This presentation discusses the most important technological development of the coming years: artificial intelligence. What can companies expect? What should we do as more and more human skills are being taken over by these kind of systems, such as looking, listening, talking, reading and reasoning? And what will the future of artificial intelligence look like? What is definitely possible, and what isn't? How does this change the relationship with your customer?

The future is also brightened by the autonomous "digital butler" who gives you answers before you knew you need answers, and helps you before you knew you needed help. But does it only have advantages? Or not? What are the unintended, unforeseen disadvantages of this technological trend? Just like we should have done with the introduction of social media and the smartphone, shouldn't we be asking ourselves that one important question: what do we want the era of artificial intelligence to look like?

Many machine-human partnerships are starting to take shape in modern contact centers. Today, machines make it possible to query and classify vast numbers of conversational interactions. Soon, machines will become increasingly proactive, conversational, and helpful. In this session we will explore what real contact center tasks are best suited for machines today, and how agents and machines can work together most effectively.

This is the journey of a bank that was looking for the new shiny thing, a customer data platform, and ended up choosing a multi-channel marketing hub. How did it happen? What did we discover along the way on our journey about these types of tools? We follow through the steps of this discovery voyage where not a lot of people have gone before ... (Hey, it sounds like a new Star Trek episode!).

You could also add MT, DMS, ERP, DAM, and many others to the list. The point is, tech stacks are getting increasingly complex and the trend toward microservices means it’s only getting more complicated. For professionals working on translation and localization, the round-trip for multilingual content gets harder with each hand-off between systems. An open source, community-driven initiative to simplify and standardize translation APIs has been underway for 2 years and has produced a number of deliverables useful to those working in multilingual content management and delivery. Join this session to learn about the value of an open source solution; what’s being done to facilitate integration, automation, and interoperability; and how you can benefit.

Today, IVRs are treated as a containment strategy to avoid calls reaching contact center agents. They focus on operational efficiency instead of customer experience. No wonder most users hate IVRs — 60% of them try to bypass them as soon as possible! The irony is that focusing on a great customer experience is a more effective approach for operational efficiency and cost savings, while also delivering high customer satisfaction scores.

We believe the future of customer engagement is conversational because conversations are at the heart of great customer experiences. Customers will interact with systems by speaking or texting naturally rather than pressing keys on their phones or reciting pre-determined commands. Conversational interfaces will allow businesses to route and handle hundreds of customer issues that wouldn't normally fit in a touch-tone IVR menu or even a mobile app. Customers won’t need to learn how to use conversational interfaces because they can just interact with them naturally.

In this talk we will demonstrate how to build a conversational assistant, train it and deploy it to our IVR and web chatbot. We will address the biggest challenges such as handling speech recognition inaccuracies, error handling, omnichannel deployments, and conversation state tracking. We will cover the conversational UX best practices as well as how to give your intelligent assistant a unique voice and tone. After this talk you will be equipped to launch your IVR, chatbot, and Alexa skill with Twilio Autopilot.

Learn more about the latest technological developments in digital experience from leading-edge companies in Expert Perspectives sessions. The sessions are open to all full-conference attendees and Networking Pass holders. Check back for session details or follow #DigiExConf on Twitter for updates.

To thrive in the experience economy, businesses must be able to provide trusted, personalized and differentiated experiences. Does your brand rise to the challenge? Explore why digital experience matters and why it is the dividing line between successful and struggling businesses. Learn how digital experience leaders move fast, build trust and deliver personalized and relevant interactions at every stage of the digital customer journey!

Visualizing the collection of tools and platforms that make up your digital experience stack is essential for understanding your as-is environment. And—more importantly—envisioning and implementing your idealized future state. This fast-paced session offers some alternative reference models for visualizing your existing and future stacks. Pick and choose which one works best for you, then take it back home to impress your peers!

