Insights from CX Connect 2023: The Brilliance of Generative AI in Customer Service

Generative AI in customer service is the hottest topic that has gripped the world of customer experience in recent times. As a CX leader, it must be hard to keep up with trends when there is so much happening around you. If cost efficiency is on your mind or you are wondering how to use generative AI to elevate customer experiences, witness the top insights from Sprinklr’s CX Connect live event to guide you. 

CX Connect London: an AI-some experience  

With punchy talks, late-morning cocktails and feel-good beats from the DJ, the launch of CX Connect in London was extraordinary. Joined by customer experience leaders from John Lewis, Forrester, OpenAI and our in-house experts, the sessions were packed with light-bulb moments. 

We’ve done the hard work for you and narrowed down the best takeaways from the event. 

From legacy to legendary customer service - why AI powered transformation is your big bet 

Josh Kanagy ((Senior Vice President of Sprinklr Service) kicked off the event by talking about how excellent customer service is a rarity. The discussion focused on soaring customer expectations and how leaders can leverage AI to address them. Here are three takeaways from his session. 

1. Think beyond your traditional competitors. 
   Your customers are comparing their experiences to the experiences offered by brands like Uber, Amazon, and Nike. Businesses can leverage AI and data insights to meet the heightened expectations of a personalized seamless service by breaking down the ever-present team silos.  
2. From confusion to clarity in real-time 
   With AI, you can step up your game and provide real-time quality management for 100% of conversations. You no longer need to rely on just a fraction of interactions to gauge customer sentiment. Imagine running a product sale and immediately detecting any confusion or concerns in the market. This will allow you to adjust your messaging or address any issues promptly. No more waiting for a small sample size and a delayed review meeting to realize misalignments.
     
3. Place your bet on AI before the stakes get too high 
   Kanagy then introduced Sprinklr's big bet on AI in customer service, highlighting our proprietary AI models and partnership with OpenAI. With Sprinklr AI, you can supercharge your customer service by leveraging the power of generative AI capabilities and our extensive model repository (a collection of various machine learning models, each trained to perform specific tasks). While there are compliance, governance and security risks associated with AI— at Sprinklr, trust is paramount. Security, compliance and privacy are our bedrock, earning the confidence of our customers and investors.

Transform your customer service for the age of AI  

In the second session of the day, Ian Jacobs (VP Research Director, Forrester) talked about two significant factors that are currently on the minds of his clients in customer experience and service roles.  The first is the ever-present pressure to reduce costs while maintaining quality service, especially during economic uncertainty.  The second revolves around the role of AI in transforming various aspects of customer service, including routing, resolution, emotion analysis and reducing dependence on human agents. Here are two takeaways from his incredible session.  

1. Post-interaction surveys need to be updated.   
   Brands need to recognize that managing customer experience means deciphering and acting upon customer perceptions of their interactions with the brand. In the era of AI, people are now questioning surveys that have traditionally been used to gauge customer satisfaction. The ability to analyze interactions comprehensively using AI tools raises the question of whether surveys are still necessary. Can AI replace the need for post-interaction surveys, such as those provided by platforms like Qualtrics and Medallia? 
2. AI’s secret sauce lies in agent augmentation 
   By leveraging AI tools and conversational models to handle mundane tasks such as note-taking and automating after-call work, agents can focus on providing empathy-driven and intuition-based support to customers, enhancing the customer and agent experience simultaneously.  
    
   Case study: Jacob mentioned a company that aims to use AI for visual analysis in troubleshooting physical products.  The company plans to generate descriptions and relay them to agents by using AI systems to analyze customer-submitted photos, enabling more efficient troubleshooting.  

Enhancing customer experience: John Lewis' transformation journey with Sprinklr 

In the 3rd session, Eva Bojtos (Head of Social, John Lewis) highlighted their partnership with Sprinklr to create a world-class customer experience across various touchpoints.  

1. A unified approach towards customer queries leads to better CX 
   John Lewis understood that laying the groundwork was vital to maximize delivering seamless customer experiences. They focused on consolidating their social media, listening, engagement and customer care tools under a unified platform. This foundation gave them a holistic view of their customers' interactions, enabling better insights and data-driven decision-making. It also created more collaborative opportunities across teams and streamlined their social media feeds for more effective management.  
   
   John Lewis is playing it smart: A symphony of tools, one platform to rule them all.  
2. Time is money and John Lewis saved 864 hours leveraging AI-powered chatbots
   John Lewis deployed Sprinklr’s chatbots to enhance their customer service capabilities. They achieved remarkable time savings, estimated at around 864 hours, through the AI-powered chatbots. This saved customer time and allowed customer service agents to focus on more complex cases, fostering meaningful human-to-human interactions. Looking ahead, John Lewis plans to launch post-interaction surveys to gather customer feedback and further enhance their chatbot capabilities. 

OpenAI and Sprinklr: transforming customer service with AI

Closing the event out with a keynote that will stay in our minds for a while, Adam Goldberg (Head of Azure Open AI) gave us behind-the-scenes insight into OpenAI and more. Here are two takeaways from his session.   

1. Supercharge your AI models with GPT-3 and GPT-4 
   Going deeper into Open AI’s models, GPT-3 and GPT-4 are pre-trained with vast amounts of data and computational power. Whatever your business needs, ensure that you account for the importance of custom training to leverage the technology entirely.  Alongside this, Adam emphasized the use of embeddings, enabling companies to utilize their data securely and privately within the models.  
   
   The possibilities of AI from generating text, extracting entities, sentiment analysis, speech recognition and image recognition are all there for the taking; make sure it matches your business needs.  
2. A gamechanger: ChatGPT Business could be your lucky charm 
   Chat GPT for Businesses. It's coming! This enterprise-focused offering will provide companies with the ability to centrally manage AI capabilities, control permissions, negotiate terms, and ensure privacy and security. With Chat GPT for Businesses, AI will become even more accessible and valuable in the corporate landscape. 

Sprinklr AI+, an extension of Sprinklr AI, combines Sprinklr AI and Generative AI to create one unified AI. It leverages Sprinklr's existing AI capabilities and platform architecture to harness the vast potential of Generative AI technologies. Read more. 

The journey has just begun, the future possibilities are limitless, and we're about to embark on a journey that will redefine good CX. 

CX Connect is coming to not one, not two, but a whopping seven incredible cities on these dates. If you're ready to elevate your CX game and soar to new heights, buckle up and join us for an adventure that'll leave you hyped for the future of AI-led customer experiences. Get your boarding pass to CX excellence and let's show the world what it truly means to take CX to the next level. 

Till then, grab your popcorn and put on your virtual front-row seat -it's showtime. Catch up with the spectacular CX Connect London sessions and learn about the brilliance of generative AI— right here.