Consumer Duty – How can contact centres help to comply?
Consumer Duty requirements were launched by the UK’s FCA in June 2023 and represent legally binding regulation for financial services. But what does t...
The introduction of ChatGPT by OpenAI brought artificial intelligence (AI) to the forefront of public and media attention. It sparked widespread interest by making AI (particularly generative AI) more accessible – and usable by those without technical expertise – than ever before.
While ChatGPT and similar AI-driven applications have captured the attention of individuals and organizations alike, it's important to recognize that these advancements are based on decades of research and development across various fields of AI, from natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to computer vision, robotics, and more.
Whitepaper
Build vs. Buy: Considerations for Your Conversation Intelligence Program
Everyone should be investing in generative AI, but when it comes to total cost of ownership it’s important to understand the implications of building your own AI-powered solution vs. licensing one
This steady progress in the background continues to push the boundaries of what AI can achieve, shaping the future of technology and its role in society. This blog explores innovative examples of AI use in data analytics that enhance the ability to process, analyze, and derive insights from vast amounts of data, including:
- What is artificial intelligence?
- Innovative examples of AI use in data analytics
- Frequently asked questions
What is artificial intelligence?
AI is a broad field of computer science focused on creating systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. These tasks include learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and understanding language.
AI systems are designed to mimic or replicate human cognitive functions, and they can be trained to accomplish a wide range of specific tasks.
There are numerous branches of AI, such as:
- Machine learning (ML): This subset of AI enables systems to learn from data, identify patterns, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. Machine learning algorithms continuously improve their performance as they ingest more data.
- Deep learning: Deep learning uses neural networks with many layers to analyze different aspects of data. This branch of AI is especially useful for tasks such as image and speech recognition.
- Natural language processing (NLP): NLP bridges human-computer interaction by enabling computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language in meaningful and useful ways.
- Robotics: This branch of AI involves the integration of AI algorithms with robots designed to perform tasks autonomously or with minimal human intervention.
- Computer vision: This subset of AI enables computers to interpret visual data and make decisions based on that data. Designed to mimic human vision, computer vision is used for tasks such as image recognition and object detection. In fact, computer vision is often used in conjunction with robotics to enable robots to navigate autonomously without running into objects in the environment.
- Expert systems: These AI systems use accumulated knowledge to make decisions or solve problems in specialized areas, mimicking the decision-making capabilities of a human subject-matter expert.
- Fuzzy logic: This branch of AI deals with reasoning when there’s a spectrum of possible answers or solutions rather than traditional true/false or yes/no binary logic. Fuzzy logic is often used when dealing with uncertainty, imprecision, and complexity in decision-making systems.
AI technologies have many applications, including in healthcare, finance, autonomous vehicles, customer service, and many other fields. For a closer look at the potential applications of AI in data analytics, we reached out to a panel of AI experts and asked them to answer this question:
“What is an innovative example of AI use in data analytics?”
Brian Brinkmann
Brian Brinkmann is the Chief Product Officer at Agilence. He is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience bringing analytics, data mining, machine learning, and AI products to market to improve business and organizational performance.
“A key promise of AI in data analytics is in…”
Increasing the labor productivity of analysts. One of the major challenges in nearly every business is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in their analytics or, more plainly, determine what is important and what is not.
The main challenge that analysts have is not a lack of information but prioritizing what information needs attention. The time and effort required to sift through it further compounds the problem.
AI can use well-proven machine learning models like Random Forest algorithms to detect anomalies or concerns in the data—areas that actually need attention—and separate them from false positives. This helps direct time-strapped staff to work on the most important issues that deliver the highest value to the company.
In this way, AI can significantly increase productivity. Over time, the AI can learn to optimize the process even more, becoming a virtuous cycle.
We are currently building AI/ML functionality into our data analytics product, particularly around anomaly detection for alerts. Our product integrates all of a retailer’s or restaurant’s data sources, such as POS data, inventory data, video data, and more.
Analysts use the tool to identify shrink, loss, or operational inefficiencies. Alerts can notify them when something looks off; however, there are often false positives.
Using ML, the users can train a model to better separate false positives in their data and better utilize the analysts’ time.
Sergey Solonenko
Sergey Solonenko is the Founder and CMO of Algocentric Digital Consultancy, who serves as a fractional CMO for various SaaS brands and actively strategizes digital transformations.
“In the landscape of data analytics, artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in…”
Transforming how data is analyzed, interpreted, and utilized across various sectors. An innovative example of AI use in data analytics is its application in predictive maintenance for industrial operations.
This involves AI algorithms analyzing data from equipment sensors to forecast potential failures before they happen, allowing for preemptive maintenance and significantly reducing downtime and costs.
AI is also revolutionizing customer service through the development of sophisticated chatbots and virtual assistants. These AI-driven solutions can handle complex inquiries, provide personalized recommendations, and even complete transactions autonomously, offering round-the-clock service without the need for human intervention.
