In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, businesses constantly seek new ways to stay ahead of the competition and improve their bottom line. One such way is by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. With the rise of AI adoption, companies are keen to explore how this cutting-edge technology can benefit their business. In this context, Dr. Lisa Palmer, Chief AI Strategist, and Keynote Speaker, shares her insights on how businesses can unlock the true potential of AI in the latest episode of The Small Business Show.

Key Takeaways 

1. As someone with a background in technology and executive leadership in the corporate world, Dr. Palmer advises business owners to view technology as a tool rather than an obstacle. She emphasizes that AI is an empowering tool that businesses can use in two ways:

• To drive up productivity.
• To drive new revenue. 

2. Dr. Palmer encourages business owners to learn how to use large language models, as they are easy to use and just like any other business resource. She recommends getting a ChatGPT account if one doesn’t have it already. 

3. In the next few years, Dr. Palmer believes the industry will continue to see the growth of what’s possible via consumer-facing AI tools, and it will be embedded in every part of our lives. For instance, we have seen product recommendations on Amazon for years, and AI will become even more pervasive. “Those who start using these tools early on will have a significant market advantage,” she says. 

4. The more you interact with AI tools, the better they cater to your business needs. By providing more input to the tool, you give it more threads to provide better outputs. “Consider AI as a new hire; the more content you provide in the beginning, the better able they are to serve your company.” 

5. Think of AI as a partnership. You provide and edit the draft, and the tool provides speed and capability, complementing your creativity and expertise. “Make sure you never take what it spits out wholeheartedly; instead, double-check the material and resources and apply your own intellect through what it creates.”

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

In 2023, the increasing use of advanced technology changed how businesses communicate with customers. But what can we expect in the customer experience as we go into 2024? Joining us on today’s episode of The Small Business Show is Joseph Michelli, Speaker, New York Times Best-Selling Author, and the CEO of The Michelli Experience. Michelli shares his perspective on this topic.

Key Takeaways

1. Michelli has been focusing on customer work for the past 30 years. However, in 2023, entrepreneurs encountered some trends that made them brace themselves for the year ahead. They knew AI was out there but did not expect its accelerated growth or how brands could reach customers through their own preferences.

2. Despite being aware of AI, many entrepreneurs still have reservations about the idea of “robots.” They are generally uncomfortable with the rapid growth of technology and its impact on our emotional intelligence and daily lives.

3. Michelli states, “2024 will witness more hyper-personalization than ever before.” There will be a rise in voice and conversational interfaces, augmented reality will gain momentum, customer privacy will increase, and self-service will become more prevalent.

4. Since the pandemic, people have become more willing to embrace accelerated technological growth, even if they were previously skeptical.

5. Moving forward, Michelli believes that consumers will be more in charge. If you are a small business owner, do not rely solely on technology, but invest in emerging technology wisely, and it will be an excellent year for you.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

The first feature, titled CashPass, delivers tailored cash-back offers to customers based on their shopping history, alongside a streamlined purchase process for users who click on a promotion. The second feature, called Smart Receipts, displays individualized product suggestions in a customer’s order confirmation email, giving them the chance to consider other purchases from the same brand. Paypal plans to launch Cashpass in March but has yet to set a timeline for Smart Receipts.

Other new features include a streamlined checkout system that allows users to login to their Paypal account using their smart device’s thumbprint or face recognition capabilities, as opposed to manually entering password information for every purchase. The company plans to leverage artificial intelligence to refine the payment process further.

To make things even more convenient for shoppers, e-commerce businesses will soon be able to offer a one-click pay option by using the Fastlane by PayPal feature, which uses data to confirm a person’s identity rather than relying on credentials. This tool is currently being piloted by a select group of sellers.

Paypal is also implementing an Advanced Offers Platform that it says will help e-commerce businesses pursue leads more efficiently and with higher success rates. Rather than leveraging browsing data, the new feature instead uses artificial intelligence to comb through global transaction records and build accurate shopper profiles. This gives merchants the ability to push personalized offers and product recommendations to customers who are far more likely to buy from their brand than the average internet user. Unlike other advertising systems, the Advanced Offers Platform only requires payment when a lead is successfully converted rather than on a per-click basis.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

Welcome to another ASBN-exclusive edition of The Roadmap, with host Ted Jenkin. Every week, Jenkin interviews the brightest and best CEOs and entrepreneurs from around the world who have scaled and exited their businesses. In this episode, Jeff Pedowitz, the CEO of The Pedowitz Group, shares his insights on how businesses can effectively implement AI for marketing strategies.

