#9 MOST-READ in 2017: Strategic Trends - AI, Machine Learning and Customer Service

Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin AgencyInnovative technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), the geopolitical regulatory environment and cyber risks are creating new challenges for global organizations and investors. Gathering and analyzing data is the norm, but the real value of data analytics and automation is in the insights — and the value to the customer.Across all industries, innovation is transforming the way we operate in the world. In the investment industry, startups have developed proprietary technologies, such as machine learning, workflow optimization software and next-generation investment technologies for investors. “Yet the world’s largest funds are closed off from these innovations. Instead, they tend to perpetuate the status quo,” Harvard Business Review, November 2016Gartner defines a strategic technology trend as one with substantial disruptive potential that is just beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and use. Gartner named AI and Machine learning one of top 10 strategic technology trends for 2017. Today, big banks are trying to figure out ways to deal with 2016’s disruptor, now a revolution.“Artificial intelligence can help people make faster, better, and cheaper decisions. But you have to be willing to collaborate with the machine,” says Anand Rao, Innovation Lead Analytics, Price Waterhouse, December 2016: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/governance-insights-center/publications/assets/pwc-sharing-insights-investor-and-ceo-perspectives.pdfAnad suggests financial institutions analyze business challenges across the value chain, including, marketing, operations, risk and finance, and define key decisions and metrics for where and how AI can help.Significant potential exists for firms using large volumes of unstructured and non-transactional data. Replacing mundane tasks with AI and machine learning offers speed and personalization. “A human advisor can’t begin to compete with that level of detail and automation,” said Forbes contributor Bernard Marr, December 2016.“The Year of the Customer” continues in 2017. For financial institutions, improving the customer experience is the top goal. FinTech firms, smaller banks and other financial services firms offer predictive analytics that determine buyer’s choices, sentiments, habits, geo location data, behavior patterns, and contextual analysis.Some robo advisers are adding artificial intelligence capabilities to track account activity on their products and other integrated services, others are using AI to analyze and understand how account holders are spending, investing and making their financial decisions. Some banks are even using AI for customer service. - FinExtra, January 2017: https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/13503/five-key-trends-that-will-see-fintech-enhance-its-role-and-impact-in-2017Artificial intelligence is also playing a big role in wealth management. For example, financial services company, OpenFinance analyzes and aggregates data from multiple sources then distributes it to banks and financial institutions. “The technology allows the company to access information from several hundred institutions, put it into a ‘common language’ so it can be worked on, then returned to each institution in the form they want,” says Open Finance Managing Director, Edward Loughran, Wall Street Journal, December 2016: https://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2016/05/19/financial-firms-turn-to-artificial-intelligence-to-handle-compliance-overload/For corporations, investors and brokers, machine learning can efficiently identify strategic relationship synergies by integrating institutional investors, brokers and C-Suite dashboards to highlight knowledge and share value-added services.Organizations that are able to harness these data and analytics capabilities effectively will create significant value, differentiate themselves and gain a competitive edge.AI and machine learning's potential to deliver real-time optimization across industries is just starting to evolve and will quickly accelerate in the next three years.“I see time becoming the most valuable currency that we as mankind see in the future. And autonomy, or autonomy in second is going to return time back to people that we don’t have today.” – Jennifer Tejada, CEO PagerDuty [author]About the Author: Wendy Glavin is Founder and CEO of Wendy Glavin, a NYC full-service agency. Wendy is a 20-year veteran of corporate, agency, consulting and small business ownership. She specializes in B2B marketing communications, PR, social and digital media. Her website is: https://wendyglavin.com/. Contact her at: wendy@wendyglavin.com. [/author]