Another notable innovation is the creation of AI-powered data analysis assistants. These tools leverage AI to interpret natural language prompts, perform data analysis, generate relevant code, and produce insightful visualizations, thereby simplifying the data analysis process and making it more accessible to users without deep technical expertise.
Furthermore, AI's application extends to optimizing strategies in competitive sports, such as using AI to enhance in-race strategies in motorsports. This showcases AI's ability to process and analyze vast amounts of real-time data to make strategic decisions, highlighting its versatility and potential to innovate in various niche areas.
Dmitriy Shelepin
Dmitriy Shelepin is the CEO and Head of SEO at Miromind.
“An innovative example of AI use in data analytics is the implementation of natural language processing (NLP) algorithms…”
NLP allows us to extract valuable insights from unstructured data, such as customer feedback, social media posts, and online reviews. By utilizing advanced linguistic models, we can analyze sentiment, identify key topics, and even detect sarcasm or irony in text data.
This AI-powered approach not only saves time and resources but also provides a deeper understanding of customer opinions and preferences. For instance, by analyzing millions of customer reviews, we were able to identify emerging trends in the market, helping us make data-driven decisions to optimize our product offerings.
To emphasize the positive impact of this innovation, let me share some statistics analytics data points:
- NLP algorithms enabled us to process and analyze 1 million customer reviews in just a few hours, compared to the manual process that took weeks.
- By leveraging NLP, we achieved a 20% increase in customer satisfaction by promptly addressing negative feedback and improving our products accordingly.
- Through NLP algorithms, we identified emerging customer preferences, leading to a 15% increase in sales of our newly launched product line.
- Implementing NLP in our data analytics workflow resulted in a 30% reduction in time and resources spent on manual data processing, allowing our team to focus on more strategic initiatives.
By leveraging the power of AI and NLP in data analytics, we have not only improved our business performance but also gained valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends. This innovative approach has proven to be a game-changer in our industry, enabling us to make informed decisions and stay one step ahead of the competition.
Andrei Vasilescu
Andrei Vasilescu is the Co-Founder & CEO of DontPayFull and brings extensive expertise in finance, economics, business, and marketing to the table.
“There's this cool AI thing called GANs (generative adversarial networks) that really amazes me…”
It's like a magic tool that makes up new data. So, if we need info on customers we haven't met yet, GANs can quickly make up this data that looks very real but is actually made up. This way, we can improve what we sell without waiting forever.
This isn't just make-believe. Businesses are already using it to do awesome stuff, like making special marketing plans for new groups of people, testing products in fake but realistic situations, and even creating fake medical images to help train AI in healthcare.
It's super exciting to see AI changing how we handle data, turning our ideas into something we can see and use. It's a big deal for all kinds of businesses, making everything much faster and smarter.
Nimrod Vromen
Nimrod Vromen is a Startup Consultant and Host at CTech.
“The generation of synthetic data is the most advantageous implementation of AI within the domain of analytics…”
Indeed, by 2030, it is anticipated that the majority of training AI models will consist of synthetic data. Data scientists and machine learning technologists may find this particularly valuable.
Training datasets, for instance, may be generated and incorporated into machine-learning models. This can be accomplished with either free or paid applications, such as ChatGPT, Mostly AI, or Gretel AI.
This facilitates the evaluation of various models by allowing them to be tested on the generated data. This proves to be particularly advantageous when training on datasets that are challenging to acquire, such as videos and images, among other media types.
Anna Harris
Anna Harris is an ESL instructor at California Degrees.
“It is recommended that data analysts who work frequently with Excel or other spreadsheet applications consider implementing AI to…”
Automate the data input process from images. This feature is particularly advantageous when gathering substantial quantities of data from images or documents, as it enables the expeditious input of the required information without the need for manual intervention.
Excel's insert data from image function and similar tools can assist with this task. It can convert images of tabular data into digital datasets via computer vision on the backend, thereby conserving considerable time and effort.
This functionality proves to be particularly advantageous for enterprises operating within the healthcare sector that require the processing of substantial volumes of images, including X-rays and MRIs. These organizations can utilize AI to efficiently extract and enter vital data from these images with precision and velocity.
Jan Chapman
Jan Chapman is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of MSP Blueshift, with 20 years of IT experience, a Master's in Networking, and many industry certifications.
“I have personally observed the revolutionary impact of AI in data analytics…”
Predictive analytics, which uses machine learning algorithms to examine past data and forecast future trends, behaviors, and results, is one especially creative use of AI. By allowing more informed decision-making based on predicted insights rather than just historical data, this technology is transforming several sectors.
AI-driven predictive analytics, for example, may estimate consumer purchase behavior in the retail industry, manage inventory levels, and improve customer experience by customizing suggestions. This not only lowers expenses and improves efficiency, but it also greatly raises customer happiness and loyalty.