As of recently, the world has been transcended by the idea of implementing artificial intelligence into the workplace. However, the Pedowitz Group assists its clients in utilizing technology to increase revenue and customer engagement, and AI has been a profound contributor to the technology’s success.

Key Takeaways

1. Regarding how entrepreneurs can market AI, Pedowitz suggests, “AI is a generational force, much like the internet and the smartphone; this is a 20-year type of thing where AI will absolutely transform every part of the business, and even our personal lives as well.”

2. Marketing is already at the forefront of utilizing AI, as 70% of marketing organizations are experimenting with it. For entrepreneurs who want to invest $20 a month to try out the software’s premium version, ChatGPT is a great place to start. Pedowitz believes “Grammarly, on top of AI, will make you a world-class writer overnight.” 

3. Pedowitz suggests that entrepreneurs interested in the more advanced level of AI for marketing should consider using the platform, Jasper. He adds, “Jasper is specifically trained for marketing; its model is to write all types of blogs, ads, emails, and white papers, and it will serve you much better.”

4. Although having a website is essential, the content you put there must be different than the content you put on each social media platform. But it’s not so much about what content you put out there rather than who your target audience is, where they get their information, and how you put the right content on the right channel. 

5. AI is a great tool for creating outlines and structures to guide you through certain processes. However, it’s vital to remember that AI should be treated as a muse, meaning that it should be used and verified. Every new iteration of technology presents challenges, so any business should take the necessary steps to safeguard its information. 

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

FDX integrates current FedEx commerce tools, such as access to ShopRunner members, with new features like a “custom post-purchase experience” that enables brands to provide customers with precise shipment information or leverage FedEx’s shipment network data to improve order management.

The platform provides essential data and insights that retailers can use to optimize their operations by making better-informed decisions about logistics from the point of demand to delivery and returns. It unifies a variety of capabilities under the FedEx brand, such as:

• Consumer Demand Growth: Businesses can access a high-value client base by connecting with the ShopRunner member network.
• Conversion Increase: The platform improves the buying experience and boosts customer conversion by offering time window updates and projected delivery dates.
• Visibility and Control of Shipments: FedEx Surround provides almost real-time tracking of shipments, empowering companies to make educated decisions.
• Carbon Emissions Insights: FedEx Sustainability Insights provides access to comprehensive statistics on carbon emissions to help with sustainable supply chain decisions.
• Streamline Returns: The platform effectively handles the digital and physical components of product returns.

FDX is now accessible in private preview, with an official launch scheduled for the fall of 2024. It’s a significant advancement for small businesses in the field of digital commerce, addressing pain points. FDX offers a strategic tool that empowers small businesses to compete more effectively in the digital marketplace. With its comprehensive approach to e-commerce, FDX is becoming a game-changer for SMB owners who want to expand their digital footprint and enhance customer satisfaction.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

Microsoft Copilot is a generative text platform giving users the ability to receive detailed answers to queries or create content based on specific inputs. The tool was first launched in November 2023, available only to larger enterprises and educational institutions, and initially required users to purchase a minimum number of licenses.

But in a blog post published this Monday, Microsoft announced that it was expanding access to its virtual assistant tool to smaller organizations or individuals and removing the minimum purchase requirement starting January 16. Copilot is thus now available “across all sales channels,” although buyers are still required to purchase individual licenses ($30 per month) for each user. As Copilot is an add-on to the Business Premium and Business Standard programs, users must also continue to pay for their base subscription. The maximum number of licenses available on either tier is 299.

With this move, Microsoft has become the latest big tech firm to implement an artificial intelligence tool directed at small business owners. Mastercard and eBay both recently announced platforms for entrepreneurs, the former offering virtual business “mentorship” and the latter enabling text generation for sellers. Until the last few months, most major AI developers have focused on general business applications without targeting their products toward specific enterprise sizes. For example, point-of-sale platform Square and e-commerce giant Amazon both launched software tools in 2023 that serviced a range of professional use cases without specifying an exact market.

