In the dynamic realm of modern marketing, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a crucial asset for businesses seeking to secure a competitive edge. This series of blogs delves into the dynamic intersection of AI and marketing strategies, uncovering how intelligent algorithms and machine learning are reshaping the landscape. From crafting personalized customer experiences to facilitating data-driven decision-making, join us as we explore the transformative power of AI in marketing. These articles provide insights and practical applications, catering to both seasoned marketers and those embarking on their digital journey. By demystifying the role of AI, we aim to shed light on its profound impact on the future of marketing.
Recent surveys, studies, forecasts and other quantitative assessments of the progress of AI found that
·      Business leaders say chatbots have increased sales by 67% on average
·      Over 60% of Americans believe the government and companies collect data about them daily
·      Only 14% of large organizations worldwide plan to deploy AI-based solutions in 2020
87% of consumers prefer humans to chatbots for quick interactions
AI business Impact
Business leaders saved an average of $300,000 in 2019 from their chatbots, with the greatest impact occurring across support and sales teams; the sales function is the most common use case for chatbots (41%), followed closely by support (37%) and marketing (17%); chatbots increased sales by an average of 67%, with 26% of all sales starting through a chatbot interaction; 35% of business leaders said chatbots helped them close sales deals; top automated tasks performed by chatbots are routing website visitors, collecting information, and qualifying leads; chatbots speed up response times by an average of 4x and increase customer support satisfaction scores by 24% [Intercom survey of 500 business leaders]
AI consumer adoption
74% of consumers expect to encounter a chatbot on a website, and 87% still prefer humans to chatbots for quick interactions; 25% of consumers wouldn’t care if they’re talking to a human or a chatbot, as long as they get to their desired outcome; consumers say humans are better at answering a variety of questions, understanding complex situations, and they can “understand me” better; consumers say chatbots are better because they are available 24/7, they reduce hold times, and are quick in routing to the right team [Intercom survey of 500 U.S. consumers]
AI business adoption
68% of news organizations worldwide say AI could make journalists’ work more efficient, 45% say it could deliver more relevant content to users and 18% say it could improve business efficiency; just under half of news organizations said they use AI for newsgathering, two-thirds said they used it for production and just over half said they employed AI for distribution; half of the organizations surveyed felt they were AI-ready and half were just starting or still planning to use AI; the biggest challenges to AI adoption are financial resources (27%) knowledge or skills (24%), and cultural resistance (24%) [London School of Economics survey of 71 news organizations from 32 different countries]
Only 22% of CRM users say AI meaningfully helps them a lot at work and only 12% actually use a specific AI-based tool; 11% say AI in their CRM allows them to focus on high-value customers and 36% CRM think AI is a strong value for the money spent on it [Dynata and Freshworks survey of 501 U.S. CRM users]
Only 14% of large organizations (10,000–50,000 employees) plan to deploy AI-based solutions in 2020 [Netwrix survey of 1,045 IT professionals worldwide]
The future of work
Stanford’s Michael Webb has developed a new methodology to estimate the impact of AI on jobs: Matching patent applications with job descriptions, he found that “AI exposure is highest for high-skilled occupations, suggesting that AI will affect very different people than software and robots,” concluding that “high-wage occupations are relatively more exposed to AI than low-wage occupations” [The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market]
75.4% of American workers say they do not view their jobs as being at risk of elimination due to new automation technologies anytime within the next decade; 63.3% say they think they could be better at their jobs if automating certain tasks allowed them to do more in less time; 72.5% say the idea of humans and automation technologies working together interests them; 67.7% say that they would be more likely to apply to work for a company investing in new automation technologies; 58.3% say their employers are providing either some (44.8%) or a lot (13.5%) of training and/or resources to help them keep current with changes in technology; 41.3% of millennials say they have been assisted by an automation program in 2019, saving them from doing parts of their jobs that were repetitive and boring [SYKES survey of 1,500 employed adult Americans]
The contribution of software robots, or digital workers, to the global workforce will increase by over 50% in the next two years; for example, 18% of activities related to reasoning and decision making will be performed by machines [IDC and ABBYY worldwide survey of 500 senior executives knowledgeable about how their organization digitized, automated, and/or optimized content and document workflows with information technology products and services]
The Life of Data, the fuel for AI
More than 60% of Americans believe the government and companies collect data about them daily; more than 80% feel they have little control over the data collected about them by the government and companies and believe the risks of this data collection outweigh the benefits; 59% say they have little or no understanding regarding what is done with the data collected about them by companies and 78% have similar lack of understanding about the government’s data collection; 70% say their personal data is less secure than 5 years ago [Pew Research Center]
85% of U.S. consumers say won’t forgive a company’s misuse of data, even if they previously trusted the brand; 91% say they want their state or federal government to adopt strict regulations to protect their data; 40% of U.S. consumers say that, other than themselves, businesses are the most responsible parties for protecting their data, higher even than the federal government; 38% of consumers say they always read a brand’s online terms and conditions and 72% say they would be more likely to read if they were shorter, and 61% would if they were more straightforward [Tealium survey of 1000 U.S. consumers]
Over 74% of consumers are still confused about how their data is handled; over 49% still don’t trust the privacy policies that businesses have shared; 32% of consumers are “Privacy Actives”—they care about privacy, are willing to act to protect it, and have already acted by switching companies or providers based on their data-sharing practices. [Cisco survey of 2,600 U.S. consumers]
74% of organizations named data security as their top IT priority for 2020; 43% of organizations ranked data privacy among their top five priorities; 52% of them are subject to privacy regulations [Netwrix survey of 1,045 IT professionals worldwide]
AI funding
European startups pursuing some kind of AI-related product or service are on track to raise $4.9 billion in 2019, up from $3.2 billion in 2018. Funding this year for robotics will reach $1.4 billion and for deep learning $320 million [Venturebeat.com]
AI market forecasts
The market for virtual digital assistants (VDAs) will grow from $1.3 billion in 2018 to more than $8.9 billion in 2025 [Tractica]

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