The use of AI in data analytics is a prime example of how complicated IT solutions may provide significant and dependable business benefits when implemented simply and skillfully.
Usama Khan
Usama Khan is the manager at JustReply.
“AI has great potential in generating interactive dashboards and reports…”
One illustration of how an AI-powered application can be utilized to efficiently compile data from various sources into an intuitive dashboard or report is Tableau GPT.
Data visualization proficiency is not even an absolute prerequisite. The AI will format the data into a user-friendly chart or graph as soon as you select the data to be included in the visualization.
Furthermore, an additional inventive approach to utilizing AI to aid in creating aesthetically pleasing charts is to employ the Midjourney AI to generate visually appealing concepts for dashboards pertinent to your analysis.
Dhanvin Sriram
Dhanvin is an AI expert and the founder of Prompt Vibes, an AI company, and has a great deal of experience working in AI.
“Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) is like having a smart assistant for data analytics…”
It simplifies the complex process of building machine learning models by automating tasks that typically require expertise. It handles the nitty-gritty details like choosing the right model, tweaking settings, and fine-tuning parameters.
With AutoML, even if you're not a hardcore data scientist, you can easily harness the power of machine learning.
It's all about democratizing data analysis and making it accessible to folks beyond the coding elite. AutoML tools explore various models, select the best fit, and optimize performance, saving time and resources.
This allows businesses and analysts to focus on what they do best—interpreting insights and making informed decisions. AutoML is the AI-driven shortcut to turning raw data into actionable intelligence, making data analytics more user-friendly and efficient.
James Gibson
James Gibson is a Digital Marketing Manager at Camsurf.
“In the case of contextual sentiment analysis, I would say that NER (named entity recognition) is definitely an essential component…”
Identifying and classifying items mentioned in the text, such as persons, places, organizations, and products, is a part of this process. A grasp of the context of the sentiment and the ability to associate it with certain entities are both facilitated by this.
Instead of providing an overall sentiment for a piece of text, aspect-based sentiment analysis breaks down the sentiment depending on specific characteristics or qualities referenced in the text.
In the context of a restaurant review, it is possible to discriminate between feelings concerning the quality of the cuisine, the speed of the service, the atmosphere, and other aspects.
During the training process, the underlying machine learning models are trained on enormous datasets that contain instances that have been annotated to learn the complexities of language and feel. These models have the ability to continuously develop and adapt to patterns and expressions of language that are always evolving.
Ryan Carrigan
Ryan is a real estate and interior design expert, as well as the owner of moveBuddha.
“Data analytics have made a huge advancement with AI, and sentiment analysis is an innovation that's excited me most…”
We're now able to look at market trends and make predictions on a microscopic level, not just by city but by specific neighborhoods or even single blocks.
AI tools can look far beyond what our manual labor could actively manage, gathering massive amounts of data from news articles, local blogs, social media, and even citizen commentary on Nextdoor.
Being able to gauge the emotional tone of an area opens opportunities in predictive modeling. Are people frustrated with traffic congestion, excited about a new development, or nervous about rising crime? Such personal insights like this are what ultimately shape future trends, allowing companies like ours to anticipate and embrace market shifts.
AI helps me pursue my gut feelings with confidence. Predicting potential downturns or advising clients on a property's potential, I can use AI as a launching point to gather more concrete and valuable information.
Philip Portman
Philip Portman is the Founder/CEO of Textdrip, a business texting platform for e-commerce, insurance, hotels & hospitality, real estate, and healthcare. He has created several startups from the ground up, such as landlineremover.com, argosautomation.com, and recruitdrip.com. He is a leading expert in SMS marketing and automation in digital marketing.
“In traditional manufacturing settings, equipment maintenance schedules are often based on…”
Fixed intervals or reactive responses to breakdowns, leading to costly downtime and inefficient resource allocation. However, with AI-powered predictive maintenance, we can analyze vast amounts of data from sensors and equipment to forecast when maintenance is needed before failures occur.
By leveraging machine learning algorithms, we can detect patterns and anomalies in equipment performance data, identifying early signs of potential failures. This allows us to schedule maintenance proactively, minimizing unplanned downtime, reducing maintenance costs, and optimizing overall equipment efficiency.
Implementing AI-driven predictive maintenance not only enhances operational efficiency but also transforms maintenance practices from reactive to proactive, ultimately leading to significant cost savings and improved productivity in manufacturing environments.
Nick Robinson
Nick Robinson is the co-founder of Pick and Pull Sell Car, an instrumental platform that connects buyers with the perfect used car parts they need.
“Predictive maintenance for industrial equipment is a novel application of artificial intelligence in data analytics…”
Businesses can use machine learning algorithms and Internet of Things sensors to analyze real-time data and predict equipment faults before they happen. This method is unique in that it can spot minute trends and anomalies in the data, making it possible to schedule preventative maintenance and reduce expensive downtime.
