For years I have followed annual tech predictions from events like Enterprise Connect. And 10 years ago, when Gartner predicted the rise of the robots, I thought they had it all wrong. Fast forward to today: I have Alexa in my kitchen and Cortana on my Windows touchscreen and iPhone. I can even control my pool settings using Alexa and my Apple Watch. Robots are everywhere, and artificial intelligence (AI) will make them even smarter and more impactful.

In the customer experience and customer service industries, artificial intelligence brings new levels of efficiency and reduced effort. Some pundits talk of the rise of the robots—people versus machines—and jobs lost in customer service. But I see it differently. AI will improve the experiences of not only consumers but also customer service professionals. And it will free many from mundane tasks.

But, despite all the talk of AI, we still live in a world of fragmented customer service. IVRs lack intelligence (artificial or otherwise), multichannel conversations are broken and lack context across channels and customers must repeat information. AI will alleviate this—creating a world of virtual assistants and digital bots that carry context and seamlessly escalate issues to humans when needed.

AI orchestrates cross-channel conversations using learning algorithms, cloud delivery, and big data. Automated support will be tied to live agents, creating a blended AI customer experience.  With AI as the orchestrator, true omnichannel conversations across digital, bot and human channels will take less effort and become more personalized. Moments will be connected across channels—for every customer, on every journey.

See Artificial Intelligence in Action at Enterprise Connect

The future of the AI-powered customer experience will be on display at Enterprise Connect, March 15 to 18 in Orlando. As a Platinum event sponsor, we will showcase Kate and the power of Blended AI by Genesys in Booth 713. Kate combines AI, bots, machine learning, microapps and more to deliver personalized, proactive and predictive experiences. Kate works seamlessly with live agents to solve customer problems faster and more efficiently. Industry luminary Sheila McGee-Smith explains the ins and outs of Kate and Blended AI in her recent NoJitter.com article.

In addition to the Genesys team, seven speakers from our super-innovative customer base will be on hand at the conference to share their knowledge and offer best practices for transforming customer experience. You’ll also have a chance to see this new wave of AI-powered customer experience in action at live demos and breakout sessions.

Are you ready to learn more about the next wave of customer experience and how AI fits into your business? Come talk with us at Enterprise Connect, Booth 713, next month. And I promise: We’re smarter than robots and a lot more fun. If you are not going to the event, check out our eBook Blended AI for Customer Experience.