Intelligent Assistants Conference 2014 – Agenda and Presentations

By Derek Top on October 20, 2014 • ( 5 )

[UPDATED: Added session videos – See below]

Opus Research’s Intelligent Assistants Conference, hosted in San Francisco on September 16th, brought together industry leaders improving customer experience and self-service efficiency with intelligent assistants. The first-of-its-kind event showcased the latest technology and enterprise deployments of virtual assistants by the likes of Coca-Cola, Schlage, Windstream Communications and Domino’s Pizza, as well as in-depth panel discussions with industry pioneers and visionaries.

IAC 2014 Sponsors

Agenda and Presentations

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Level Setting: Defining “Intelligent Assistance”
Setting the stage, Opus Research senior analyst and founder, Dan Miller, will present an overview of the Intelligent Assistant ecosystem and marketspace.
Speaker: Dan Miller, Senior Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
View slides from this presentation

9:15 AM – 9:40 AM
Survey Results: Documenting the Need for Customer-driven Digital Self-Service
Intelligent Assistants are the answer to expressed needs for consistent, personalized and convenient service across multiple communication channels. In a survey of 1000 consumers, IntelliResponse captures the attitudes and behaviors that feed a customer-led shift toward self-service in digital channels.
Speaker: David Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer, IntelliResponse
View slides from this presentation

9:40 AM – 10:20 AM
Reflections of CALO – Origin of the Species
A panel of industry experts who helped define the original “Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes” (CALO) project at SRI.
Speakers:
Norman Winarsky, Vice President, SRI Ventures
Bill Mark, VP, Information and Computing Sciences, SRI International
Dan Miller, Senior Analyst, Opus Research (moderator)

10:20 AM – 10:55 AM
Featured Keynote: Integrated Virtual Agent Experience at The Coca-Cola Company
Making the case for an IVA investment. Michael Bowers, Director of Consumer and Equipment Services at Coke, will share their experience in defining a need for their virtual assistance, the integration process, the value delivered and future growth and innovation within the IVA space.
Speaker: Michael Bowers, Director of Consumer and Equipment Services, The Coca-Cola Company
View slides from this presentation

11:10 AM – 11:50 AM
The Mobile Personal Assistant
Whether it’s Siri, Nina Mobile or a combination of Google’s natural language understanding capabilities, what can mobile subscribers expect their Intelligent Assistant to do for them?
Speakers:
Stefan Weitz, Director of Search, Microsoft
Mikael Berner, CEO, EasilyDo Inc.
Robert Weideman, EVP & and General Manager, Enterprise Division, Nuance
Balaji Narayana, Co-Founder & EVP, Openstream
Dan Miller, Senior Analyst, Opus Research (moderator)

11:50 AM – 12:20 PM
Hyatt Hotels: Optimizing agent efficiency with an IVA
Today’s Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) solutions can perform similarly to live agents while also overcoming the challenges of traditional automated systems. Chris Hale, VP of Reservation Services for Hyatt Hotels, will share how Hyatt implemented an IVA solution to streamline the reservation process and increase live agent productivity and efficiency.
Speaker: John Romano, Director of Operations, Hyatt Hotels
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1:30 PM – 2:05 PM
Afternoon Keynote: Domino’s Pizza
Learn about the company’s experience with Dom, the Domino’s mobile ordering virtual assistant. Dennis Malony will highlight the business objectives that drove Domino’s to incorporate a virtual assistant into their already-successful mobile application, and will share key considerations that came into play to make Dom a truly Domino’s-branded experience. Further, Dennis will share customer thoughts and reception to Dom, backed by findings from a recent CX study.
Speaker: Dennis Malony, VP, Multimedia Marketing, Domino’s
View slides from this presentation

2:05 PM – 2:45 PM
Executive Summit
Top executives from the leading solutions providers describe how they see the market evolving and how they see their firms fulfilling the enterprise need for Intelligent Assistants.
Speakers:
Brett Beranek, Solutions Marketing Manager, Enterprise Marketing, Nuance Communications
Fred Brown, Founder & CEO, Next IT Corporation
Brian Garr, CEO, LinguaSys
Phil Gray, EVP of Business Development, Interactions
Tom Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, SmartAction
Dan Miller, Senior Analyst & Founder, Opus Research (moderator)

2:45 PM – 3:15 PM
Case Study: Schlage
Discover how Schlage optimized their customer’s experience by implementing virtual assistant technologies to enhance their answered question rate. Channel Marketing Manager, Megan McCluskey, will discuss how Schlage improved their customer service, the importance of an updated knowledge base and the results from their virtual assistant deployment.
Speaker: Megan McCluskey, Channel Marketing Manager, Schlage
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3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Case Study: Windstream Communications
Meet Wendy, Windstream’s web-based virtual assistant, helping serve the consumer brand, improve the customer experience, and reduce operational expense. In this presentation, hear how Windstream has implemented an innovative support experience in a technically-oriented, service-based industry to demonstrate real business value.
Speaker: Sarah Day, Vice President of Consumer Marketing, Windstream Communications
View slides from this presentation

4:00 PM – 4:45 PM
What’s Next: Shaping the Future of Intelligent Assistance
This panel will give attendees an opportunity to see and hear how Intelligent Assistants evolve into resources – ranging from personal avatars to robots – that use natural language understanding and machine learning to improve aspects of our daily lives.
Speakers:
Mark Yahiro, Managing Director, Perceptual Computing, Intel
Timothy Tuttle, PhD, CEO & Founder, Expect Labs
Roberto Pieraccini, Director of Advanced Conversational Technology, Jibo, Inc.
Liesl Capper, Leader, Watson Life Product Strategy, IBM
Dan Miller, Senior Analyst & Founder, Opus Research (moderator)

4:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Intelligent Assistants Awards (IAAs) Ceremony
Presented by Opus Research, three winners will be announced for the first annual “Intelligent Assistants Awards,” showcasing achievements that demonstrate a proven business value to enterprises and deliver innovative, superior customer experiences.