AI-driven predictive maintenance solutions can maximize equipment performance, increase asset longevity, and save maintenance costs by continuously learning from past data and sensor feedback.
This creative application of AI gives a competitive edge in today's fiercely competitive manufacturing environment by improving operational efficiency and guaranteeing safety and dependability in crucial industrial operations.
Pragnya Singh
Pragnya Singh works as a Senior Digital Marketer at SocialPilot, a B2B social media management tool (with AI capabilities).
“Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are a type of advanced technology used in data analytics to create synthetic data samples…”
They consist of two interconnected networks, a generator and a discriminator, working together to produce realistic data. GANs are particularly beneficial in industries like healthcare and finance, where privacy is a top concern. They enable organizations to perform thorough analytics and develop machine learning models without risking sensitive information.
GANs help tackle the issue of limited data availability by augmenting existing datasets with synthetic samples, making insights more reliable. They also offer a cost-effective alternative to collecting large amounts of real data.
Moreover, GANs ensure that the synthetic data closely mirrors the original data distribution, enhancing the accuracy of machine learning algorithms trained on it. By leveraging GANs, organizations can share synthetic datasets without compromising privacy, contributing to advancements in data privacy.
Synthetic data generation can be tailored to specific needs, making it a versatile tool in various applications of data analytics. Overall, GANs provide a cutting-edge solution for generating realistic data while preserving privacy and confidentiality.
Peter Wood
Peter Wood is a distinguished 3-time tech founder and CTO at Spectrum Search, boasting a proven track record in scaling businesses and securing significant capital. With over a decade in the tech industry, he has mastered the art of innovation and strategic leadership.
“The intersection of AI and data analytics has been a fertile ground for innovation, particularly in the domain of…”
Recruitment and talent acquisition.
An example that stands out, drawn from my own work, involves the development of a proprietary technology platform that leverages large language models and vector databases. This platform has significantly transformed how we manage and understand vast amounts of candidate and client data, providing deeper insights and automating complex processes.
My journey in the tech industry, spanning over a decade, has given me the privilege to lead and advise on numerous projects that push the envelope of what's possible with AI. At Spectrum Search, we've taken this to a new level by building an internal large language model tailored for the recruitment sector.
This model uses vector databases to store and process data, enabling us to connect a highly sophisticated chatbot that can engage with both candidates and clients in a much more meaningful way than traditional methods.
This approach to data analytics is innovative for several reasons. First, it allows for real-time processing and analysis of data, which is crucial in the fast-paced world of recruitment. By using AI to understand the nuances of candidate qualifications, experiences, and preferences, we can match them with potential employers more accurately and efficiently.
The use of vector databases enables us to perform complex queries across large datasets quickly, identifying patterns and insights that would be impossible for humans to discern unaided.
The chatbot we've developed is another key component of our innovative approach. It's not just a simple interface for interaction; it's an integral part of our data analytics process.
By engaging directly with users, it collects valuable data on their needs and preferences, which feeds back into our AI models. This creates a continuous loop of improvement and personalization, ensuring our platform becomes more effective over time.
Moreover, integrating tools like Zapier has allowed us to automate workflows and connect various platforms seamlessly, enhancing our operational efficiency. This is particularly important in a startup environment where resources are often limited.
Automation frees up our team to focus on more strategic tasks, ensuring that we can scale our business effectively without compromising on the quality of our service.
The impact of this technology on the recruitment sector has been profound. Not only has it improved the efficiency and accuracy of our matching process, but it has also enhanced the overall experience for both clients and candidates.
By providing deeper insights into the data, we can offer more personalized advice and support, helping individuals to find the right opportunities and organisations to identify the best talent.
In summary, the use of large language models and vector databases in recruitment represents a significant leap forward in the application of AI in data analytics. It exemplifies how innovative technology can solve real-world problems, transforming industries and improving lives.
As someone deeply involved in the development and application of these technologies, I'm excited about the potential they hold for the future, not just in recruitment but across a wide range of sectors.
Brian David Crane
Brian is the founder of CallerSmart, an anti-phishing software development company that helps you investigate mystery phone numbers and avoid unwanted calls and texts.
“An innovative example of AI use in data analytics is sentiment (thoughts & emotions) analysis, where it…”
Analyzes customer feedback about brands or experiences online, the emotional tone of the message, etc, to analyze if it is neutral, positive, or negative. This data can come from diverse
sources like customer support chat analysis, customer reviews, surveys, product feedback, social media comments, etc.
Sentiment analysis tools can help customer care personalize messages based on the mood of the conversation, and PR teams can constantly monitor brand mentions to solve any customer challenges or use positive feedback productively.
It can help marketers learn what customers want, patterns and trends, and their pain points, and improve their product offerings. Marketers can also analyze how their marketing campaigns perform online and pivot or tweak it if needed based on data analytics.
