Microsoft AI products

sasha uritsky

May 28, 2017

Microsoft product strategy has always been and still remains that of ‘zero alternative’. Their ultimate policy is for their customers to have no choice but to embrace only Microsoft products. Consequently they created and are offering products and solutions in (almost) every segment of IT enterprise and consumer market, including, but certainly not limited to, their own data base, their own cloud services, operating system, office tools, programming language, and many more.

Not only do Microsoft offer wide variety of products, they tie them up together in a unified ecosystem that makes it easy for components to connect and interact. At the same time, this ecosystem is hostile to non-Microsoft products.

Microsoft strategy for the burgeoning, fast growing AI segment is similar:

Create products to address all parts of the AI market, add them to the ecosystem to ensure easy compatibility from within and difficulty of use from outside.

Currently the products on offer are:

- Microsoft AI engine, called LUIS. It is supposed to compete with other major industrial AI systems such as IBM Watson, and has similar training methodology. It offers webhook interfacing via endpoints.

- Microsoft chatbot building platform, called, surprisingly, Microsoft Bot Platform. It addresses the popular demand for easy chatbot design and provides seamless connectivity with main user interfaces, such as web interface, SMS, mobile, and messaging platforms.

- In addition Microsoft offers their own messaging platform in Skype.

The main advantage of using Microsoft AI products is the built-in connectivity with user interfaces.

The main disadvantage is in their ‘zero alternative’ policy - once you’ve chosen a Microsoft product you are likely will be forced to choose only Microsoft products for the duration of your project.

Interested in reading more? Check out our other blogs:

Social selling for businesses

Social selling is one of the hottest buzzwords in the technology market. The popularity of social networks made the customer interaction and buyers hunting easier than before. More and more consumers are using social media to find deals, research products and make recommendations.

From the seller’s perspective the efficient use of social media is based on the mastery of following two major steps:

1. Finding the relevant audience,

2. Engaging with that audience.

The first step should be automated. This is exactly where the promise of Big Data, or Smart Data, as they now begin to call it, is supposed to come into fruition. Finding relevant information in the ocean of social data is the poster example of how Smart data can help businesses in the new world defined by computerized systems and networks. The companies should be able to use programs and solutions that accurately and efficiently deliver relevant data. If the company is spending time to sift through the ever increasing informational stream without automating the process, it is wasting precious time thus compromising its business growth and eventually losing competitive edge.

The second step however is inherently manual. it is not a good idea to automate the engagement process. Social networks are designed to build trust, and trust cannot be won automatically. So it requires time and effort and knowledge. It also requires patience - trust cannot be built in minutes.

It is important that businesses looking to add social media into their arsenal of revenue channels, and we believe that all businesses should do just that, grasp this two-steps process. A clear understanding of the nature and requirements for each of the steps helps to plan strategically, manage the resources properly and avoid costly mistakes.

One Fast Way To Increase Your Online Sales

Chatbots and conversational AI solutions offer easy and reliable sales channel.

Chatbots are helpful because they not only engage with your customers, they also retain them. This means that unlike other forms of marketing, chatbots keep your customers entertained for longer. For example, when a user has a customer care inquiry, the chatbot can answer it accurately and take the conversation a step further by offering personalized shopping advice based on the customer's purchase history and preferences.

Chatbots make communication with your brand proactive, thus enhancing your brand's reputation. By increasing interactions, they make a positive effect on your sales numbers.

Chatbots allow your business to reach out to a wider audience. They can gather and analyze customer feedback and data. Send relevant notifications. Make communicating with your brand more fun.

Chatbots help with top of funnel conversions. Offering your online customers a highly personalized experience of your site with the addition of a chatbot can help guide consumers down the sales funnel, and ultimately influence their buying decisions.

To summarize, chatbots opens new opportunities for you to increase sales. Opportunities that are easy to use and are not costly. Better not to miss them!