AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 12: Mark Cuban speaks during Live At The #TwitterHouse Conversations Shaping … [+]
Here are five tech things that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – Mark Cuban urges small businesses to learn about AI to survive.
Fortune highlighted recent comments by Mark Cuban at the Mackinac policy conference. The tech tycoon is urging small businesses to educate themselves in artificial intelligence or risk being swamped by the competition. “You need to understand how AI is going to impact your business,” Cuban said. “You have to be curious enough to find out.” The topic of AI has sparked many pros and cons, while others like Elon Musk have warned of potential disastrous consequences if it goes unregulated. (Source: Business Insider)
Why this is important for your business:
He’s right and that’s how you “educate” yourself. Talk to your financial, CRM, and other technology software service providers and grill them about the AI features they have coming up. Some may have already been released. Understand these features and implement where they make sense. These are the companies that invest significant resources in AI because they want to keep you as a monthly customer in the future. So take advantage of their investments to make your business more productive.
2 – A technology journalist used Google’s new AI search – here’s what he learned.
Imad Khan of CNET gave its assessment of Google I/O – the company’s “experimental AI-integrated search engine”. By doing away with links, Google I/O condenses multiple sources of information into one summary. “It moves Google from the information gathering business to the information processing business,” says Khan. Compared to ChatGPT, he points out that Google’s technology is more organized – follow-up questions display links next to the query. (Source: CNET)
Why this is important for your business:
Overall, Kahn gives a thumbs up to how Google I/O is revolutionizing the web search experience. This first test phase will run until the end of December. Users can sign up now to get early access.
3 – Visier launches new generative AI assistant Vee to provide insight into your workforce.
Vision – the Vancouver-based HR analytics platform – just launched “Vee”. It is reported that the generative AI assistant allows the use of informal or so-called “natural language” queries, which are then translated by the Visier system. Users immediately receive data related to human resources, problem-solving analysis or risk assessment information. Vee also offers help with data analytics reports. (Source: Cisco)
Why this is important for your business:
See my comments on Mark Cuban above. Perfect example of a forward thinking software vendor releasing new AI features. If I were their client, I would learn all about these features and how they can help my HR process. Most good HR platforms will do this sort of thing, so make sure your HR managers communicate closely with these providers.
4 – TikTok bets on e-commerce – aims to quadruple sales this year.
Connie Diaz de Teran by Payment journal broke TikTok’s plans to grow its global e-commerce business from $4.4 billion to $20 billion according to Bloomberg reports. With e-commerce accelerating within the realm of social media – where buyers follow a particular influencer who recommends a product (for example) – that product is found and purchased with just a few clicks. The piece goes on to highlight the growing trends in social trading as the TikTok store wants to compete with Amazon as the go-to online shopping portal. (Source: Payment journal)
Why this is important for your business:
Political concerns aside, TikTok is a giant social media platform and if your products target their target audience (usually under 40 years old, but the user age range is starting to creep up), then you should consider using these ecommerce tools on their platform to generate more sales.
5 – LinkedIn launches new measurement tools for marketing.
LinkedIn – the networking platform for businesses and independent professionals – has 3 new tools for business users looking to boost their marketing efforts. (Source: Demand Gen report)
Why this is important for your business:
According to LinkedIn, the CMO Scoreboard will assess a brand’s effectiveness in terms of creative impact, media presence and result metrics. The second tool – B2B Index – gives companies a combined score of creativity, “brand building and brand investment”. B2B Leaderboard will showcase the “most successful” brands by measuring buyer intent in response to a brand’s creativity and paid marketing investment.
