking and advertiser-funded loyalty.

Ariane Gorin, CEO at Expedia Group, said, “At Expedia Group, we embrace the transformative power of AI to create personalised travel experiences. Our long-standing investments in this space enable us to capitalise on the breathtaking pace of AI innovation, and today’s Spring Release demonstrates our commitment to delivering innovative products and features that enhance the way people explore the world.”

Singapore – More than half of APAC businesses (55%) see artificial intelligence as important to their social media programme – a notably higher percentage than their global counterparts (44%), according to a report by social and media intelligence firm Meltwater. 

Data from Meltwater’s study also suggests that with the prominence of AI usage in marketing, 64% of the respondents in APAC leverage AI tools to save time on writing, with 36% utilising it to improve their copy.

However, though almost half (48%) of APAC teams surveyed said that social media will play a more important role in their company this year, many teams are struggling to maximise their social programs due to reduced resources.

The survey showed that even respondents from large companies with more than 1,000 employees operate in small social media teams of 2 to 5 members. Additionally, many social media teams find strategy and execution a challenge, with 34% of respondents saying that they are still working on defining a strategy, whilst a quarter are in a tougher spot of having a strategy but lacking the resources to execute it.

For other notable findings from the report, it stated that Instagram is the highest channel of interest (45%) for APAC teams, closely followed by TikTok (43%). Additionally, teams in APAC are more likely to dedicate the same budget to social media that they did in 2023, unlike teams globally who are increasing social media budgets. Lastly, 64% of respondents in APAC agree that social listening is a key component in strategic planning.

Talking about the findings, Mimrah Mahmood, vice president – enterprise (APAC) and partner at Meltwater Asia-Pacific, said,  “Social media teams are in an unenviable position of doing a lot more for their organisations this year with limited resources and budget. Concerningly, not having a defined social media strategy is a more prominent challenge in APAC than other regions.”

“With the typical social media user using 6.7 platforms each month, brands need to understand the usage intent of their target audience for their platform of choice. With bandwidth being a major concern, it is crucial that teams identify which are priority channels and customise content accordingly,” he added.

Malaysia – Microsoft has announced that it will invest US$2.2 billion over the next four years to promote Malaysia’s digital transformation. The investment demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to developing Malaysia as a hub for cloud computing and related technologies like generative AI. This project seeks to increase the nation’s productivity, competitiveness, resilience, and economic growth. 

The investment in digital infrastructure continues Microsoft’s April 2021 initiative, Bersama Malaysia (Together with Malaysia), which aims to promote inclusive economic growth. This project included preparations to set up the company’s first datacenter area in the nation. 

The disclosed investment places Microsoft in a position to handle Malaysia’s growing need for cloud computing services. Furthermore, it enables Malaysia to capitalise on the significant economic and productivity opportunities presented by AI technology. 

Microsoft revealed a broader pledge to provide 2.5 million people in the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with chances for AI skill development by 2025. Governments, nonprofit organisations, corporate entities, and communities throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam will all work together to give this training and support. 

The commitment builds on Microsoft’s recent skilling efforts in Malaysia, including its success in providing digital skills to over 1.53 million Malaysians as part of the Bersama Malaysia project. 

Microsoft intends to continue working with the Malaysian government on a number of projects aimed at strengthening the country’s digital environment. Among these efforts is the establishment of a national AI Center of Excellence in collaboration with Malaysia’s Ministry of Digital Agency. The objective is to ensure compliance with AI governance and regulatory standards while fostering the deployment of AI across critical industries.

In order to strengthen Malaysia’s cybersecurity capabilities, Microsoft will continue to work with the National Cyber Security Agency of Malaysia (NACSA) as part of the Perisai Siber (Cyber Shield) program. Through security evaluations and capacity building, our alliance will put the public sector’s security and resilience first. 

Furthermore, Microsoft wants to support NACSA as it develops the next stage of the country’s cybersecurity strategy, serving as NACSA’s principal agency for cybersecurity matters in Malaysia. The two organisations will also engage in more extensive cooperation to develop cybersecurity knowledge via programs such as Microsoft’s Ready4AI&Security initiative.

Microsoft continues to support the growth of Malaysia’s developer community by launching new projects like AI Odyssey. This initiative aims to assist 2,000 Malaysian developers in becoming AI subject matter experts by acquiring new skills and obtaining Microsoft credentials. 

Speaking about the investment, Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft, said, “We are committed to supporting Malaysia’s AI transformation and ensure it benefits all Malaysians. Our investments in digital infrastructure and skilling will help Malaysian businesses, communities, and developers apply the latest technology to drive inclusive economic growth and innovation across the country.”

Meanwhile, YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade & Industry, said, “Microsoft’s 32-year presence in Malaysia showcases a deep partnership built on trust. Indeed, Malaysia’s position as a vibrant tech investment destination is increasingly being recognized by world-recognized names due to our well-established semiconductor ecosystem, underscored by our value proposition that ‘this is where global starts’.” 

