Improvements in customer service.

With the advent of the “new normal” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Latin American companies sought to survive by employing technology and opening digital channels. Therefore, keeping customers “happy” became one of the essential priorities for successful operations, and even attracting more and more customers.

This was the reason why many organizations started to keep an eye on artificial intelligence, seeing it as a promising option to improve customer service. To give an example, before the pandemic, bots were used to answer general questions to users on digital platforms. However, they often only generated customer dissatisfaction and frustration because they were unable to answer more specific questions.

Thus, AI provides real support to companies when connecting with the front office, which deals directly with customers, and the back office, which is responsible for managing customer data. Although in Latin America we are still in the first phase of transformation, in just two years we have managed to generate greater integration of customer information and improvements in the customer service offered.

Latam facing Artificial Intelligence

A few years ago, Latin America lagged behind other global regions in terms of software, hardware and artificial intelligence. In 2020, the Latin American AI market was worth $2 billion, which only represented 2.7% of total global spending on AI. Taking out calculations, the total spending in Latam on AI represented 5% of the entire world, so clearly, AI was well below average.

During 2018, AI as a market in Latam represented less than 1% of the global total, however, in 2020 it grew to 14% and the following year 8%, such that a total value of $2.163 billion was generated.

At Pulse, we expect that, by the end of the year, investment in the artificial intelligence sector will grow by 23.5%, tripling the previous year. With the expectation that by 2023 these figures will increase.

Artificial intelligence has been adopted across industry in Latin America, however, the areas that benefited the most were financial services, telecommunications companies, retailers and private healthcare providers.

The retail sector had to face the pandemic scenario, faced with two possible options, either sink or float. With quarantine in action, retailers were forced to improve their service, logistics and supply chains. In these processes, AI became an ally to automate many of these procedures and tasks.

Pioneering sectors in the use of AI

On the other hand, they also began to make use of the power of data to learn about customer preferences. With the current technological advances, companies have access to gigantic amounts of information about their customers, and now, thanks to AI, they are able to obtain insights quickly, which help them make decisions on the spot and be one step ahead of the competition.

But with new opportunities come new risks. The number of employees working hybrids in the pandemic caused companies to change the way they made security investments. They used to protect the central perimeter surrounding computers in the office, then moved on to keeping secure the mobile devices that were used by their employees from home.

The amounts that companies invest in AI technology hover between $50,000 and $200,000 per project, these are small sums when compared to other technologies. This is because AI is used to improve efficiency and costs in the short term, which are very specific issues. However, the trend is to continue to invest more and more in AI, as it brings three benefits to key areas of a company: operational efficiency, innovation and customer experience.

Although there are currently many limitations, in the short term we have seen how AI has transformed many sectors, which will go hand in hand with the advance of other technologies, such as 5G, the internet of things and the cloud. As we well know, today it is crucial to have cutting-edge technological tools to achieve business success, and even more so if you are looking to expand your business in another region. At Pulse, we provide creative solutions using the latest technological innovations that will help you successfully achieve your expansion goals in Latin America. Feel free to contact us and start boosting your efforts.