Perspective: Key Themes from an Emerging EventPerspective: Key Themes from an Emerging Event

I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Enterprise Connect AI (ECAI) conference recently and was pleasantly surprised at the level of audience participation and discourse. While the event was much smaller than the regular EC event in Orlando, the enterprise customers in attendance seemed very engaged during the various sessions and while visiting exhibitor booths on the show floor.

I spoke with a variety of attendees, and it was clear that enterprises are in various stages of their AI adoption journeys, with a wide range of AI-readiness. Many had already begun deploying some type of AI, and others are trying to figure out where and how to start.

Several key themes emerged throughout the event. Let’s run through them.

Vertical Use Cases

Many of the sessions I attended were heavy on customer use cases and experiences. As opposed to the Enterprise Connect event in March, which focuses on unified communications and collaboration (UCC) and customer experience (CX), the AI use cases discussed in the keynotes and opening session at this conference were more focused on vertical-specific use cases. 

For example, Costa Kladianos, the executive vice president and head of technology for San Francisco 49ers, discussed how AI is being used for enhancing the fan experience and fan engagement. The 49ers are using AI to make it easier for fans to find parking spaces at the stadium, get recommendations on merchandise based on their favorite players, and order food and beverages. Kladianos noted that by using AI, the time it took for food transactions was reduced from four minutes to just seconds, in part based on optimally staffing the concessions for each game. The 49ers also use AI to predict football injuries in hopes of improving player performance.

Gary LaSasso, Senior Director, Global IT Innovations, Amicus Therapeutics, described how the biotech company uses AI to research biomarkers and diseases and speed up treatment processes.

Kate Balliet, Aramark’s head of experience design & growth strategy, discussed how the company uses AI to deliver exceptional hospitality experiences and reduce friction.

While analysts like me focus more on how AI is used to improve meetings or assist contact center agents, it was interesting to hear about how AI is being used in vertical industry-specific use cases. It’s easier to identify the ROI of speeding up biotech therapy development or the sale of football merchandise than simply improving worker productivity, making it easier to justify AI investments in these areas.

Agentic AI

The hottest area discussed by many vendors and presenters was Agentic AI, or AI Agents that can autonomously make decisions, handle complex situations, perform tasks, and take action in real-time.

During a meeting with Sanket Amberkar, Google Cloud’s head of applied AI marketing, he explained how Google is using AI agents that leverage AI technology to do tasks or activities on behalf of others and can even do reasoning to help improve customer engagement. Google is leveraging these capabilities to expand its Customer Engagement Suite with Google AI capabilities.

Cognigy CMO Alan Ranger described to me how a European bank is using Agentic AI outbound agents to offer loan insurance to customers who take out personal loans and have opted-in to be contacted. After reaching a customer and providing information on the loan insurance program, the AI agent passes the interaction to a human agent to finish the transaction. Ranger noted that of the people the AI agent gets through to, 80% want to talk to a human agent, which means that the human agents are talking to qualified leads who want to proceed, resulting in increased sales.

AI User Adoption

Another topic that came up frequently was one of my favorite topics - end-user adoption (for more on this topic, see my No Jitter article User Adoption and Training Is Key for AI Growth). In a breakout session, Kevin Kieller of EnableUC and BCStrategies stated that communication, change management, and training is required to drive adoption, noting that ongoing training is required, especially as AI Assistant capabilities rapidly improve. Most of the UCC AI vendors -- including Microsoft, Zoom, Cisco, and Google -- have created adoption toolkits and training materials.

As a huge proponent of the role of user adoption, I was intrigued by the session focused on “Building an AI Culture,” with Amicus Therapeutics’ Gary LaSasso and Mitch Lieberman of Fidelity Investments. LaSasso noted the importance of getting stakeholder buy-in and the role of having a “Champions program.” He explained how Amicus started with AI literacy, helping end users understand what AI does and how can it help the biotech industry. Amicus holds “lunch and learns” and webinars to introduce AI and do level setting to get everyone at the company on the same page. He noted that while people are scared that AI will take their jobs, the biggest risk of AI is not doing anything. Lieberman added that it’s important to be upfront and let people know that their job will change that but it’s important to embrace the technology to help enhance your career.

Several presenters acknowledged the importance of involving end users and stakeholders early in the AI process, and suggested forming working groups or councils to help define use cases and help increase user adoption.

Financial Considerations

Money talk hung over the conference – specifically, the cost of AI, how to budget for AI projects, and determining ROI. It’s hard to predict the total cost of AI projects (even free offerings ultimately have a cost component), making it hard for organizations to budget for these projects.

Many businesses that have deployed AI copilots and assistants are hard pressed to identify the ROI and business results. It’s hard to quantifiably measure “enhanced worker productivity,” or “improved meeting experiences,” making it difficult to get budget approval in some cases. While many organizations were eager to try out and experiment with AI over the past 18 months, it’s becoming increasingly important to show the value and ROI for AI investments.

Final Thoughts

Other topics discussed include the role of knowledge and data, ethical consideration of AI, how to select the right vendors, and the importance of starting AI deployments slowly and carefully. As more practitioners move from assessing the AI hype to launching their unique AI implementations, I expect to hear more about these at Enterprise Connect in March.

We’re in early days of AI, so it was great to hear from customers about what they’re doing and how others can learn from their experiences. I hope Enterprise Connect AI becomes an annual event, providing a forum for sharing best practices and advice on how to achieve success with AI.

This post is written on behalf of BCStrategies, an industry resource for enterprises, vendors, system integrators, and anyone interested in the growing business communications arena. A supplier of objective information on business communications, BCStrategies is supported by an alliance of leading communication industry advisors, analysts, and consultants who have worked in the various segments of the dynamic business communications market.