Salesforce is betting on AI and machine learning to improve its offer
Salesforce.com unveiled the Einstein artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tool. They will boost The company’s core customer relationship management (CRM) service. The announcement was made hours before rival Oracle’s annual OpenWorld event began.
During OpenWorld, Oracle introduced its Adaptive Intelligent Applications. The machine learning and AI-driven tool combine web-scale data from its data cloud, data science, and customer experience cloud apps.
Meanwhile, Einstein will assist Salesforce clients in closing business deals and marketing products to customers. The San Francisco-based cloud computing company integrated the new tool to its portfolio of goods and services.
The move is Salesforce’s latest attempt to stop relying on Oracle. Founded by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff, the company signed a 9-year partnership with Oracle in 2013 to use Oracle Linux, Oracle Exadata, Oracle Database, and the Java platform to power its applications and SaaS platform.
How does Salesforce’s Einstein work?
Einstein will integrate into Salesforce’s several categories of its CRM service. They include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Community Cloud, Analytics Cloud, App Cloud, and IoT.
Salesforce Einstein analyzes massive amounts of data from business activity, correspondence, e-commerce, email, social data streams and Internet of Things (IoT). Powered by an AI and machine learning algorithm, Einstein gives the user more information to make decisions.
The tool can power the Predictive Lead Scoring feature for salespeople to identify which client is most likely to buy a product. It can also suggest customer-service personnel when should they make follow-up calls to unresponsive customers. Additionally, a built-in security system prevents customers from sharing data between them.
Salesforce has been building Einstein since 2014
Over the past two years, Salesforce spent about $650 million in the acquisitions of AI and machine-learning startups like Metamind and RelatedIQ to help develop and enhance Einstein. In consequence, Salesforce now houses 175 data scientists.
All of them will continue to work on the tool and future projects under a Salesforce Research unit. It will focus on deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. Salesforce chief scientist and former Metamind CEO Richard Socher leads the research lab team.
According to Einstein general manager John Ball, the unit will also make Einstein more flexible and easy to use for both corporate customers and ordinary people. Salesforce wants Einstein to reach the general public for them to create their applications.
Source: Tech Times
