(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in tech 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 made by Mark Cuban at the Mackinac Policy Conference. The tech tycoon is urging small businesses to school themselves in artificial intelligence or risk getting clobbered by the competition. “You have to understand how AI is going to impact your business,” Cuban said. “You have to be curious enough to figure it out.” The subject of AI has stirred up a lot of pros and cons chatter as others, such as Elon Musk, have warned of potential disastrous outcomes if it goes unregulated. (Source: Business Insider)
Why this is important for your business:
He’s right and here’s how you “school” yourself. Talk to your financial, CRM, and other technology software service providers and grill them on the AI functions they’re got on the horizon. Some may already be released. Understand these features and deploy where they make sense. These are the companies investing significant resources in AI because they want to keep you as monthly customers going forward. So leverage their investments to make your business more productive.
2 — A tech journalist has been using Google’s new AI search — here’s what he’s learned.
Imad Khan of CNET gave his assessment of Google I/O — the company’s “experimental AI-integrated search engine.” Doing away with links, Google I/O condenses multiple sources of information into one summarization. “It moves Google away from the information gathering business into the information editing business,” Khan states. In comparison to ChatGPT, he points out how Google’s technology is more organized — with follow up questions links are listed to the side of the search query. (Source: CNET)
Why this is important for your business:
Overall Kahn is giving the thumbs up for how Google I/O is revolutionizing the web search experience. This initial test phase is scheduled to run through the end of December. Users can sign up now to get early access.
3 — Visier launches new generative AI assistant Vee to deliver insights about your workforce.
Visier — the HR analytics platform based out of Vancouver — has just launched “Vee”. The generative AI assistant is reported allow the use of colloquial or what’s called “natural language” queries which will then be translated by the Visier system. Users will receive instant data pertaining to human resources, problem-solving analyses or risk-assessment information. Vee also provides assistance with reports in the data analytics space. (Source: Cisco)
Why this is important for your business:
See my comments on Mark Cuban above. Perfect example of a forward-thinking software provider that’s releasing new AI functions. If I was their clients I’d be learning all about these features and how they can help my HR process. Most good HR platforms will be doing things like this so make sure your HR managers are in close communication with these providers.
4 — TikTok bets on e-commerce — aims to quadruple sales this year.
Connie Diaz de Teran of Payments Journal broke down TikTok’s plans to further develop its global ecommerce trade from $4.4 billion to $20 billion according to Bloomberg reports. With ecommerce accelerating within the social media realm — where buyers follow a particular influencer who endorses a product (for instance) — that product is located and purchased with just a few clicks. The piece goes on to highlight the growing trends in social commerce as the TikTok Shop aims to compete with Amazon as the go-to online shopping portal. (Source: Payments Journal)
Why this is important for your business:
Political concerns aside, TikTok is a giant social media platform and if your products target their demographic (generally under 40 years old, but the user age range is starting to creep up) then you may want to consider taking advantage of these e-commerce tools on their platform to drive more sales.
5 — LinkedIn launches new marketing measurement tools.
LinkedIn — the networking platform for businesses and independent professionals — has 3 new tools for the business-savvy who seek to drill into their marketing efforts. (Source: Demand Gen Report)
Why this is important for your business:
According to LinkedIn, the CMO Scoreboard will assess the effectiveness of a brand in terms of its creative effect, media presence and results metrics. The second tool — B2B Index — will give businesses a combined score of creativity, “brand building and brand investment.” B2B Leaderboard will feature the “most successful” brands by measuring buyer intent in reaction to a brand’s creativity and paid marketing investments.
