With industries taking the digital route, only automating the processes for customers to avail services is something that should be left in the past. Helping customers make use of those automated services and still binding the benefits of the digital world to real world offerings is something that needs to be considered by businesses today. For example, a digital assistant to guide people on digital platforms is essential to allow customers the flexibility and convenience to experience a certain activity according to their preference and also get assistance when needed to get things done quickly and accurately. Addressing the elephant in the room, the way in which a service is provided has become crucial. With waves of technology hitting industry shores, digital customer experiences have found place in everyone's life.

Customer experience or CX focuses on the relationship between a brand and its customers. It includes every bit of interaction, brief or long, even if the conversation doesn't result in a purchase. Having said that, a few years ago, customer experience meant how attentive retailers were to address customers and their needs in a store. And if this was executed well, the results were: increase in sales, customer acquisition, and retention, thereby strengthening customers' trust in the brand. Today, how customers and brands interact with each other has evolved.

"What's dangerous is not to evolve." Let me ask a loaded question that might ruffle a few feathers: How successful do you think Amazon would be if it only responded to 40-50 percent of the orders customers placed online? It may sound absurd, but this is exactly the predicament many commercial insurance brokers and agents are put in every day when they submit an application to a carrier on their customer's behalf. A lack of automation in the submission intake process means that many carriers can only respond to less than half of the submissions they receive simply because they get too many. For business that the carrier doesn't want to write, it's not uncommon for distribution partners to receive no response at all. Can you think of another industry where this would be acceptable?

Historically, banks focused on providing a trusted service to customers and relied on messaging and reputation for this trust to gain market share and build sustained customer loyalty. The equation here was simple: trust equals loyalty equals customer lifetime value (CLV). In the world of Bank 1.0, trust was established by the fact that banking activities were carried out purely in a physical world. Customers would visit branches to physically deposit and withdraw funds, request a loan or discuss financial needs. The explosive growth of digital technologies has changed this dramatically – it's more complex and far more competitive.

In 2019 digital technologies continued to transform enterprises. Businesses have embraced artificial intelligence, explored blockchain and grappled growing privacy concerns. But what predictions do experts have for enterprise technology in 2020? We heard from experts from a range of sectors about their enterprise tech predictions for 2020, from edge computing to sustainable data centres. In 2020, organisations will begin to fully exploit the potential of edge computing.

Fast forward to today, a consumer in the market for a specific product likely has multiple browser tabs open for multiple vendors as they compare products, features, the prices and -- consciously or unconsciously -- compare shopping experiences before making the purchase. The level of sophistication in the online shopping experience continues to rise and the competition is fierce. A key insight revealed in the latest Customer Experience Index report from Forrester Research indicates that it is harder than ever to achieve truly memorable customer interactions, the types that turn customers into vocal advocates. Enter Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML). If you keep up with trends related to the Digital Customer Experience, you have seen many articles and posts written about why companies should be incorporating the use of Artificial intelligence and Machine learning into their Web Content Management systems (WCM) and eCommerce platforms.

Where back in the days technology, techies, related people where seen as the weird people which every office needed for I(C)T development and maintenance, are we now looking with respect to all kinds of self-made billionaires of Silicon Valley. Compared to the pre 2000's, technology is a hot topic. Whether we talk about 3D-printing, Augmented Reality, Big Data, Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, (SMAC) Internet of Things (SMACT), Wireless Power, Robotics, Computer brain interfaces, Human Augmentation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Customer Experience (DCX), all these topics are in the marketing buzz machines of big industrial leaders or even made on kitchen tables by (as Chris Anderson called them) the makers of these days. The title of this article: "Digital Transformation: The paradigm shift towards business as usual" is about the core of Digital Transformation. It will explain what Digital Transformation is, how you can use Digital Transformation to create competitive advantage, enter new market segments and deliver new value to your client, customer and end-user through an excellent customer experience.

When discussing anything related to artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on marketing or customer service, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) the futurists, who believe that it will simplify, streamline, and ultimately revolutionise the ways in which brands communicate and interact with their customers; and 2) the skeptics, who believe that the very impersonal nature of AI will eventually undermine the already delicate brand-customer relationship. Regardless of what side of the debate you sit on, there's a good chance you hold a fairly strong point of view on AI. This opinion might be amplified even more in the context of the growing role that chatbots (aka, "bots") now play within today's digital customer experiences. No doubt about it, there's a lot of hype surrounding these technologies and the positive impact they can have on a brand's customer service efforts. But is it really worth all the hype?

The foundations for artificial intelligence (AI) have been around for quite some time, however only over the last few years has there been a broader adoption of these technologies, with a steep acceleration this year. With the result that today we see a proliferation of artificial intelligence in various areas. One fast-moving segment is the combination of AI with business application software in fields such as digital customer experience, analytics, supply chain management and human resources. Artificial Intelligence is, without a doubt, the buzzword of 2017 even though it remains nebulous for most people and companies. Since it involves many different solutions and impacts all sectors, it is difficult to define precisely what AI really is.