A good example is Airbnb, which uses sentiment analysis to analyze communications between guests and hosts in the form of reviews, messages, and complaints (cleanliness/safety concerns) and takes swift steps (verify safety protocols and address cleanliness issues with the host) to solve concerns in real time.
Michael Hurwitz
Michael Hurwitz is the dedicated and visionary CEO and Co-Founder of Careers In Government (CIG), a platform that connects qualified individuals with rewarding careers in government and the public sector. Michael, with his rich experience in public sector employment, recognized the need for a forum to facilitate the exchange of news and information and job opportunities for the 20 million Americans seeking public sector careers.
“An innovative example of AI use in data analytics revolves around the integration of…”
Advanced business intelligence (BI) platforms that empower non-technical users to derive insights from data without the need for extensive data science expertise. These platforms leverage AI algorithms to automate data processing, analysis, and report generation, significantly reducing the time and resources traditionally required for such tasks.
By democratizing access to data and analytical tools, organizations can enable frontline employees who possess deep domain knowledge to directly engage with data, identify patterns, and make data-driven decisions in real-time. This approach aligns with the principle of achieving quick wins by rapidly demonstrating the value of BI investments to management and stakeholders.
Moreover, AI-driven BI solutions excel in automating routine tasks, such as invoice processing, claims management in insurance, or monitoring internet traffic for anomalies in data security. These systems can efficiently process vast amounts of data, allowing organizations to enhance operational efficiency and mitigate risks proactively.
However, the development of AI algorithms demands careful consideration to prevent biases that could skew outcomes. Organizations must prioritize data cleanliness and transparency, ensuring that algorithms are trained on unbiased, well-labeled datasets to generate accurate insights.
The garbage in, garbage out adage underscores the importance of robust data governance practices in AI-driven analytics.
Volodymyr Mudryi
Volodymyr Mudryi is a data scientist and AI/ML engineer at Intelliarts with more than 5 years of experience. He is a certified ML engineer in applied AI with deep learning, advanced ML, and Signal. Volodymyr is currently working on his PhD in Intelligent Systems. He is also a lecturer on machine learning at IT Education Academy and AI House.
“Basically, this question can be split into two sections…”
One devoted to using AI directly in data analysis, and the other focused on using AI to streamline additional processes related to the business domain of data analytics.
In the first scenario, when you are doing data analysis, you often have to write large amounts of simple code to format data and plot graphs correctly, making them easy to read and understand.
In this matter, code generation, which can be done by specialized models as well as by relatively simple solutions like ChatGPT, is a huge improvement because it can learn your main pattern and then help with formatting, speeding up the work with data in this way.
Another good example is using conversational AI to plan a story you want to tell with data and to ask you questions about the data. From my experience, it is really useful to have an additional perspective and to have some general questions generated, to use as inspiration in your work later.
Besides, AI can generate possible risk points in your data. This helps to plan for avoiding them in the future. It’s also useful to double-check and have another viewpoint on your data.
In the second scenario, when you think more about putting the ready analysis to use, AI can help with auto data report generation. Earlier, there was a problem when you faced a huge dataset: you couldn't inspect each column.
You can run code or use tools that will generate analysis, but usually, you have a mess and useless columns in the dataset, so auto analysis will take lots of time and probably not give any useful information. When AI comes into data analysis, it helps with that because there are a lot of tools that can do “intelligent” searches and generate a few useful insights pretty fast.
Additionally, AI helps a lot during presentation preparation. It can generate the best slide layout, make a summarization of your analysis, and generate some meaningful text to help every audience understand your findings.
In essence, AI can be viewed as an assistant, streamlining and simplifying some of the tedious tasks. It’s both useful in actual data analysis and in presenting its results.
Eric Callahan
Eric Callahan is Principal, Data Solutions at Pickaxe Foundry. After a decade of doing Analytics at big corporations, he’s spent the last five years helping clients with full-stack data science challenges, mostly focused on driving outcomes through attention to data quality.
“During the recent generative AI boom, one of my favorite applications in data analytics has been…”
The ability to quickly summarize datasets in plain English.
While most of the mainstream attention has been focused on generating text from text, I believe that the models focused on producing outputs like, “Your highest spending customer is John Doe, and his most purchased product is phone chargers,” is a great way to make big data accessible and interpretable to a less technical audience.
Steve Feiner
Steve Feiner is the CEO and Founder of Tech Jive.
“Here are a few innovative examples of AI use in data analytics…”
- Automating Repetitive Mental Tasks: Businesses have been using AI for years to automate manual processes like data entry. These days, cognitive duties like writing letters and summarizing reports are handled by next-generation intelligence technologies like generative AI. These days, AI is handling some of the tedious tasks. A large portion of our work involves repetitive, tedious tasks, and AI excels at this.
- Quickness And Effectiveness: Because AI systems digest data far more quickly than humans, your analyses will yield more accurate and timely insights. Organizations find it simpler to make decisions and take swift action as a result. Additionally, humans are not able to properly recall all of the commands or library syntaxes used by the various data analysis libraries. You may easily seek up these commands with the aid of an AI assistant, which can also offer different angles for your analysis.
