The Download May 2024
Third Pillar A Globe Company
"Your Partner in Enabling Business Growth"
How Much Time Do We Save, Really? A casual dive into AI, automation, and visualization from the enterprise perspective.
Hey reader,
The Philippines has been experiencing the full effects of the heat wave the past few weeks. Schools suspended classes, commutes have become unbearable, and businesses are looking for ways to keep their workers cool. While we’re glad that the worst April we’ve had in a while is behind us, the hottest months are followed by the rainiest days. As you can see below, the average temperature has been increasing steadily, due to several factors, amongst is global warming.
This quick visualization is possible thanks to Tableau’s powerful data visualization capabilities. Much resources and data visualization can be found on Tableau Public.?
With the steady rise of temperature comes technological innovations to support organizations to reduce disruptions, and other external factors that affect business operations and buy businesses more time to plan for and mitigate risks. The Philippines has always been on the optimistic path of innovation. Over the years, online commerce and automation have found its way into many companies. From logistics to retail and manufacturing, technology has made plenty of things easier and more accessible.
This month’s newsletter is inspired by the newest time-saving innovations sweeping the technology world.
With today’s technology, how much time are we saving, really?
While the statistics will be hard to quantify and the numbers differ wildly on a case-to-case basis, we’re here to shed some light on AI, automation, and time, at least from the enterprise perspective.
In this issue, we’ll be discussing:
As your partner in enabling business growth, Third Pillar is here to give you the latest technologies & capabilities that businesses need.
All the best
Making IT Work: The AI Behind Better Productivity (11 min. read)
What marks an industrial revolution? From the economic perspective, they are signified by massive changes in economies brought about by transformative developments in productivity. Technology helped mankind shift from agriculture to industry, and industry into production. Fast-forward a few hundred years and production branched out to physical and digital.
It’s easy to see how technology has improved things physically. Developments in material sciences, engineering, and manufacturing have literally changed skylines, landscapes, architecture, and space. As for digital productivity, we have seen it grow through the internet and smartphones. While we do see our advances, I don’t think we as humans fully understand just how far we’ve come.
Let’s put things into perspective with two famous computers, shall we?
In case you’re not familiar with Apollo 11, it’s the first space mission that allowed humans to walk on the moon, a feat so complex and advanced that it required hundreds of millions of dollars worth of research to develop the technology to make it possible.
While it is a gross oversimplification of digital development, the fact remains that a smartphone is powerful enough to send a person to the moon and back while remaining pocket-sized. Mind you, that’s only one example of how far we’ve come in computing, with many more happening behind the scenes.
Today, we are in the era of software and automation. While many economies and governments still rely on manual processes (e.g. paperwork), programs and applications have made it possible to get a loan, own a house, and set up automated mortgage payments in just a few minutes.
Digital developments are not just about making computers faster but making processes more efficient. With smarter productivity in mind, Generative AI is looking to spearhead the next revolution with the concept of the digital workforce.
Instead of having humans do repetitive tasks and struggle to find and consolidate research, they can instead employ programs to simplify the work for them. Want to find relevant documentation for research? Use AI as a personal assistant to recommend useful texts, complete with abstracts and summaries to help you make research easier.
This concept extends to a lot of useful tasks. By maximizing data utilization, generative AI helps users speed up deliveries and increase productivity exponentially. From document processing to predictive analysis, Generative AI has the power to save companies precious time and money in their manual processes.
Companies stand to benefit the most from AI-enhanced processes. Instead of scanning documents one by one and sifting through the information, they can use a system like Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) to read all the data, organize it intelligently, and do all the necessary calculations and verifications to make document processing a breeze.
Now let’s see a simplified comparison between humans and software in such a case.
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From HR to legal work, entire departments can be optimized just by enabling a simple system. That means more time for workers to upskill and focus on tasks that humans are best at doing. Who wouldn’t want an easier job?
By democratizing AI properly, securely, and fairly, companies can expect:
Still, the case for AI technology comes with a lot of parentheses. Humans are still key components to making AI usable in the first place. We’re still the ones who will call the shots, find the inconsistencies, and improve the system as it runs.?
AI won’t replace humans and technology will never replace ingenuity and empathy. What AI is best at is helping humans become more creative, productive, and informed. Whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay. It’s up to us if we want to make the most out of it.
Save time where it matters. See how you can make AI work for you by booking a meeting with us.
Better Human Conversations Thanks to Robots (7 min. read)
Humans are social creatures. That’s a scientific fact that allowed us to proliferate as a species. Collaboration and conversation have helped our collective knowledge develop and expand over time. With all the talks that happen in one’s lifetime, everyone has had to deal with an unpleasant interaction at some point.
Frustration is a universal experience. For companies that are in the business of serving people (which is basically all of them), poor conversations translate directly into bad service. Bad service can mean a loss of revenue, a decline in market share, and a potential exit in the industry.
Companies are constantly finding ways to improve their conversations with clients. Many studies show that high customer satisfaction leads to higher brand loyalty, increased sales, and better business opportunities. It’s the reason why companies have entire teams dedicated to improving customer experience (CX) in any way possible.
Personalized connections are the foundation of exceptional customer service. Businesses that engage with clients on a deeper level create valuable experiences that will keep them coming back.?
The key to these engaging conversations? Understanding your customers. By knowing their concerns, challenges, and preferred communication styles, you open doors to creating positive experiences, and what most brands don’t realize is that data empowers brands to keep customers happy.
While customer service reps (CSRs) and product experts possess the technical knowledge to solve problems, forging a deeper connection can be challenging without a base understanding of who they’re talking to. This is where conversational AI and automation come in.
Conversational AI streamlines and enhances communication between brands and customers. Users gain access to relevant insights, enabling them to resolve issues quickly and efficiently by utilizing the data they’ve already gathered from their customers.
Similar to how you’re talking to a friend, knowing their problems and habits can help you reach out to them better. You have a basis for any advice you can give, and push suggestions that are in-line with their preferences and behavior.
Instead of relying on your CSRs to go through lines of records as they talk to clients, they can instead use AI to summarize their profiles, take notes of their concerns, and help guide the conversation in a more fruitful way.?
There are other uses that conversational AI can help with. For example, if your company deals with frequently asked but easily resolvable questions/concern, you can also deploy a fully automated system to guide them through the process instead. That way, you save manpower on menial tasks and customers can get their issue resolved quickly and independently.
Conversational AI has the potential to help companies beyond building their brand, it builds a friend. One that customers will be glad to talk to and share insights with. Know your customers better, and business will become a breeze.?
See how conversational AI can help your company. Let’s talk about it more here.
Join the Conversation in The Upload
Third Pillar, together with industry experts and partners, is glad to announce the launch of The Upload, a podcast on enterprise technologies, best practices, and market trends! In its pilot episode, we interview Ms. Sheryll de Leon, Third Pillar’s Product Head for Data and Analytics, to talk about the increasing role of Data Quality in decision-making and business strategy.