“Gutenberg” is the controversial new block-based editing experience introduced in WordPress 5.0. Find out what this means for the future of editing in the world’s most popular content management system, as well as how this may impact other CMSs.

Stop acquiring more marketing technology and start better connecting it to your digital customer experiences. This session helps you realize the full potential of your existing martech investment by better aligning it to your customer experience strategy and digital execution. Drawing from decades of experience leading complex, digital experience initiatives, Cram and team share practical frameworks and models to find and fix the cracks in your digital customer experience and better connect your marketing technology to support the customer journey.

Can you build a digital ecosystem that enables your organization to delight its customers at every touchpoint, while delivering effective personalization and omni-channel engagement? Can you meet the needs of your customer’s journey across all channels to deliver her relevant content at any given point? For many, a successful customer experience relies on an affirmative answer to both questions. But the “transformation” required to support such efforts presents brands with seemingly insurmountable challenges. Where do you even begin? Our session helps you kick-start a digital transformation initiative by showing you how it can be done, even if you are starting with disparate systems, processes, and disconnected customer experiences. We show you an effective strategy and road map, including best practices in its execution. We offer you real-world examples of what has worked and led to a 400% increase in customer engagement—and what has not—and how you can succeed.

For the past few years, MITRE has been working on making knowledge actionable and enabling people to make data-driven decisions. We presented some of the work we’ve been doing in both areas at the Gilbane Digital Content Conference in Boston last November. Since then, we have begun to focus on creating more cohesive digital user experiences which we refer to as “workstreams” to redefine and better support staff in their roles and journeys. We are using workstreams to unite product and services owners, teams, and organizations, all around the needs of our users to simplify their processes and help the business run more efficiently. We share highlights from our journey as we transitioned to this new way of working.

Today, IVRs are treated as a containment strategy to avoid calls reaching contact center agents. They focus on operational efficiency instead of customer experience. No wonder most users hate IVRs — 60% of them try to bypass them as soon as possible! The irony is that focusing on a great customer experience is a more effective approach for operational efficiency and cost savings, while also delivering high customer satisfaction scores.

We believe the future of customer engagement is conversational because conversations are at the heart of great customer experiences. Customers will interact with systems by speaking or texting naturally rather than pressing keys on their phones or reciting pre-determined commands. Conversational interfaces will allow businesses to route and handle hundreds of customer issues that wouldn't normally fit in a touch-tone IVR menu or even a mobile app. Customers won’t need to learn how to use conversational interfaces because they can just interact with them naturally.

In this talk we will demonstrate how to build a conversational assistant, train it and deploy it to our IVR and web chatbot. We will address the biggest challenges such as handling speech recognition inaccuracies, error handling, omnichannel deployments, and conversation state tracking. We will cover the conversational UX best practices as well as how to give your intelligent assistant a unique voice and tone. After this talk you will be equipped to launch your IVR, chatbot, and Alexa skill with Twilio Autopilot.

Parsing through federal regulations can be challenging. It can be hard to know where to start and find what you need. That’s certainly true at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the federal law enforcement agency responsible for regulating firearms, explosives, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as investigating acts of arson, bombings, and terrorism. Learn how digital is helping the ATF better connect state and local law enforcement as well as firearms dealers, the public, and other constituents with mission-critical information and services. While regulations prevent licensing procedures from moving online, the ATF has still streamlined the process and made it easier for applicants to apply and understand what they need. Regulatory updates are shared faster with law enforcement, and best practices around personalization and usability are helping the ATF drive better results for constituents, and see a threefold increase for ATF news and notifications. Learn how the ATF is leveraging open source tech and strategies more typical of marketing organizations— including journey orchestration, audience segmentation, and personalization— to deliver for all of its audiences.