- Automated Communication and Analysis: Generative AI can automate regular data analysis processes that consume too much of an analyst's time, freeing them up for higher-order work. In order to communicate with non-technical stakeholders more effectively, generative AI can also transform technical conclusions into plain English.
Brian Prince
Brian Prince is the CEO of TopAITools.com, an AI resource and educational hub.
“I’ve spotted AI in use for …”
Hyperpersonalization in e-commerce to predict churn for subscription-based services, and to detect anomalies in datasets, which could indicate fraud, network intrusions, or simply operational inefficiencies.
For instance, Amazon uses predictive analytics to offer personalized product recommendations and dynamic homepages tailored to individual customer behaviors and preferences.
By analyzing historical and real-time data, Amazon anticipates customer needs, presenting products and bundles that are most relevant to the shopper's search history and past purchases. This not only enhances the customer experience but also increases the likelihood of purchases.
Subscription service Stitch Fix leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning extensively to tailor its offerings to individual customer preferences, which plays a crucial role in reducing churn.
The company combines AI with human judgment to curate clothing items for its customers. Customers provide their style preferences, sizes, and other relevant information, which Stitch Fix's AI uses to select items.
Personal stylists then review these selections, ensuring they align with the customer’s taste before sending them out. This unique blend of AI and human insight allows for continuous improvement in recommendations, as customer feedback on kept and returned items is used to refine future selections.
Customer feedback is a goldmine of data that Stitch Fix uses to refine its AI algorithms continually. This feedback loop allows the service to improve its accuracy in predicting what customers will like, leading to higher satisfaction rates and lower return rates.
As the founder and former CEO of Hotel Hotline, one of the first travel booking websites, this case study on Holiday Inn Club Vacations also caught my eye. I think we will see more AI use in innovative applications in both the travel and the debt collection industries over the coming decade.
AI and machine learning (ML) technologies can enhance the efficiency of the debt collection process by optimizing communication strategies, predicting customer behavior, and personalizing the debt collection experience.
Data analysis and behavioral science, combined, can offer a more tailored approach to each individual customer. That will improve the success rate of collections and ensure compliance with communications regulations.
Travel companies, for their part, are already using sentiment analysis on reviews and social media mentions to gauge customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. This helps them tailor services and address issues more effectively.
Phil Blackwell
Phil Blackwell is the Chief Technology Officer at WHYZE Health.
“Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data to find trends and answer questions…”
It has a broad scope across the field. This process includes many different techniques and goals that can shift from industry to industry.
Artificial intelligence (known as AI) is a set of technologies that enable computers to perform a variety of advanced functions, including the ability to see, understand, and translate spoken and written language, as well as analyze data it can make recommendations based on the information, and more. AI is the backbone of innovation in the WHYZE Health Data as a Service (DaaS) platform.
WHYZE Health's innovative AI platform is revolutionizing the landscape of healthcare data analytics by redefining how healthcare data is collected, managed, analyzed, and leveraged. At the core of this innovation lies sophisticated AI algorithms that process vast amounts of disparate healthcare data, ranging from electronic health records (EHRs) and patient self-generated outcomes from real-world treatments.
By employing advanced machine learning techniques, WHYZE Health can uncover intricate patterns, correlations, and insights within this data that would otherwise remain hidden. Moreover, the platform integrates cutting-edge data management technologies to ensure the security and integrity of healthcare data across systems and sources.
One of the key strengths of WHYZE Health's AI platform is its ability to empower healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and MedTech firms in two particular critical areas:
- By leveraging AI-driven analytics, healthcare providers can optimize treatment plans and interventions tailored to individual patient needs, leading to more personalized and effective care.
- WHYZE Health's AI platform plays a pivotal role in streamlining clinical trial recruitment processes by identifying eligible patients more efficiently and effectively. By analyzing patient data and characteristics, the platform can pinpoint individuals who meet specific criteria for clinical trials, thereby accelerating the recruitment process and reducing associated costs and timelines.
This capability not only benefits pharmaceutical companies and research organizations but also facilitates crucial access to cutting-edge treatments and therapies for patients.
WHYZE Health's AI platform represents a transformative force in healthcare data analytics, empowering stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to optimize treatment plans, enhance patient outcomes, and streamline clinical trial recruitment processes. By harnessing the power of AI-driven insights and analytics, WHYZE Health is poised to drive innovation and improve healthcare.
Colin Hannan
Colin Hannan is the Principal of Proven Partners, a real estate marketing agency that helps businesses grow and improve their operations. With a deep understanding of international real estate development, built upon two decades of personal experience across the globe, Colin has successfully developed, launched, and repositioned residential and resort developments in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
“One innovative example of AI in data analytics involves using…”
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create synthetic data.
