Capgemini - AI-enabled customer interactions more than double since 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gone mainstream when it comes to customer interactions, according to a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute. More than half of customers (54%) have daily AI-enabled interactions with organizations – a significant increase from the 21% reported in Capgemini’s 2018 research on the subject. The report, ‘The Art of Customer-Centric Artificial Intelligence: How organizations can unleash the full potential of AI in the customer experience’, reveals the factors that have significantly contributed to AI adoption among customers, including:

·         increasing customer trust in AI;

·         an increase in human-like AI interactions; increasing customer concerns arising from COVID-19;

·         and organizations stepping up their AI deployments

AI capabilities have been evolving, but COVID-19 has accelerated adoption of these tools and made intelligent machines part of our new normal lives, both now and in the future COVID-19 has accelerated customer adoption of non-touch AI-based systems, such as voice assistants and facial recognition – a shot in the arm for AI adoption.

Capgemini Research Institute surveyed customers across twelve countries in April and May 2020: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US. It also surveyed 1,060 business leaders from large organizations with at least $1 billion in 2019 annual revenue across a range of sectors and countries. In addition, the Institute also conducted in-depth interviews with industry executives and two virtual focus group discussions with end-customers.  

Key Highlights India as well as Globally

• Over 55% of Indian customers  surveyed are having daily AI-enabled interactions in 2020 compared to 46% in 2018. Globally in 2020 this number stood at 54% compared to 21% in 2018
• 36% of Indian customers prefer AI-only engagements while researching and browsing  and 26% of Indian customer prefer AI Only engagement while making a purchase. Globally  over  41% of customers prefer AI-only engagements while researching and browsing  and 26% of global customer prefer AI Only engagement while making a purchase 
• More than 8 out of 10 Indian customers (about 82% of Indian consumers)  expect to increase touchless interactions during COVID-19 crisis while Over 77% of global consumers expect to increase touchless interactions during COVID-19 crisis
• About 80% of Indian organizations have  stepped up AI deployments and have between 30% to 50% of customer interactions AI enabled comparatively about 80% of global organizations have  stepped up AI deployments in 2020
• Customer satisfaction from AI interactions has dropped across countries including India: 90% of customers in India are not satisfied with the interaction with AI while globally  69% of  customers are dissatisfied.
• The value that Indian customers received from AI interactions were not as per expectations, although higher than the global average – about 47% of Indian customers were marginally satisfied with their interaction with AI compared to 45% of global consumers who in 2020 indicate that AI interactions were not as per expectations

Capgemini teams from India, the UK and Australia win its 2020 Tech4Positive Futures Challenge

New Delhi, July 6, 2020 — Capgemini announced today the winners of its Tech4Positive Futures Challenge. Launched in January 2020, the initiative invited its best and brightest minds to help address some of society’s biggest issues through innovative, technology-led, ecosystem-enabled solutions. As part of the companywide initiative, Capgemini committed to provide the resources required to bring the winning ideas to life and deliver social impact at scale. Hundreds of employees across fifteen countries took part in the global challenge and presented compelling solutions to a range of societal problems including food insecurity and hunger in schools, digital exclusion, maternal mortality rates, and carbon footprint from emails to name a few.

After months of preparation, including hands-on mentoring from senior business and technology leaders, 13 finalist teams presented their solutions to a judging panel. The following three winners were selected:

·         ‘MAATR’ to reduce maternal mortality rate: India lost 35,000 mothers to pregnancy and child-birth-related complications in 2017, according to UNICEF. Almost 90% of these deaths are avoidable with the right information and guidance[1]. Team MAATR, based in India, proposed a digital mechanism based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, for real-time data sharing to help rural health workers intervene in time and save lives.

·         ‘SpeechFirst’ to aid stroke survivors: Across the world, 15 million people suffer from a stroke every year, of whom at least 4 million require long-term speech and language therapy[2]. Team SpeechFirst, in the UK, devised an accessible and economical alternative for such stroke survivors to continue their speech and language therapy at home. The solution proposes the use of AI to detect incorrect facial movements and pronunciation to provide real-time tips and recommendations to patients.

·         Technology to ensure ’Zero Hunger in Schools’: There are 66 million primary school-age children in developing countries who go to class hungry every year[3]. Team Zero Hunger in Schools, based in Australia, created a tech solution to address this problem: Yum-yum, an app and web-based platform driven by secure, cloud-based technology, leveraging machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics, can help optimize food supply and distribution to children, and connect parents, teachers, welfare organizations, and governments to achieve zero hunger in schools.

Comments Aiman Ezzat, CEO of the Capgemini Group: “Capgemini is committed to applying its collective technology and innovation expertise for sustainable and social development. We have seen this in action more than ever in 2020, from the outputs of our Social Response Unit to help communities during the COVID-19 crisis, through to the inspiring solutions that were created during our Tech4Positive Futures Challenge. I am really looking forward to seeing each of the winning teams’ solutions come to life to deliver real societal impact at scale.”

“Our companywide Architects of Positive Futures program enables us to channel our core capabilities in technology, data, and innovation to address some of the big problems in our world and to meaningfully benefit society,” said Shobha Meera, Group CSR Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee. “The passion and energy that our teams brought to the Tech4Positive Futures Challenge and the problems they have set out to solve are nothing short of awe-inspiring. We look forward to sharing the progress we make over the coming months.”

Tech4Positive Futures is part of Capgemini’s Digital Inclusion pillar of its Corporate Social Responsibility program: Architects of Positive Futures.

Click here to find out more about Capgemini’s global CSR program and this year’s Tech4Positive Futures winners.

About Capgemini

Capgemini is a global leader in consulting, digital transformation, technology and engineering services. The Group is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients’ opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms. Building on its strong 50-year+ heritage and deep industry-specific expertise, Capgemini enables organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from strategy to operations. Capgemini is driven by the conviction that the business value of technology comes from and through people. Today, it is a multicultural company of 270,000 team members in almost 50 countries. With Altran, the Group reported 2019 combined revenues of €17billion.

Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count.