Opus Research’s Intelligent Assistants Conference is a foundational event in defining how virtual agents, bots, and automated self-service mechanisms deliver business value for digital commerce and customer care.
Hosted by Opus Research, IA Conference London 2017 featured leading brands and enterprises, including Dixons Carphone, Amazon, Skyscanner, T-Mobile, Google, BGl Group, Capgemini, HSBC, Motability Operations, SAP, and the Enfield Council.
Sponsors included: Nuance Communications, Interactions, IPsoft, CX Company, Artificial Solutions, Sabio, Creative Virtual, DigitalGenius, Synthetix and Flamingo.
Through interactive panel discussions and case study presentations, IA Conference London showcased the role of intelligent assistants as ubiquitous, conversational user interfaces for digital self-service, intelligent devices, chatbots, and mobile apps. Combined with optichannel authentication, these digital services provide a seamless, secure, personalized customer experience.
Below please find featured presentations and customer case studies from Intelligent Assistants Conference London (4-5 May, Claridge’s).
Thursday, May 4, 2017
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Welcome: IA Conference London 2017
Hosted by Opus Research, IA Conference London showcases the role of intelligent assistants as ubiquitous, conversational user interfaces for mobile devices, chatbots, and apps..
Speakers:
Derek Top, Director of, Opus Research
Dan Miller, Lead Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
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9:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Featured Keynote: Dixons Carphone
Real-world examples of globally-deployed intelligent assistants and business results achieved, as well as a look into the world of human-assisted chat with UK’s leading electronics retailer, Dixons Carphone.
Speakers:
Angela Read Downes, Web Chat Channel Manager, Online Trading, Dixons Carphone
Seb Reeve, Director Product Management & Marketing EMEA, Nuance
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9:45 AM – 10:15 AM
Are Intelligent Assistants Catalysts For Innovation?
In its ideal, intelligent assistance transcends, but does not eliminate, existing silos. Initiatives have been launched from IVRs, webchat, mobile apps and “all of the above.” How can intelligent assistant technologies serve as a catlayst for service innovation and deliver better customer engagement?
Speakers:
Dan Miller, Lead Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
Martin Hill-Wilson, Founder, Brainfood Consulting
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
Making Intelligent Assistance Secure By Design
Intelligent Assistance calls for support of conversational, omnichannel interactions. Each of these channels — online, mobile app, Facebook Messenger and all messaging platforms — pose new security, privacy and confidentiality risks. What will it take for intelligent assistants to deliver secure, personalized customer service?
Speakers:
Brad Stein, Solutions Consultant, Interactions
Karl Roberts, Head of Propositions, GCI
Stuart Dorman, Chief Innovation Officer, Sabio
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM
Stepping up to Conversational Commerce
Marketing, Customer Care, Mobile Experience and Contact Center executives must act now to define their strategy and tactics for incorporating both Intelligent Assistants and bots. Who’s doing it well, and how? A discussion of how “artificial intelligence for customer service” evolves from providing automated customer assistance to fully capable personal advisors.
Speakers:
Rachel Freeman, Head of Operations, Creative Virtual
Andy Peart, Chief Marketing Officer, Artificial Solutions
John Gikopoulos, Director of Cognitive Intelligence Europe, IPsoft
Amy Stapleton, Analyst, Opus Research
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Are Friends Electric: Robots, Chatbots, Intelligent Assistants and Personality
How much personality is too much personality for systems and devices that speak and text with us? As AI matures to the level of the Turing test and beyond, and my Intelligent Assistant knows all there is to know about me, what social implications will there be?
Speaker: Wally Brill, Senior Persona Designer, Adecco at Google
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Drilling Down on New Functions in the IA Landscape
A review of Opus Research’s “Intelligent Assistant & Bot Technology Landscape” with special attention describing how the Smart User Interface is evolving and the components of knowledge management, natural language processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning support the evolution of ever-improving intelligent assistants.
Speakers:
Amy Stapleton, Analyst, Opus Research
Derek Top, Director of Research, Opus Research
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2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Case Study: Motability Operations
Motability Operations operates the Motability Scheme, on behalf of Motability the Charity. The organization provides a wide range of affordable vehicles to meet the needs of over 640,000 disabled people and their families with the benefit of worry-free mobility available through the Scheme. Motability Operations will discuss how the use of knowledge management systems help provide exceptional customer experience and employee satisfaction.
Speaker: Llaura Hughes, Training & Communications Manager, Motability Operations
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2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Striking the Bot Balance – Incorporating Human Feedback
Under the Intelligent Assistance banner, computers are there to help, rather than replace individuals. Top platform providers recognize the need to keep people in the digital commerce equation. That means giving control of the conversation to individual prospects or customers, while retaining roles for friends, associates and subject matter experts to contribute their wisdom in the course of self-service activities.
Speakers:
Bob Sullebarger, SVP, International Sales, Interactions
Mikhail Naumov, Co-founder & CSO, DigitalGenius
Derek Top, Director of, Opus Research
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Case Study: T-Mobile Austria
T-Mobile is reinventing digital assistance by deploying a virtual agent across customer touchpoints, including Facebook Messenger, to optimize service queries, integrate third-party systems, and provide direct answers to customers.