GANs are essentially two neural networks: one generator creating fake data, and one discriminator trying to tell real from fake. As they compete, the generator gets better at mimicking real data, leading to highly realistic synthetic datasets.
This synthetic data can be incredibly valuable in situations where real data is scarce or sensitive. For example, medical researchers might use GANs to create synthetic patient records for training AI diagnostic tools without compromising patient privacy.
Similarly, companies can use synthetic financial data to test new fraud detection algorithms without risking exposing real financial transactions.
This ability to create realistic, artificial data opens up exciting possibilities for data analysis. It allows researchers and businesses to explore scenarios, test models, and develop new insights without relying on limited or sensitive real-world data.
As AI continues to evolve, we can expect even more innovative uses of synthetic data to emerge in the future.
Janga Bussaja
Janga Bussaja is a philosopher and social entrepreneur behind Planetary Chess, an initiative leveraging chess strategies to combat systemic racism. His innovative use of AI in public relations has garnered significant media attention.
“One standout innovation in our use of AI for data analytics is the development of…”
Media Magic Mike, a custom-built AI tool designed to enhance our public relations efforts.
This tool leverages advanced data analytics to craft compelling media pitches, tailoring each message to the specific interests and needs of the media outlet we're engaging with.
By analyzing vast amounts of data on media trends, outlet preferences, and successful pitch elements, Media Magic Mike can generate pitches that resonate deeply, ensuring our message about systemic change reaches a wider audience.
This strategic use of AI in analyzing and synthesizing data for media outreach has resulted in over 25 media wins in just four months, a testament to the tool's effectiveness in navigating the complex landscape of public relations. It's a prime example of how AI can be harnessed not just for operational efficiency, but for strategic communication and societal impact.
Diana Zheng
Diana Zheng, Head of Marketing at Stallion Express, is a results-driven professional with diverse fitness, hospitality, and education backgrounds. With a proven track record in revenue generation and relationship building, she has successfully led two personal training businesses. At Stallion Express, Diana empowers Canadian eCommerce sellers with comprehensive shipping solutions.
“As Stallion Express’ Head of Marketing, I’ve seen the impact of AI on data analytics first-hand…”
One of our innovations is using AI-powered predictive analytics to improve shipping performance. We use machine learning algorithms to analyze historic shipping data, discover trends, and forecast peak periods to improve our operations.
This technology enables us to optimize resource allocation, streamline operations, and deliver on time, ultimately increasing customer satisfaction. AI-driven analytics improve operational effectiveness and provide insights into customer needs and market trends that enable us to adapt our services to changing needs.
Adding AI to our data analytics strategy has proven to be a game-changer in terms of cost-efficiency and quality of service. As a pioneer in Canada’s eCommerce shipping sector, our dedication to innovation and use of cutting-edge technology such as AI sets us apart, ensuring a smooth and dependable shipping experience for our customers.
Max Shak
Max Shak is the Founder & CEO of nerDigital.
“At nerDigital, we've harnessed the capabilities of AI in data analytics to revolutionize our marketing strategies…”
One standout example is the implementation of predictive customer segmentation for personalized marketing. This innovative approach involves leveraging AI algorithms to analyze vast datasets, identifying patterns and behaviors that human analysis might overlook.
Key Components of the AI Solution
- Machine Learning Algorithms: We employ advanced machine learning algorithms that can autonomously analyze historical customer data, identifying nuanced patterns related to purchasing behavior, preferences, and engagement levels. This goes beyond traditional segmentation, allowing us to predict future customer actions.
- Dynamic Customer Profiles: Our AI system dynamically creates customer profiles based on real-time data inputs. This ensures that the segmentation is not static but adapts to evolving customer preferences, ensuring a continuous and personalized experience.
- Predictive Analytics: The predictive aspect is a game-changer. By anticipating customer needs and behaviors, we can proactively tailor marketing messages, product recommendations, and promotional offers. This has resulted in a significant increase in customer engagement and conversion rates.
Benefits and Impact on Business
- Precision Targeting: Our AI-driven predictive customer segmentation allows for precision targeting. Instead of generic marketing campaigns, we can tailor messages to specific customer segments, increasing the relevance of our communications.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction: Personalized marketing fosters a sense of connection with our customers. By delivering content and offers that align with their preferences, we've witnessed an uptick in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Optimized Marketing Spend: AI-powered predictive analytics enables us to optimize our marketing spend. By directing resources towards campaigns that are more likely to resonate with specific customer segments, we've achieved a more efficient allocation of our marketing budget.
In conclusion, the innovative use of AI in data analytics, particularly in predictive customer segmentation, has empowered nerDigital to elevate our marketing strategies. This approach not only enhances customer experiences but also drives tan gible business results, demonstrating the transformative impact of AI in the realm of data analytics.
Julia Lozanov
Julia Lozanov is the Chief Editor at Verpex, a web hosting company with a diverse range of hosting plans, including reseller, WordPress, cloud, shared, and managed to host, suitable for entrepreneurs, agencies, and individuals.