It’s now estimated that some 45% of organizations have attempted to personalize their own homepage in some way— but fewer than a third think it’s actually “working.” If that scares you, you’re not alone: As personalization technology races from niche to mainstream, the design community is racing to catch up. It’s time for a UX intervention. This highly practical talk focuses on the role of experience designer in influencing user-centered personalization design, including technology selection, user data models, and, of course, wireframes. Specifically, it covers what the well-versed designer should know about the latest personalization technology; what to do when you get a request to “do personalization” (either at your organization or your clients’); how to fit personalized user content into a larger information design system; how to use your role in UX to influence technical product selection; grow to translate actual user needs into a real-time user data model (“living personas”); wireframe-level guidelines for introducing personalized components in web and email; and creating a measurement framework based on “quick-wins” and iterative improvement.

The digital phenomenon of social media has transformed the way our world communicates. Organizations can capitalize on this marvel with enterprise social networking. “Social sweat” refers to the effort that should be geared toward this growing communication channel. An organization’s Why, How, and What are easily communicated through enterprise social networks, and, most importantly, the pulse of the people is revealed. This presentation provides simple steps to overcome the issues that come with enterprise social networks. This includes lack of participation, value perception, and privacy concerns. This system is easy to follow and will energize organizations to get ready for culture change that comes with improved communication practices. Our organization uses Yammer; however, these principles can be applied to the many available applications.

Faced with complex multi-site, multi-language, multi-channel digital presences, many organizations struggle to provide exceptional digital customer experiences, especially those on a large, distributed digital team. With the growing number of compliance requirements and international regulations, can you successfully deliver a digital strategy with repeatability and integrity? This talk defines policies and standards that can be leveraged throughout the enterprise for digital success—whether that is a website redesign, technology re-platform or implementation of mobile applications and social software.

89% of executive say digitization will disrupt their business this year. Yet fewer than 1/3 believe that their digital strategy is correct, and only 21% believe the right people are setting their strategy. Why the disconnect?

Using real-time case studies from global, best-in-class companies, Barton will illustrate how these companies are using digital transformation to enhance customer experience.

Hear how five components – CRM, Data & Analytics, Social Media Communities, Customer Engagement and Emerging Technologies – form an integrated framework for successful digital transformation. Learn how to assemble these components in bite-size chucks by following a long-term roadmap that focuses on critical people and process issues, as well as technology.

This session will discuss the ways that an integrated software system can provide you deeper insights into your business and help you provide a better customer experience.

In this talk, Joe Bachana presents how open source technologies such as Drupal (CMS), Entermedia (DAM), OpenKM (records management), and CiviCRM (CRM) are being implemented with an Intacct Accounting System for the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). The resulting system manages the entire customer relationship, from inception through to management of donations and membership activities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to completely revolutionize the B2B selling function. And depending on who you talk to, AI will either enable massive productivity gains from your employees or replace them entirely. Hype aside, AI is coming, and B2B companies need to understand how to harness it. And despite the promise of “plug-and- play” technology, real AI requires varying degrees of knowledge engineering, product and content architecture, and high-quality data sources to be effective. Come and learn how you can leverage best practices to rethink processes for the product content lifecycle, from initial on-boarding to post-production syndication; the infrastructure you’ll need to consider when planning for your AI initiative; and how AI enables new product associations and personalized experiences to drive deeper engagement with your customers.

AI can now help improve contact centers in ways that up until just a few years ago where not possible. Google Cloud AI enables anyone to tap into AI built on Google tech that up until recently has been exclusive to Google employees. This includes our pre-trained ready-to-use models, including speech recognition that is now twice as accurate for phone calls, WaveNet-based neural network speech synthesis, conversational NLU, and conversational analytics. Together with partners, Google is now bringing this technology to contact centers via Contact Center AI solutions. Companies with contact centers of all sizes can now automate conversational experiences, and improve performance of human agents.