Speaker: Marvin Peters, VP, Channel Management & Processes, T-Mobile Austria
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3:45 PM – 4:30 PM
Meeting IA’s Tough Challenges – The Implementers’ Dilemmas
The onslaught of thousands of bots, virtual agents and enterprise intelligent assistants is a source of stress for customer experience, marketing, contact center and IT professionals. This panel of executives with experience with practitioners will share the wisdom that comes from recognizing and addressing their options for Intelligent Assistance.
Speakers:
Dirk Jan Dokman, CEO, CX Company
Lawrence Flynn, CEO, Artificial Solutions
Rohinee Mohindroo, Group President, U.S., Flamingo
Peter McKean, Managing Director, Synthetix
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Case Study: Enfield Council
The London Borough of Enfield’s local authority has undertaken an extensive effort in digital transformation to realize cost savings and deliver improved citizen services.
Speaker: Rocco Labellarte, Head of Technology, Enfield Council
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Friday, May 5, 2017
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
Keynote: Voice Enable All the Things
With the rise of machine learning and cloud computing to fuel innovation, natural language conversations with AI have become an everyday reality. This session will cover advances in spoken language understanding and share thoughts around what it means to build next generation user experiences with only your voice.
Speakers:
David Isbitski, Chief Evangelist for Alexa & Echo, Amazon
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Sam Heyman, Developer Advocate, Skyscanner
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9:45 AM – 10:15 AM
Case Study: HSBC
Hear how one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world is using pioneering voice biometrics technology to enhance the future banking experience for customers, with HSBC’s Voice ID.
Speaker: Mark Bramley, Head of Business Management, Global Contact Centres, HSBC
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10:45 AM – 11:15 AM
Meeting the Challenges of Enterprise IAs
Intelligent Assistants or bots in an enterprise scenario have important roles to play giving easy access to information on business objects, recommending follow up tasks in complex processes, or assisting in the creation of complex forms. Adding a conversational user interface to complex business software makes end users much more productive as they can focus on their tasks at hand. What are the challenges in selecting services for business process outsourcing?
Speakers:
Lee Beardmore Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Capgemini Business Services
Vanessa Micelli-Schmidt, Product Expert, Global Design UX, SAP
Amy Stapleton, Analyst, Opus Research
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM
Case Study: BGL Group
By deploying platforms that take advantage of natural language understanding to deliver a personalised and conversational automation, BGL Group has developed a solution to interactively guide customers to find information or perform tasks. Benefits for the solution include continuous improvement through actionable insights and measurable results by offering the information to the right customer at the right time.
Speakers:
Jayne Lansdell, Associate Director,Digital Contact Centre, BGL Group Ltd.
Dan Whaley, Principal Solution Manager, Digital, Sabio
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4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Closing Panel: Future of Intelligent Assistance
An interactive discussion, welcoming all opinions — will intelligent assistants truly improve customer experience? Is it possible for intelligent virtual assistants & chatbots to provide a business edge in mobile apps, digital self-service and conversational commerce?
Speakers:
Peter Behrend, Chief Technical Officer, Creative Virtual
Alastair Taylor, Commercial Director, Synthetix
Ravin Sanjith, Director, Opus Research
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OPTICHANNEL AUTHENTICATION TRACK
Thursday, May 4, 2017
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM
From Multichannel to “Optichannel”: A Natural Language Evolution
Trace the path from risk-aware, rules-based multichannel commerce to frictionless “optichannel” authentication. In this interactive session, Opus Research will propose a common lexicon for solution providers to consider that will foster understanding of terms like “frictionless,” “risk-aware,” “user-controled” and “personalized.”
Speakers:
Dan Miller, Lead Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
Ravin Sanjith, Director, Opus Research
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Discussion: Addressing Identity, Privacy and Personalization Issues
In the context of Intelligent Assistance, does “frictionless authentication” make sense? If so, How can it best be done? We’re on the threshold of the GDPR and other privacy strictures. Can companies comply with such regulations and provide good service? On the flip side, tools exist to initiate self-sovereign identity schemes. Let’s discuss whether individuals will take control of managing their personal information and profiles.
Speakers:
Andrew Tobin, European Managing Director, Evernym
Martin Hill-Wilson, Founder, Brainfood Consulting
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Secure Services Over the Internet of Things & Metabots
Google Assistant already relies on deep neural networking and pattern recognition to distinguish between up to 6 different family members. Yet there will be other ways to use voice and other biometric and behavioral factors to recognize individuals and establish trusted links.
Speakers:
Surinder Singh, Head of Voice Biometrics, Connect Managed Services
Clive Summerfield, Founder & CEO, ArmorVox
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Voice, Face and Behavioural Biometrics: Authentication & Fraud Prevention in the age of Virtual Assistants
Hear how the integration of voice biometrics, facial recognition and behavioural biometrics can integrated into a mobile virtual assistant to improve digital usage rates, reduce fraud losses and deliver operational cost savings.
Speaker: Brett Beranek, Director of Product Strategy, Nuance Communications
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2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Driving ROI in a Post-Implementation Environment
A real-world discussion of post-implementation realities. Topics include: stakeholder ownership, developing proper skillsets, collaboration & communication, measurement & reporting, scaling, and aligning with other ID&V solutions.
Speakers:
Matt Smallman, Director, SymNex Consulting
Ravin Sanjith, Director, Opus Research
Categories: Conversational Intelligence, Intelligent Assistants Conference, Intelligent Assistants, Intelligent Authentication, Articles, Mobile + Location
Announcing Intelligent Assistants Conference London 2017