Has The Age of Ask Arrived with Alexa?

This Post Was Originally Published at https://tarrysingh.com

When Search Was King

9 years ago I had written about how Amazon would end up as the eventual leader in the age of ask (or query in database folks speak). I also had pondered about how platforms such as LinkedIn or Facebook would develop a Search 2.0 architecture. Someone at Amazon, at the time of writing, was probably busy building an emotionally intelligent Alexa.

Back then, I used to write for ITtoolbox (now owned by Gartner), primarily about virtualization and cloud computing. Virtualization was maturing fast and Cloud was getting hyped up (Like AI is today).

I was intrigued with Google’s Query or Search model and wondered who would win the ultimate race as individual and corporates raced to the clouds and would eventually think things, ask things instead of typing things.

Quoting myself ??:

Google is the  Query 1.0 leader. Microsoft is planning to up Google’s old 1.0 plans with its $ 44 Bn acquisition of Yahoo, but I really wonder if that will help them. We have several newer players like Facebook, LinkedIn, all offering parts of the Query 2.0 architecture. You know who is already heading towards the Query 2.5 (if not already 3) Model? Yes, you guessed it right! Amazon!!!

Clearly, Yahoo acquisition didn’t happen.

Well, Yahoo itself didn’t happen!

Amazon, on the other hand, is definitely happening and all eyes are glued to it today!

Amazon is on a tear…

Some say that Amazon could become the first company on the planet to reach a trillion dollar valuation. Jeff Bezos, however, has a much clearer vision and his last shareholder note clearly states that he has no intention of quitting being a startup.

He wants Amazon to be in #Day1 and not in stasis or worst yet metastasis!

#Day1 Against tech firms…

… and against #Day2 static and potentially approaching metastatic traditional eCommerce players

Amazon has been working its ass off for Search 3.0

It’s no secret that the world of consumer and enterprises was converging. We all knew about it and I’ve even been speaking at large about  these trends in my keynotes years ago (see Slide 21).

But basically this is what is happening and by 2020 the world of consumer and enterprises would have fully converged.

Alexa might accelerate the Consumer and Enterprise Convergence

While the world of consumer was evolving and enterprises were struggling to grasp what consumers wanted, Amazon continued to build its eCommerce kingdom, leaving competitors behind.

Data released by eMarketer on Wednesday to  Fortune, show Amazon’s e-commerce revenue rose 15.8% in the last 12 months to $82.7 billion. That is roughly the same clip as at Walmart (which reports results next week) which hit $12.5 billion. But because Amazon’s growth is from a much larger base, the chasm in dollars keeps widening – Fortune.com

Amazon is on a tear Courtesy: Fortune.com

… and then Search suddenly became Ask!

Again, this didn’t happen overnight itself. Siri has been around for quite a while, Google voice has been around as well but the folks at Amazon Alexa pushed harder.

Much harder as if it was Day 1. And the results are paying off…

Consumers are flocking to voice. By 2020 it’s projected that there will be over 1.83 billion people utilizing voice digital assistants – Greg Hodges from Agency Rain.

I couldn’t help but agree. I think that this number will be more since its much easier for folks to ask than type. Conversational and human centric engagement strategy is going to define how you are going to win and retain your customers.

Look what is happening already: from ordering pizza, flowers or just about anything to Uber rides to all other voice-prompted commands such as “increase room temperature” to “dimming room lights” to selecting the right flight, the voice assistants are there to help you.

This is going to spur a consumer engagement strategy across a wide range of activities and categories!

Alexa Skills are on the rise Courtesy: Voicelabs

And the interesting part is: the more they ask Alexa, the smarter she gets! Amazon Alexa already boasts some 10,000 skills and recently also launched a metric dashboard to “deepen skills engagement and drive retention” – as they state on their website.

Concluding

It is yet to be seen if Alexa will be the only player in town and also if advertisers and consumers – both corporate and pop & mom shops, are willing to pay the price for this new voice-enable engagement model.

There are also issues such as how to move the current voice-analytics model from current static utilitarian model such as “you ask and it does” to more advanced questions such as “Can I …”, “How to…” models and eventually more sophisticated queries where artificial intelligence "What if we went to..., instead of ... on vacation", "What school is best for my child, he is ..." is put to use.

Whatever the outcome, the fast adoption of voice-driven assistants such as Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Home etc. is a clear writing on the wall: we have entered the Age of Ask and typed Search may soon become a thing of the past.

This Post Was Originally Published at https://tarrysingh.com