In these tumultuous times, many workplaces are facing both unprecedented illness in addition to what has been called, "The Great Resignation." They simply do not have the manpower to manage sales and customer contact in the usual ways. But while this loss of human contact has hurt many smaller businesses, some of which are still using antiquated response systems like email or contact forms from their websites, mid-size to larger enterprises are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to not only initiate customer contact, but also to qualify leads and close more deals. This is important because it may present a solution for smaller businesses going forward, as it continues to serve the larger ones and offer best practices while doing so. These days, responsiveness is the number one determining factor between businesses that can and can't go the distance in the midst of huge external challenges. Answering the phone or an online inquiry is just the beginning – and you'd be surprised how many smaller businesses cannot even manage to accomplish those easy steps at this moment in time, leading to some very frustrating disconnects with their potential customers.

The hype has passed, but it's still an important question to ask: do I really need a bot? Like websites and apps, millions have been spent on fixing problems that don't exist. Expectations for bots in customer care were extremely high, while in practice there is a lot of disappointment. You cannot expect a bot to automate 90% of customer interactions. For customer care, you should consider a safe 10–15% automation success using a bot.

Growing use of artificial intelligence, machine learning with data analytics, and business intelligence: Business applications continue to churn out large volumes of data, and users are trying to mine that data to determine patterns and predict user behaviour. In e-commerce, users want to know customers' buying patterns, which will help market products better. Website designers want to understand how visitors move through their sites in order to improve conversion rates. And companies want to analyse their sales data to correlate marketing dollars spent with sales dollars generated. Business intelligence and data analytics activities are becoming easier to perform, and that's driving their adoption in mainstream businesses that are seeking to make better, faster decisions. Rise of AI-powered chatbots in customer service and support: Over the past few years, chatbots -- the automated, human-like chat responders -- have been more of an experiment, with limited adoption.

What will be the key artificial intelligence and technology trends for IT in 2018? Business applications continue to churn out large volumes of data, and users are trying to mine that data to determine patterns and predict user behavior. In ecommerce, users want to know customers' buying patterns, which will help market products better. Website designers want to understand how visitors move through their sites in order to improve conversion rates. And companies want to analyze their sales data to correlate marketing dollars spent with sales dollars generated. Business intelligence and data analytics activities are becoming easier to perform, and that's driving their adoption in mainstream businesses that are seeking to make better, faster decisions.

Tom Frangione is the chief operating officer of Greylock Partners. Today more than ever, technology is transforming how enterprises do business. The IT profession has evolved from being reactionary to proactive, and CIOs now have a seat at the table to drive company strategy. Greylock COO Tom Frangione catches up with Kim Stevenson, Intel COO for the Client and Internet of Things Businesses and Systems Architecture Group, to discuss how startups can sell to larger enterprises, the importance of IT innovation and what the future of machine learning means for enterprise companies. CIOs are becoming the expert source on enterprise trends and new innovative solutions to help companies gain and maintain a competitive advantage.