He added, “Microsoft’s development of essential cloud and AI infrastructure, together with AI skilling opportunities, will significantly enhance Malaysia’s digital capacity and further elevate our position in the global tech landscape. Together with Microsoft, we look forward to creating more opportunities for our SMEs and better-paying jobs for our people, as we ride the AI revolution to fast-track Malaysia’s digitally empowered growth journey.” 

Andrea Della Mattea, president of Microsoft ASEAN, expressed, “We are honoured to collaborate with the government to support their National AI Framework, which enhances the country’s global competitiveness. This strategic emphasis on AI not only boosts economic growth but also promotes inclusivity by bridging the digital divide and ensuring everyone gets a seat at the table, so every Malaysian can thrive in this new digital world. As a result, Malaysia is steadily establishing itself as a regional hub for digital innovation and smart technologies, embodying a forward-thinking approach that prioritises sustainable development and societal well-being through digital transformation.” 

Singapore – Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced plans to invest an extra S$12 billion in its existing cloud infrastructure in Singapore between 2024 and 2028. This decision was initiated by the growing demand for cloud technology and services in the country. 

By 2028, AWS aims to have invested over S$23 billion in its cloud infrastructure, tripling its initial S$11.5 billion investment in the AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) Region through 2023. 

AWS is working with Singaporean public organisations to develop solutions powered by AI and generative AI technology. These initiatives include SEA-LION by AI Singapore, Analytics.gov by GovTech Singapore, the Maritime AI-ML Digital Hub by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, StoryGen by the National Library Board, and Synapxe’s national healthcare data and AI app. 

AWS intends to launch its flagship AI program, AWS AI Spring for Singapore, in order to support Singapore’s Smart Nation and National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) goals. With the goal of accelerating the use of AI and generative AI technologies across Singapore, this extensive program incorporates collaborations with the government, enterprises, and public sector organisations in Singapore. 

Six key pillars comprise the comprehensive AI program, which is in line with Singapore’s S$1 billion investment in NAIS 2.0 to advance AI initiatives. Its goal is to benefit partners, customers, and the community of AWS. 

These pillars include AI Spring Public Sector, focusing on collaboration with the Singapore Government and government agencies to advance AI initiatives for industries and citizens; AI Spring Workforce, offering AI skilling and professional certification programs; AI Spring Enterprise, aimed at fostering AI adoption in local enterprises; AI Spring Startups, dedicated to nurturing core AI startups in Singapore; and AI Spring Communities, contributing to community development. 

Within the framework of AI Spring Public Sector, AWS will form collaborations with Singapore government agencies to facilitate and accelerate AI integration in the public sector and across industries. In a significant move, AWS just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Synapxe, Singapore’s HealthTech agency. This cooperation intends to create a data and AI application that will enable healthcare practitioners to use data analytics and AI technology across several healthcare systems.

In addition to this, AWS and the Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) in support of AI Spring Enterprise. The partnership intends to leverage Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker, and Amazon Q’s capabilities to create an AI adoption program specifically designed for regional businesses. 

The goal of this project is to give companies the ability to identify and scale AI applications for important use cases in their operations. The IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders program, which aims to support locally established, digitally mature businesses in creating, developing, and implementing unique generative AI digital solutions, includes the MoI as a key component

AWS’s AI Spring Workforce program is prepared to raise Singapore’s workforce through skilling and professional certification programs in cloud and AI technologies. In accordance with this commitment and in support of the Singapore Government’s goal of tripling the number of AI practitioners to 15,000 within five years, AWS will work with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) such as universities and polytechnics, as well as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), to improve AI education. The goal is to train 5,000 people in AI skills per year across these educational institutions over a three-year period, from 2024 to 2026. 

By utilising its generative AI capabilities, AWS is expanding its assistance to instructors and students in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), enhancing their educational experiences and facilitating technological discovery and experimentation. AWS and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to incorporate AI education into the ITE curriculum, which is a big step. 

Speaking about the investment, Priscilla Chong, country manager of AWS Singapore, stated, “AWS has been deeply committed to helping Singapore grow its economy, workforce, and digital prowess with cloud and advanced technologies since it launched its first Asia Pacific infrastructure Region here over a decade ago.”

She added, “AWS is doubling down on its cloud infrastructure investments in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to support customer demand, and help reinforce Singapore’s status as an attractive regional innovation launchpad, and a global leader in digital competitiveness. This investment will create a ripple effect across Singapore by increasing economic growth and cloud adoption. It also brings additional contributions to the local economy by AWS, such as upskilling the local digital workforce, developing renewable energy projects, and creating a positive impact in the communities where AWS operates.”

Meanwhile, Elsie Tan, country manager, Worldwide Public Sector, Singapore, AWS, said, “With AWS AI Spring, we are eager to embark on this collaborative AI journey with the Government and customers to unlock the potential of AI, and accelerate Singapore’s Smart Nation vision and goal to become a beacon in the international AI field. By leveraging AWS’s broadest and deepest set of artificial intelligence and machine learning services, cloud infrastructure, and network, AWS will empower local organisations and students with technology and skills to tackle unique challenges, unlock new opportunities, delight customers, and scale in a secure, resilient, and sustainable manner.” 

