Empowering success: AI in your business arsenal

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn't a new concept, its recent advancements and ability to mimic human dialogue and decision-making have given us, as described by Accenture, AI’s first ‘true inflection point’ in public adoption.  

There’s little doubt that this technology has the potential to unlock a world of possibilities, transforming industries and reshaping how organisations of all sizes do business. Therefore, the most important task for businesses is to understand where AI might fit in their organisations today and what the migration paths need to be in the future. 

Optus have had access to AI within our networks with the capability to resolve ticketed issues for some time. What’s different in this iteration is the sheer power of Generative AI (GAI) learning capabilities reflected by OpenAI’s Chat GPT, released in November 2022 and amassing 100 million users two months after launch. Language-related tasks consume 62% of employees' time, but with advancements in language-based AI, up to 65% could become supercharged with increased productivity through clever augmentation and automation. Its little wonder why 98% of global executives agree AI foundation models will play an important role in an organisation’s strategies in the next three to five years. 

Optus’ role in the AI landscape: customer value first

Optus sees a big opportunity to create new value for businesses seeking to understand where AI might add to their operations, acting as a conduit to solve problems, and impact people’s lives positively. 

We’re optimistic that AI can transform organisations and societies for the better, and we’re working with Government, regulatory bodies and industry to ensure that responsible AI development, deployment and guardrails are put in place. This allows us to work closely with customers to capture the opportunity that AI presents in a responsible way. 

One use case of the potential of AI is its potential impact on streamlining field sales calls and activity. The current process involves meeting several customers per day. These meetings culminate in the sales executive allocating time to upload details of these customer interactions into the CRM of choice. The alternative is a tool that allows executives to simply call a number, log all the details of the interaction by voice and the details logged into the CRM automatically, and then work with the executive on options for what happens next. This might be booking meetings, alerting colleagues to pre-sales activity, providing inputs to potential areas of conflict, and so on. 

The result is significant efficiency improvement. The executive can see more customers in the day - from five to seven customers daily is a 40% improvement, not to mention the potential for elevated customer experience as there is less lag time between interactions with the business. Details are more accurate. The executive interacts in real-time with the tool, adding context and nuance to the record of the meeting. Priorities can be emphasised or reordered. 

It’s an example of how AI can improve what in truth might be regarded as a mundane set of tasks. In reality, it allows an expensive sales resource, with considerable product, solution and negotiation skills, to focus on what matters most – the needs of the customer, not the mechanics of recording data. 

For C-level executives, they are alerted to the direct return this type of improved, intelligent CX can have on the bottom line.  The potential impact of improving customer experience (CX) is according to McKinsey: 

• Increased sales revenues by 2 to 7% 
• Profitability increased by 1 to 2% 
• Increased overall shareholder return by 7 to 10%. 

The value increases for the individual executive, the business, and the prospective customer. 

Image Source: Adobe Stock

From hype to tangible impact: don’t forget the basics

Unlike its predecessors, modern AI has the ability to generate content in unstructured forms. This significant leap has made AI more accessible and relatable, and it provides a solution in context to the business. However, as many of us in the technology industry realise, we’re still in the hype cycle, with transformational changes expected in the next two to five years.

What does that look like in practice? Our Mobile Voice Recording and AI solution,  Optus' first native integration into our mobile network, allows our mid-market and enterprise customers to unlock the power of conversational AI by providing intelligence on how companies can care for their customers, train and coach employees, resolve disputes and meet critical compliance requirements.

The solutions that generative AI can provide must be centred around the business challenges customers aim to solve and, as Gartner points out, not at the expense of other emerging technologies.

If businesses seek to elevate their customer experience, we must understand what they require to make this a reality. It’s a task our teams are well equipped to deliver on. Whether the focus is on increasing sales and improving customer loyalty, or the priority is operational and targeted at reducing the cost of service, gaining agility and maximising compliance, we can enable our customers through our trusted partner relationships and connect them with our partners’ capabilities. 

Businesses must adapt their strategies, redefine roles, and flex to the evolving dynamics of AI. While AI is just one of the many tools in an organisation’s armoury to survive and thrive in a technology landscape that is moving rapidly, it's now probably the most important. These new strategies will need to consider concepts such as establishing Responsible AI principles that will define how AI should be deployed inside organisations to ensure that it’s socially beneficial.

The future is AI-powered, and it's up to us to leverage its capabilities for a more intelligent, connected world.

Further information

To discover how mobile-led AI capabilities can benefit your business, please contact your Optus account manager or request a call back below.