Nearly half of companies now say that they're using some form of artificial intelligence, according to McKinsey research that Salesforce shared at Dreamforce 2019, yet seven out of ten companies report they're seeing little to no value from their AI projects so far. This gap exists, Salesforce executives asserted, because too many companies are struggling to overcome data-management and data-science technical hurdles, so they have yet to put AI into production at scale. Salesforce's alternative is Einstein and Einstein Analytics, both of which offer prebuilt, CRM-embedded predictions and recommendations along with the ability to build AI apps and answer company-specific business questions without coding or data science expertise. There's no question that AI is of interest to organizations and that the Einstein and Einstein Analytics promise of pre-built capabilities and declarative, no-code/low-code app and model development is compelling. Yet Salesforce executives frankly acknowledged that Einstein and Einstein Analytics have only scratched the surface of potential adoption, with Sales Cloud use cases leading the way.

This blog post has been contributed to the Salesforce Blog by one of our Dreamforce '19 Innovator sponsors. Technology is at an inflection point. In this next chapter of digital transformation, companies must reinvent their entire business with data to create a more personal and relevant customer experience. Yet while today's companies are awash with data, unlocking its value requires them to change how they operate and make decisions. That's where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in.

In September, sales professionals from around the world attended Dreamforce '18. And because we think sales is one of the best jobs in the world, we wanted to highlight Trailblazers in sales throughout our sessions, keynotes, demos, and more. We also got to reunite with our extended customer and partner family, hear about how they're trailblazing in sales, and share updates about how we plan to make sales teams even more productive, intelligent, and successful in the future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a key theme at Dreamforce again this year. In our Sales Cloud keynote, "Now Every Sales Team Gets AI," we told a story about how rapid advancements in technology are making it possible for smarter selling to happen anytime, anywhere, and on any channel.

Salesforce's big idea is one that you've heard of before from other enterprise software vendors--a 360 degree view of the customer--with different lens. The big question will come down to executing Salesforce's effort, dubbed Customer 360. At Dreamforce, Salesforce's developer and customer powwow, the company will outline Customer 360, which includes the following: Also: Here's why the public cloud is growing rapidly TechRepublic Co-CEO Marc Benioff and CTO Parker Harris in their Dreamforce keynote outlined Customer 360. Benioff reiterated his customer-first mantra and talked about how companies have to be about their values. Parker Harris, CTO of Salesforce, put some more technology meat on the Customer 360 platform.

Technology in today's Age of the Customer is simultaneously increasing customer expectations and making service more complex. In the last few years, smarter algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), self-service channels and analytics have exploded, and 56% of global consumers say they have higher expectations for customer service now than they had just one year ago. This wave of innovation is also bringing exciting opportunities for service managers to transform their brand's customer experience. Bluewolf, an IBM Company, predicted that AI will impact customer service in four key areas in 2018. Guiding -- Predictive and machine learning models to instruct next best action with the customer.

Fourth industrial revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will not only force marketers to be more scientific, they'll also require them to think beyond their function and to next best actions for customers across an organisation. That's the view of Salesforce global chief marketing officer, Simon Mulcahy, who caught up with CMO during the recent Dreamforce conference in San Francisco to discuss the key product and industry messages from the event, and the growing importance of customer advocacy as a strategy. There's no doubt AI and IoT are going to be massive game changers, opening up more data sets and actions in real time and enabling the next level of personalisation, Mulcahy said. "And it will force marketers to be even more scientific," he said. "The best way I've found of internalising this is to stop thinking of it in raw terms of marketing. How you know when a customer needs the next touchpoint from you as a company? And what are you packaging up and delivering to them? "That IoT data is going to trigger the next best action.

Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and author. Named one of 10 "women to watch in technology" by Inc. Magazine, she is the co-founder and managing partner of educational technology company Socos, which focuses on using machine learning and neuroscience to improve educational outcomes and workplace development. She was previously a visiting scholar at the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at UC Berkeley, and sits on the board for companies and nonprofits like StartOut, the Palm Center, and Cornerstone Capital. We had the opportunity to speak with Ming about artificial intelligence, workforce development, and how purpose drives performance in the run-up to her upcoming Dreamtalk on November 7 at Dreamforce. You've spoken previously about your mission to leverage AI to maximize human potential.

At Dreamforce, Artificial Intelligence or "AI" was the buzzword of the year. We saw the launch of Salesforce Einstein and many other companies refining their messaging towards how AI will transform sales, marketing, and even customer success process. The vision behind this is bold and Einstein, if it delivers, will transform how people engage with customers. Yet I'm concerned about the viability of these products at scale: most CRM and marketing automation data isn't high quality enough to deliver on the promises of AI. We're all focused on how to make our applications smarter, but few, if any companies, have data governance policies with regards to how sales reps input data or how marketers capture inbound customer data.

At Dreamforce, Artificial Intelligence or "AI" was the buzzword of the year. We saw the launch of Salesforce Einstein and many other companies refining their messaging towards how AI will transform sales, marketing, and even customer success process. The vision behind this is bold and Einstein, if it delivers, will transform how people engage with customers. Yet I'm concerned about the viability of these products at scale: most CRM and marketing automation data isn't high quality enough to deliver on the promises of AI. We're all focused on how to make our applications smarter, but few, if any companies, have data governance policies with regards to how sales reps input data or how marketers capture inbound customer data.

The global artificial intelligence market is set to reach $16 million by 2022, according to the latest data by Research and Markets, which predicts that AI could double economic growth rates within two decades while boosting labor productivity by 40 percent. Meanwhile, research by Spiceworks shows that organizations are considering their AI strategy and investments; over the next five years, 46 percent of organizations plan to adopt intelligent assistants, 60 percent plan to adopt machine learning, and 72 percent plan to deploy business analytics with AI. The research clearly indicates that organizations are ready for AI. Helping break down the barriers that prevent partners from taking advantage of emerging technology like AI is just one part of Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh's job as senior vice president of partner programs at Salesforce. She's been at Salesforce for over 7 years and in her current role is in charge of the overall partner program, which includes a number of categories of partners including systems integrators, consultants, ISVs, and resellers, which she says "is a small but growing part of our strategy."