Leong Der Yao, assistant chief executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA, commented, “We believe that AI can be harnessed by enterprises to transform and stay ahead. In 2023, IMDA supported over 3,000 SMEs to adopt AI-enabled pre-approved solutions. Earlier this year, we also launched the GenAI Sandbox for SMEs and GenAI x Digital Leaders initiatives to enable our SMEs to adopt generative AI technology to generate greater business value. Building on this, we are excited to partner with AWS to uplift and empower our enterprises in generative AI. AWS, as a key global partner, will bring the necessary expertise to support IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative to help our digitally mature local companies identify and develop AI solutions for business transformation and growth.” 

“We are also working with AWS to incorporate AWS Training and Certification programmes in polytechnic and ITE curriculums. IMDA will continue to collaborate with AWS to upskill and reskill professionals in roles such as AI and Analytics,” Yao added. 

Furthermore, Low Khah Gek, CEO of ITE, said, “ITE intends to equip all her students with AI and Gen-AI understanding and competencies to ensure they are industry-ready, job-ready and future-ready. AWS expertise and programmes will accelerate ITE’s plans for the students and staff to learn prompt engineering and start to use Gen-AI and LLM in their learning, projects and work. ITE and AWS will also conduct short CET Gen AI courses for the public and workers to support the upskilling of Singapore’s workforce.” 

Lastly, Ngiam Siew Ying, CEO of Synapxe, stated, “The inking of the MOU with AWS reflects our mutual commitment towards enabling our public healthcare users with leading edge cloud-native analytics tools. It will catalyse more efficient analyses towards actionable insights, and transform the way we enhance the quality of healthcare for Singapore.” 

Mumbai, India – CleverTap, an all-in-one customer engagement and retention platform, has announced the launch of Clever.AI, its AI-powered customer engagement engine. 

For CleverTap, it aims to provide brands with the next generation of AI capabilities required for building human-like knowledge of customers and efficiently delivering personalised experiences that resonate with them, hence enhancing customer lifetime value.

The three core AI pillars of predictive, generative, and prescriptive AI form the foundation of Clever.AI. ‘Clever.AI’ uses these pillars to transform the way brands communicate with their customers, making their interactions more informed and effective. 

Talking about the launch, Anand Jain, co-founder and chief product officer, CleverTap, said, “We’re thrilled to unveil Clever.AI, a testament of our pursuit over the last several years in leading the way in adopting the latest tech to transform customer engagement. We will continue to innovate CleverTap’s All-in-One engagement platform with Clever.AI enhancing its precision in predictions, its ability to prescribe intelligent customer experiences strengthened by advanced product analytics and deeper persona profiling to ensure brands can build highly personalised experiences, and campaigns more effectively, ensuring every customer interaction is personalised and outcome-driven.”

Imagine a world where every customer interaction is not just a transaction, but a meaningful conversation. A world where businesses can anticipate customer needs, respond with precision, and engage at a personal level that transforms the customer experience.

The next 2024 revolution in customer engagement entails breakthrough features that redefine the standards of online customer interactions, and I will be listing two prominent ones in this article; ‘Automated Workflow Platform’ and  ‘AI Response Feature’. These features are not only incremental improvements, they represent a sea change in how businesses of all sizes—from startups to corporations—can connect with their potential and existing customers on online platforms; WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook etc.

An Automated Workflow Platform is an automated powerhouse that streamlines customer conversations. The platform offers a visually user-friendly interface and intuitive approach to analyse, understand, and respond to customer queries in real time with pre-determined questions and answers. It delivers a personalised experience 24/7 without the need of constant supervision.

If you’re looking to create dynamic and responsive workflows, most platforms offer custom conditions and branching, which allow you to set up workflows that respond only to certain scenarios: 

  • Custom conditions: You can create workflows that adhere to different scenarios. For example, auto-responses will be sent when you receive messages containing specific keywords. 
  • Branching: Branching allows you to create different paths within a workflow based on a criteria. This enables your desired actions to specified individuals or groups, such as assigning conversations to sales representatives based on inquiry type.

The power of automated workflows results in increased productivity in sales and consistent, efficient and optimised customer interactions, all while saving innumerable hours.

An AI Response Feature takes time- and cost-efficiency to the next level. With great feasibility, businesses can easily generate AI-powered responses in chats within a click. The features aims to solve the pain point of time and costs expended in training and assigning staff for personalised customer engagement, since this feature allows businesses to go beyond the usual responses to customer queries; it enriches each conversation with tailored content, product recommendations, and offers, driven by a deep understanding of customer preferences and past interactions. The tool’s superpower is in human-like digital communication in superhuman speed and efficiency, which has proven to foster loyalty and significantly boost sales conversion rates (by up to 80%).

For businesses that operate in the diverse and rapidly expanding Southeast Asian market, they are left to pivot in the complexity of engaging with a multicultural audience. An Automated Workflow Platform and AI Response Feature emerge as game-changing features that equip businesses to navigate language differences and unique cultural nuances with ease. The AI-powered platform ensures that no message goes unattended, enabling businesses to cultivate robust customer relationships and drive growth in this dynamic landscape.

This article is written by Henson Tsai, founder and CEO of SleekFlow