To survive in the experience era we now live in, businesses have a need for speed. Only when they are able to innovate quickly will they have a chance to withstand the market pressure from giants like Amazon and Alibaba. Rapid innovation means speed to go live, speed to change, and speed to business outcomes. This requires a new approach to digital experiences—an approach that leverages the power of AI and machine learning, that builds on a microservices-based architecture, and that is open to connect to whatever technology you’d like to use through APIs. Lots of businesses, however, are stuck on legacy systems and struggle to make the necessary changes to enter the experience era. In this talk, Cahn explains how to leverage new technologies to differentiate yourself from your competitors and build engaging digital experiences that exceed the expectations of your users.

Over time, the nature of data changes and costly information systems eventually need to be replaced. One main source of system obsolescence comes from the rigidity of data structures. Escaping from it using AI-driven techniques entails some compromises that many of us are not ready to accept for fear of diminishing accuracy and quality. The solution presented here is two-fold: leveling the difference between structure and content by adopting knowledge graphs instead of databases, and enabling integrated data to be post-curated. Practical examples are shown to illustrate this approach.

In understandable terms, how does the flavor of AI called “deep learning” work, and what can it really do for us? Using at least two specific examples, what amazing things can state-of-the-art deep learning technology do for us, and what are the significant weaknesses you have to be aware of? For example, can you assume AI is gender-neutral and color blind? (Oops!) Above all, how is training deep learning to solve a problem almost exactly like teaching your favorite 5-year-old niece or nephew something new? We start with understanding what deep learning means by seeing how, of all things, the U.S. Postal Service advanced the world by wanting to read our scrawled versions of address ZIP codes. Then we move on to face recognition, and the ability to rank how good a still image is. By the end, you have a solid feel for a technology that will, literally, touch everything in your digital experience moving forward.

American Geophysical Union (AGU), a global scientific association promoting discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity, is on a 3-year path to implement a modern, flexible digital framework supporting its efforts. AGU’s vision to “galvanize the collaborative work of their members and communicate their work and its power to ensure a sustainable future” is empowered by digital tools. But key to this transformation is the adoption of a new culture and operating model for AGU to become a “platform for science,” delivering services wherever discovery and connections take place. AGU is rethinking the experience of its 25,000-person annual conference; building new ways to interact with the content of 20 peer-reviewed journals, a science magazine, and numerous books; fostering collaboration and dialogue; and doing all of this with the highest ethical standards and an eye to diversity and inclusion. This presentation speaks to this journey, discussing some of the parallels between our digital transformation and that of others adopting membership-based models to replace their traditional, subscription-oriented businesses, and addressing to the challenges faced along this path.

In ecommerce sites, non-product content often takes a backseat when focusing on the user experience, especially from a search perspective. This creates a source of frustration for the user. The challenge is to integrate the product and non-product content experience on the site. Merchandisers and marketers need to elevate their content for visibility and make it accessible and SEO-friendly. From the ecommerce side, there are multiple factors such as different workflows, processes and expectations to consider. This disconnect creates plenty of opportunity to enhance user experiences. We examine the various aspects to consider from a business, customer experience, and technology perspective to provide the best, timely, and relevant information to the users on the site for non-product- related content search. We discuss the best practices and how best to streamline the processes between the back-end systems to provide an effective medium for content search.

AI can now help improve contact centers in ways that up until just a few years ago where not possible. Google Cloud AI enables anyone to tap into AI built on Google tech that up until recently has been exclusive to Google employees. This includes our pre-trained ready-to-use models, including speech recognition that is now twice as accurate for phone calls, WaveNet-based neural network speech synthesis, conversational NLU, and conversational analytics. Together with partners, Google is now bringing this technology to contact centers via Contact Center AI solutions. Companies with contact centers of all sizes can now automate conversational experiences, and improve performance of human agents.

Learn more about the latest technological developments in digital experience from leading-edge companies in Expert Perspectives sessions. The sessions are open to all full-conference attendees and Networking Pass holders. Check back here for session details or follow #DigiExConf on Twitter for updates.