“One innovative use of AI in data analytics is…”
Predictive maintenance. By harnessing machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze vast amounts of sensor data from machinery to predict when equipment is likely to fail.
This proactive approach enables businesses to schedule maintenance before breakdowns occur, minimizing downtime and reducing maintenance costs.
AI can identify patterns and anomalies in data that humans might overlook, providing more accurate predictions and optimizing maintenance schedules.
This application not only increases operational efficiency but also enhances equipment reliability, ultimately leading to cost savings and improved productivity for businesses across various industries.
Sheldon Niu
Sheldon, formerly a senior data engineer at TikTok, is now the founder of AskYourDatabase.
“Non-technical professionals such as marketers, sales personnel, and executives in SMEs frequently require database insights to inform their decisions…”
Traditionally, accessing these insights involved either:
The development of specialized internal tools like PowerBI or Retool for recurring analysis needs.
A time-consuming process where non-tech staff communicate their ad-hoc queries to developers, who then write and execute SQL queries to retrieve the needed information.
These two ways both result in a back-and-forth exchange that can slow down decision-making processes.
The advent of AI technology has enabled non-technical users to directly chat with databases using natural language. This innovation allows them to obtain insights without the need for custom-built tools or constant developer intervention.
AI tools such as AskYourDatabase and ChatGPT Data Analyst are at the forefront of this change.
AskYourDatabase offers a platform where users can converse with SQL databases to perform advanced data analysis, significantly enhancing productivity. It is currently used by over 500 companies as a replacement for traditional business intelligence tools.
ChatGPT Data Analyst provides a web-based solution focused on analyzing CSV file data through a chat interface, making data analysis accessible to non-technical users.
These tools exemplify how AI is making database insights more directly accessible to those who need them, streamlining the decision-making process in businesses.
Irene Graham
Irene Graham is the Co-Founder of Spylix.
“In our entrepreneurial journey at Spylix, one innovative application of AI in data analytics has been…”
Our dynamic content recommendation system. Leveraging AI algorithms, we've transformed user engagement by tailoring content suggestions based on individual preferences, behavior, and real-time interactions.
The system employs machine learning to analyze vast datasets, understand user preferences, and predict content relevance. This personalized approach enhances user experience, driving increased engagement and satisfaction.
The impact on our business has been substantial. By harnessing AI for content recommendations, we've witnessed a remarkable 40% increase in user engagement. The system continuously refines its understanding through user feedback, ensuring that recommendations stay relevant and aligned with evolving user preferences.
AI-driven content recommendations not only optimize user experience but also contribute to increased content consumption and user retention. It's a testament to how innovative AI applications in data analytics can elevate user interactions, fostering a dynamic and personalized platform experience at Spylix.
When it comes to customer feedback, most organizations aren't getting the whole picture.
— CallMiner, Inc. (@CallMiner) February 27, 2024
The best way to uncover actionable insights? An omnichannel approach supported by conversation intelligence tools. Read our blog to learn how technology can support a holistic #CX approach.
AI has been used in data analytics for years, yet it’s still in its infancy. As technology advances, more innovative use cases will continue to emerge. However, there are already many innovative, proven uses of AI in data analytics in practice today.
AI-driven conversation intelligence platforms like CallMiner, for instance, analyze customer interactions across channels to gain valuable insights about customers’ wants, needs, thoughts, and emotions. These insights help to inform product development, improve the customer experience, boost sales effectiveness, and much more, impacting every facet of modern business operations.
Frequently asked questions
How will AI impact data analytics?
AI significantly enhances data analytics by automating the process of data processing and analysis, making it faster and more efficient. It can identify patterns and insights in large datasets that humans may overlook, leading to more accurate and data-driven decision-making.
AI also enables predictive analytics, allowing businesses to accurately forecast future trends and outcomes. Additionally, it can improve the quality of data analysis by reducing errors and biases inherent in manual processes.
What are AI techniques in big data analytics?
AI techniques in big data analytics include machine learning (ML), deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and neural networks, among others. Machine learning algorithms can analyze and learn from data, making predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed.
Deep learning, a subset of ML, uses neural networks with multiple layers to analyze complex patterns in large datasets. NLP allows computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language, making it possible to analyze text data at scale. These techniques can uncover insights from vast and diverse datasets, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of big data analytics.
Is AI going to replace data analysts?
While AI can automate many tasks associated with data analysis, it is unlikely to completely replace data analysts. Data analysts play a crucial role in interpreting data, providing context, and making judgment-based decisions that AI cannot replicate.
AI and data analysts can work together, with AI handling large-scale data processing and initial analysis, while data analysts focus on more complex, nuanced interpretation and strategic decision-making.
However, the role of data analysts may evolve, requiring them to adapt and develop new skills, such as managing AI systems and interpreting AI-generated insights.
