Where do we go from here? Embracing the future of chatbots and messaging apps

Previous post here.

Technological and behavioral changes are already here 

What have we learned from previous articles: 

1) Breakthroughs in AI is enabling intelligent service agents to communicate with humans through chat and voice, allowing a whole new way to interact with applications (by talking to them)

2) People are now on messaging services rather than social networks, and the messaging apps are becoming platforms for independent applications

3) Invisible applications utilize user behavior data to better guess the need of the customer based on their habits

4) Enterprise applications are already a 100b+ USD market, yet if we look at China, we see that the future is in “Conversational commerce”

What does this mean for the business?

Say goodbye to the user interface, and everything that relies on it. Why make a sophisticated application and make the user go through hoops of weird UI designs to achieve their goal, when now we can develop the means to understand what the user is talking about or what they are typing? This poses a whole new set of challenges for UX design, but it fundamentally changes how we interact with our computers.

To navigate these shifting waters, businesses need to do the following:

1) Look into what sort of business processes or tasks you have at the present that can be augmented by intelligent virtual agents or AI technology. The solutions might already be out there, and taking a proactive approach will put you ahead of your competition.

2) Seek consultants or companies specializing in integrating your business to the dominant chat platforms. If you have your own resources, commit to a roadmap that puts you on the messaging platforms by the end of 2016.

3) Think of ways that the innovations in the field of messaging and AI can aid your existing core business by extending your product offering. The shift in interaction may unveil new opportunities beyond just migrating your customer facing channels.

4) Keep a cool head. AI is already becoming the buzzword of 2016, and you should be prepared that a lot of people will pitch services to you without the underlying technology. It’s a gold rush after all, do your best to not get burned.

The customer behavior is going to change, an so does business

By the end of 2016, the consumer will feel that interacting with the machines through automated agents is normal. This means that any business who wants to stay competitive needs to adapt to the new reality, and we will see a similar commodification of custom business chatbots as we have seen with mobile apps.

In summary, here’s the graph that needs to be understood with the above in mind, as it carries world-changing ramifications:

Source: Business Insider

It’s going to be an exciting year ahead.

We hope that we have helped to prepare you for what’s coming next.