90% of content created by Marketing never gets re-used – a valuable resource, wasted. But it doesn’t have to be. AlexAnndra will show you how to implement a presentation management strategy in your company, so anyone can find the file and even specific slide they need, and re-use it in a new presentation, quickly and easily.

When organizations undertake a major digital transformation, obviously content is a major component. But the approach most organizations take to exploring content is narrow (for instance, a particular site or site section). We look at ways of escaping the line-by-line spreadsheet trudge and explore our content, and most importantly, makedecisionsat scale.

Conversational voice and chatbot experiences are rapidly becoming the new norm in our houses, cars, and even some workplaces. Getting your news, weather, and driving directions is now as easy as asking for them aloud. But if you're wondering what the business case is, you’re not alone. For many product owners, strategists, and marketers, it’s still hard to envision a viable way to get started. We work with clients every day who’ve taken on this exact challenge and found success. Through real-world examples, this presentation will show you how to identify and pursue the right opportunity for your next conversational design project. We’ll cover why people choose conversational interactions over other digital experiences, how to uncover legitimate use cases for your business, and how to avoid common stumbling blocks in the design and development process. You'll walk away knowing how to identify a compelling conversational experience for your brand, and be ready to navigate the challenges and opportunities of working with emerging conversational interfaces.

A well-constructed and well-organized corporate narrative is a powerful thing. It explains what you do and why you matter. It can do the following:

It speaks to the market in clear, resonant terms. It supports fluid, coherent corporate communications. It ensures that employees have a shared understanding of what they’re working for, and it plays a key role in business and product decisions and road maps.

Core narratives are a structured approach to organizing core beliefs, truths and facts about your organization. It starts with examining four elements:

The workshop begins with a discussion of the meaning of “narrative,” how it is different from “story,” and how to measure its strength. Then the fun begins:

You leave with a clearer way of thinking about narratives and a set of tools designed to help you move forward with yours. 

*Participants are requested to bring their own device in the form of a phone, laptop, or tablet to maximize the engagement experience.

Digital customers are disrupting established practices and processes internationally. Product and service leaders must understand, analyze, meet, and exceed local requirements to enter and grow in their target markets. The digital age has set the stage to amplify local reach, relevant resonance, and personal reaction. Whether you are in a globalizing startup or in a multinational organization you have to overcome challenges and seize opportunities to make the most of that borderless stage and deliver effective content and products while demonstrating much agility, velocity, and customer centricity. More than ever, there is no great local experience without global excellence. Digital customers are in the driver’s seat, and know what they look for as well as where, when, and how they want it. Therefore, it is crucial to engage them linguistically, culturally, and functionally before they switch to your competitors in one click or with one word. Join this workshop to unleash the power of the fast track to create and increase digital globalization value. We cover how to do the following:

-     Consider a robust framework to execute digital globalization plans end to end, maximize customer experiences, and sustain value matching local customer journeys.

-     Build a road map to develop assets, showcase quick wins, and deliver on your business  objectives in a time and cost-effective way across multiple markets.

-     Drive the transformation of digital content and product supply chains into experience value chains by optimizing creation, development, internationalization, translation, localization, testing, certification, and personal customer experiences globally.

CRM is designed to help you manage your business ecosystem more strategically. But many companies struggle with CRM deployments. This is a non-technical session designed for business professionals on how to plan and implement CRM strategies. It is based on the integration of the best practices in business processes, people skills development and technology. Attendees will learn how to improve the ROI on CRM investments by developing better planning and user adoption strategies.

One of the top reasons that customer care processes fail is a lack of alignment with the customer's preferred process, and a one-size-fits-all approach. Do you know your customers well enough to know how to design a process that delights them at every step of the process? Join your peers in this workshop as you learn how to understand customer personas and create journey maps to drive more effective customer service, including how to the following: Listen to your customers so they can tell you what their journey looks like; identify what customer personas look like and how they will affect your process and technology decisions; discover the starting point for persona definitions—and how to strategically expand from there; and define a journey map as the foundation of customer experience management processes.