2019 is going to be an inflexion point for the AI as the technology keeps moving on from being considered to be as the futuristic novelty to a value add for the enterprise related marketing.
As businesses embrace the real world scenario applications of the Artificial Intelligence-based chatbots and the voice supported assistants, acquisitions and investment actions in the space has been seen as an uptick this year itself.
Some of the data which has been revealed by the Traxn shows that 2019 has already been closed deals which have been valued more around $6 Million in the segment till data, as compared to the $13 million investment raised by the startups in 2018, across the 11 deals. Frontdesk.ai which is an AI assistant for the wellness and health segment has now secured $2 million in the pre-series A round of funding which is led by the Pi Ventures, and AI led customer engagement platform yellow Messenger secured $4 Million last month in the funding round of Series A from some of the undisclosed investors.
Some of the Digital assistants, AI-supported human concierges, chatbots, voice interactions largely make up the conversational AI markets in India. While such type of solutions is also gaining the rapid adoption in the financial services for both the service and sales needs, industries like the travel and hospitality are also learning some of the conversational AI to keep the consumers much more satisfied and engaged.
Uniphore, a Chennai-born AI enterprise backed by Cisco’s John Chambers, is among few Indian AI players to taste global success. “We see real use cases and adoption both in India and in other global markets we serve. In the customer service domain, conversational AI is becoming a mainstream platform to deliver differentiated CX,” Smith Ramachandran, VP and head of products, Uniphore, said.
D D Mishra, who is a senior director analyst, Gartner, reveals that more than 40% of Indian entities have either adopted or are in the process of adopting some of the conversational platforms. “Culture often stands as a barrier; procurement departments in India are driven by the traditional mindset of headcount, which goes against automation and revolves around creating efficiencies,” he added.
