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Conversational AI to gain ground in the UAE

Developments will boost personalised interactions, expert says

The UAE is poised to witness significant advancements in conversational AI for enhancing customer experience and streamlining operations over the next decade, an industry expert said.

“Businesses in the UAE, as it has happened elsewhere, will focus a lot on bringing personalised interactions. This will mean integration of advanced technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and deep learning. These technologies will enable them to offer more accurate and timely responses to customer queries, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty,” Beerud Sheth, Founder and CEO, Gupshup Technologies, told Khaleej Times in an interview.

Gupshup is a leading conversation cloud that enables businesses to advertise, communicate, and converse with their customers by leveraging AI and CPaaS. Gupshup’s conversational engagement solutions enable 45,000+ brands across India, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. Valued at $1.4 billion, Gupshup powers over 10 billion messages per month.

Excerpts:

What are some of the most significant trends you see emerging in conversational AI, particularly in the UAE, over the next decade?

Chatbots powered by AI will play a huge role across sectors in improving the quality of customer service. Be it getting the latest electricity bill on chat, payment status or an issue with your refund, businesses that deploy AI chatbots will see their service quality and therefore customer stickiness increase a notch above others. As the UAE’s population becomes increasingly diverse, there will be a growing demand for multilingual support in conversational AI. Businesses will need to adapt to this trend by providing support in multiple languages, including Arabic, English, and other regional languages

Developments in Conversational AI will not be restricted to just chatbots. As AR (Augmented Reality) technology becomes mainstream, businesses will also offer conversational immersive experiences to their customers.

Further, we will continue to see impetus from the UAE government for support and adoption of AI and conversational AI in various sectors, including healthcare, education, and finance. This could involve initiatives such as training programs for AI developers and incentives for businesses to invest in AI technology.

How do you envision the landscape of conversational AI evolving in the UAE in the next ten years, and what key factors will drive this evolution?

Conversational AI, as explained earlier will be one of the key technologies that businesses across UAE will lean on to improve customer relationships. Within that, I see WhatsApp Business playing a huge role in accelerating the trend. With its vast user base, robust features and integration with e-commerce platforms, a lot of businesses will prefer WhatsApp over other channels to reach out to their customers instantly.

Some of the factors that are driving the evolution of conversational AI in the UAE include the increasing adoption of digital technologies, the growing demand for personalised interactions, and the need for businesses to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market. The UAE government’s commitment to making Dubai the most innovative city globally will also play a significant role in fostering the growth of conversational AI. The country’s young and tech-savvy population, coupled with the rise of e-commerce and digital banking, will further accelerate the adoption of conversational AI.

Given the UAE’s multicultural and multilingual population, how can AI-powered language solutions enhance communication and engagement in such a diverse market?

The UAE’s multicultural and multilingual population presents a unique challenge for businesses seeking to effectively communicate and engage with their customers. However, with AI powered translation tools, businesses can instantly translate customer messages, eliminating language barriers and enabling seamless communication across different languages. With precise translations that account for nuances like idioms, slang, they can foster a deeper appreciation for diverse cultures and build a more inclusive image. Besides increasing accessibilty, AI-powered language solutions can reduce the need for human translators, leading to significant cost savings for businesses. All of this opens up new markets and customer segments, promoting business growth and market expansion.

In what ways is conversational AI transforming the financial services sector in the UAE, and What future developments can we expect in this area?

We are increasingly seeing integration of AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants into banking systems to provide personalised services, such as product recommendations and account management. This enables customers to interact with their banks in a more natural and intuitive manner, enhancing overall satisfaction and loyalty. For example, we have seen banks incorporate WhatsApp as a channel and through that, offer AI chatbots that can help you block cards, check account statements on the go and even pay your credit card bills.

Future developments in the UAE’s financial services sector are likely to include increased adoption of AI, enhanced Arabic language support, and continued digital transformation. Generative AI applications will also become more prevalent, providing personalised financial advice and enhancing the overall customer experience. The integration of conversational AI with other technologies, such as blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT), will also create more advanced and efficient financial services.

Can you explain the concept of a Conversational Cloud and its importance in building effective two-way communication with customers?

The modern business landscape is characterised by a multitude of specialised platforms catering to diverse organisational requirements. Just as brands rely on Marketing Cloud for comprehensive CRM, the Conversational Cloud emerges as the indispensable solution for streamlining and optimising conversational interactions. This specialised platform fills a critical gap, enabling brands to harness the power of conversational AI, omnichannel messaging, and personalised engagements in a unified and cohesive manner. By consolidating these capabilities into a single, integrated solution, the Conversation Cloud empowers organisations to deliver seamless, consistent, and highly personalised experiences across the entire customer journey, from initial inquiry to post-purchase support and beyond.

Consider a festival such as Eid wherein businesses need to send personalised messages to millions of customers. A high scale, high performance conversation cloud platform will ensure that this high volume of messages are sent with lower latency.

Businesses can configure AI-driven chatbots, conversation flows, and messaging campaigns once, and then the platform can seamlessly execute these interactions across multiple channels. This hands-off approach frees up marketers and customer service teams to focus on high-value tasks, secure in the knowledge that routine engagements are being handled flawlessly.

How does Gupshup leverage conversational AI to create relationships with customers through two-way communication?

We enable brands to build enduring customer relationships and drive business growth on messaging channels. Customers no longer respond to notifications and broadcasts, but have a strong preference for two-way, personalised interactions in real-time. However, building these two-way journeys requires a comprehensive set of tools from bots and generative AI for automation to interactive campaign builders, conversational commerce systems, click-to-chat advertising, and live agent capabilities. For most companies, these functionalities exist in fragmented silos across disjointed tools and teams. Our platform brings all of these tools together and helps brands design, execute, and optimise conversational experiences across the entire customer lifecycle, from initial acquisition campaigns and marketing journeys to commerce interactions and post-purchase support.

What are the primary challenges Gupshup faces in implementing conversational AI solutions in the UAE, and what opportunities do you foresee for overcoming these challenges?

Every market presents both challenges and opportunities. At Gupshup, we believe in localisation and therefore our offerings in the UAE market are available in Arabic, alongside English. We have a local team in place that helps us better understand the market needs and we are ramping up our team, given the good growth we have seen in the market. Through events and participation in industry conferences, we are educating customers about the benefits of AI-powered chatbots and how it can help them boost revenue. We are also offering highly customisable AI solutions that allow businesses to tailor the conversational AI to their specific needs. This flexibility can include options for different languages, industry-specific functionalities, and integration capabilities. Moreover, we are focussed on improving user experience through continuous learning and feedback loops.