Small business owners are often an underserved community partly due to the difficulty in offering costly, difficult-to-scale products, such as data-intensive artificial intelligence platforms, to customers with limited budgets and highly individualized needs. OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform, however, proved that generative text toolkits could be offered relatively cheaply and on a massive scale to users from all backgrounds. As time goes on and developers continue to realize the flexibility of the technology, entrepreneurs are likely to see even more AI-powered products, such as Microsoft Copilot, launch with tiers or use cases that service their needs rather than exclusively servicing the needs of larger organizations.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

In an article and video emphasizing the upcoming platform’s inclusivity, the company explained that its Mastercard Small Business AI will provide virtual mentorship and professional guidance for a variety of entrepreneurial subjects.

“Operating a small business is a point of immense passion and pride for entrepreneurs, but it’s certainly not easy,” remarked Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Raja Rajamannar in a statement. “Mastercard Small Business AI aims to create mentorship at scale, offering always-on advice from an inclusive set of sources.”

The generative text platform is being developed alongside Create Labs, a technology firm creating solutions for underserved communities, and aims to serve a diverse audience of small business leaders.

To supply its AI with enough information to reliably answer user inputs, Mastercard is relying on its own library of small business content in addition to resources provided by an initial group of four third-party brands: Blavity Media Group, a digital platform serving Black professionals, Group Black, a Black-owned producer of multiple business-focused programs for diverse audiences, Newsweek, the long-running New-York-based publication, and TelevisaUnivision, the largest Spanish-language media network in the world. As the AI tool expands to new audiences, Mastercard plans to partner with additional companies to improve the inclusivity and intelligence of its platform.

The Mastercard Small Business AI will first launch for U.S. small business owners in the coming months, with a global release expected in the near future.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is more relevant than ever, shaping both our personal and business lives. Joining us on the latest episode of The Small Business Show is author, sales consultant, and motivational speaker at Sellinger Group, Victor Antonio. Antonio’s book, Sales Ex Machina: How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the World of Selling, informs readers of AI’s impact in the world of sales.

Initially published in April of 2018, Antonio’s novel was cultivated around a time when Google geniuses figured out this new attention network that gave birth to generative AI- now called ChatGPT.

Key Takeaways:

1. AI is revolutionizing sales in every aspect. For instance, Landing AI is a domain-specific AI designed for large vision models (LVM) that permits users to upload images and schedule repairs without human intervention. Landing AI allows uploaded images to be reviewed, removed, corrected, or more data can be uploaded.

2. Antonio predicts that AI will result in a decrease in overall human interaction. Goldman Sachs predicts that approximately 18% of the global workforce will be eliminated. This suggests that AI could potentially eliminate around 300 million jobs.

3. Despite concerns about AI taking over human labor, Antonio lists applications that can assist small and medium-sized businesses in integrating AI. Software such as Air AI and Primal AI can make cold calls on behalf of businesses. These platforms will ask open-ended questions and even control the flow of the conversation.

4. In the future, everything will be “cognified,” meaning that AI will be viewed as a utility. For example, today, we have Alexa, but in the future, it may become our own personal search agent, such as yourname.ai.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

Whether it’s ChatGPT or DALL-E, advanced technology is helping businesses leverage new opportunities. AI applications continue to have a monumental impact on “how” companies accelerate productivity and automate tasks. It’s a rising power that will continue to transform business practices.

The AI Revolution and What it Means for Businesses

AI tech and its integration into business models are changing old-school dynamics and influencing executives and managers to make more informed and calculated decisions. Whether it’s automating manual/repetitive tasks or improving operational efficiency, AI integration offers a lot of benefits to businesses. 

In fact, it has become common practice for businesses to use AI-powered analytics tools to better understand the changing preferences and behaviors of their target audiences and improve overall decision-making.

However, the lightning-fast adoption of AI comes with some caveats. Businesses should now be more proactive about their data privacy and security and maintain ethical and legal compliance when collecting, processing, and sharing user data. 

This post will touch on the unique perspectives of three distinctive figures who continue to reshape their industries and how they see AI integration into modern-day business strategies.  

1. Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman is a LinkedIn co-founder and has always been a massive supporter of AI. Hoffman believes that AI can help boost human creativity and augment their skills. Hoffman states that there’s a generalized notion that AI would replace all jobs.

Besides, AI business use cases and applications are not black and white. It requires a lot of consideration before a company implements a dedicated AI solution. In a New York Times interview, Hoffman emphasizes the value of a perfect balance between human ingenuity and AI-powered automation.

Hoffman sees AI as a tool that brings added value to businesses, allows managers to perform high-value activities efficiently, and boosts productivity standards. With AI, Hoffman highlights that companies can foster more innovation and growth in different industries with different purposes.

2. Marc Benioff 

Marc Benioff is the co-founder and CEO of Salesforce and understands the long-lasting positive impact of AI. Benioff also doesn’t shy away from AI discourse and is a proponent of AI applications designed for businesses. Benioff views AI as an ever-evolving landscape and affirms that it will continue to help companies streamline operations faster.

On the other hand, Benioff highlights that companies need to perform thorough research and review their situation before implementing an AI system. Primarily, Benioff emphasizes that businesses should have a comprehensive ethical framework to avoid potential issues. 

Benioff also draws attention to the human-centric use of AI and creating value out of AI tools to address old-school challenges. With AI, Benioff believes companies can restructure their workforce without compromising on value and quality of work.

3. Melanie Perkins 

Last but not least – the third founder on the list is Melanie Perkins, founder and CEO of Canva. When it comes to AI integration for businesses, Perkins offers a fresh perspective. Melanie Perkins points out the need to be more creative for industries. The fact is that AI is now advanced enough for businesses to simplify complicated processes and take care of several operational elements without human intervention.

Perkins also emphasizes that AI-powered design processes are more straightforward and offer innovation options. In a Fortune interview, Perkins states that there’s a symbolic bond between human designers and AI algorithms. Perkins understands that AI is a solid catalyst for creativity, but she highlights human creative output still triumphs over AI and should have the final word on the results. 

AI Integration for Businesses: Perspective

The insights from Hoffman, Benioff, and Perkins paint a clear picture of how AI can serve as a guide for human creativity and productivity rather than a complete replacement. These unique perspectives indicate that the businesses that ethically roll out AI and add human input are more likely to see the best results.

Summing Up

AI is revolutionizing and transforming industries. In fact, most businesses now realize that the key is to use evolving AI technologies to improve their business outcomes. AI has opened up a lot of new possibilities for how companies can handle their workflow and complex operations.

In hindsight, whether it’s logistics, banking, healthcare, entertainment, or retail, industries want to use AI to empower their workforce, boost efficiency, and take growth to new heights.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.

While artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm, many have expressed anxieties over the technology’s rapid acceptance by the business community. Even though the benefits of platforms such as ChatGPT are clear, there remain many unknowns that make AI adoption difficult, especially for entrepreneurs and owners of smaller companies.

On this episode of The Small Business Show, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Gene Marks, author, tech columnist for Forbes and CEO of The Marks Group. Marks recently covered artificial intelligence in an article examining the pros and cons of using generative text platforms for accounting purposes. Now, he shares his insights into the potential challenges of embracing AI and why he still believes the technology is a powerful tool for business owners.

Key Takeaways

1. Although it is easy to feel pessimistic about the proliferation of artificial intelligence, Marks notes that it is nothing more than a developer’s tool: a technology that is evolving into an expert’s assistant.

2. Unfortunately, artificial intelligence still has limitations, math being one of them. When providing subjective information, generative text platforms excel, but when providing objective data, AI tools struggle to maintain accuracy, although the technology is likely to improve.

3. Rather than using artificial intelligence as a replacement for human editing, Marks recommends that entrepreneurs use generative text platforms as a means for handling grunt work and lowering the costs of hiring writers.

4. Google is also leveraging artificial intelligence to assist entrepreneurs. Google My Business, for example, can direct customers to localized brands based on data collected from small businesses.

5. Marks notes that the question of when it is a good time to start a business depends on the business being opened. Not all enterprises will be successful at all times, which is why entrepreneurs must select their industry carefully and make their decisions based on local factors rather than national ones.

"Those implementing AI really well are creating a terrific customer experience." – Dr. Lisa Plamer.