Intelligent Assistants Conference NYC 2015 brought together executives and decision-makers to learn how intelligent virtual assistants are becoming the focal point for multi-channel and omnichannel customer communications strategies.

Held October 13-14 at the W New York, IAC NYC 2015 featured interactive panel discussions and real-world case studies depicting how people are naturally turning to intelligent assistants for speedy resolution of their queries through web chat, mobile apps, IVRs and contact center agents.

VIEW ALL PRESENTATIONS & PANEL SESSION VIDEOS HERE

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

1:00 PM  –  1:30 PM
Level Setting: Defining “Intelligent Assistance”
Setting the stage, Opus Research lead analyst and founder, Dan Miller, will present an overview of the Intelligent Assistant Ecosystem and Marketspace.
Speakers:
Dan Miller, Lead Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
Derek Top, Director of Research, Opus Research
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1:30 PM  –  2:00 PM
Opening Keynote
Speaker: Geraldine McBride, Founder & CEO, MyWave
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2:00 PM  –  2:45 PM
“To Serve Man” – Balancing Self-Service and the Human Touch
A panel of solutions providers discuss approaches to Intelligent Assistance that build on and learn from constant input from humans. 

Speakers:
Tobias Goebel, Director, Emerging Technologies, Aspect Software
Jordi Torras, Founder and CEO, Inbenta
Jay Wilpon, SVP, Natural Language Research, Interactions
Paul Smith, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, CodeBaby

2:45 PM  –  3:15 PM
Case Study: U.S. Bank
Learn about the process U.S. Bank followed to vet, integrate, and pilot voice navigation for one of its mobile banking apps. U.S. Bank will show a video of the solution and share with the audience the overall learning objectives as well as the results from the pilot.

Speaker: Beth Dumke, VP, Product Development and Innovation, U.S. Bank
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3:30 PM  –  4:15 PM
Executive Summit – Focus on the Enterprise
Whether it’s in a contact center or as part of a suite of collaboration resources and software, IA has the potential to enhance productivity and support efficient collaborations among individuals and customers. 

Speakers:
Phil Gray, EVP of Business Development, Interactions
Tony Lorentzen, General Manager, Nuance On-Demand
David Lloyd, President, IntelliResponse, a [24]7 Company
Nick Gyles, CTO, WDS, A Xerox Company

4:15 PM  –  5:00 PM
Intelligent Assistants Awards (IAAs) Ceremony
Presented by Opus Research, three winners will be announced for the second annual “Intelligent Assistants Awards,” showcasing achievements that demonstrate a proven business value to enterprises and deliver innovative, superior customer experiences.
2015 IAA Judges:
Stas Roumiantsev, Strategy Consultant, Wells Fargo Bank
Nicolas de Kouchkovsky, Principal, CaCube Consulting
Amy Stapleton, Analyst, Virtual Agent Chat
Dan Miller, Lead Analyst & Founder, Opus Research
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
How Intelligent Virtual Agents Will Transform the Customer Experience
From pioneering personal computing in the 1970’s to intelligent assistants today, PARC has been on the forefront of creating new technologies that help people. Steve Hoover will share PARC’s vision for how intelligent virtual agents will transform how enterprises interact with customers across all touch points, from the retail experience to customer care to personalized products and services.


Speaker: Steve Hoover, CEO, PARC
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9:45 AM  –  10:15 AM
Personal Intelligent Assistants – Tools for Taking Control of our Digital Lives
Whether it’s Siri, Nina Mobile or a combination of Google’s natural language understanding capabilities, what can mobile subscribers expect from intelligent assistance? What does it take to develop and design a successful personal virtual assistant?

Speakers:
Lana Novikova, Co-Founder and CEO, HEARTBEAT Technologies
Mark Stephen Meadows, President, Botanic
Steve Ardire, Merchant of Light & Advisor to Software Startups

10:15 AM  –  11:00 AM
Keynote Case Study: BC Hydro

Speaker: Greg Stanway, Manager, Customer Strategy & Projects, BC Hydro

11:15 AM  –  11:45 AM
Case Study: Telefonica Movistar

Speaker: Maria Jose Mañon Talamantes, Customer Experience Manager, Telefonica Movistar Mexico
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11:45 AM  –  12:30 PM
Beyond Q&A – AI for Intelligent Assistants
A discussion of how “artificial intelligence for customer service” evolves from providing automated customer assistance to fully capable personal advisors.


Speakers:
Allen Sebrell, Director, eCommerce, Business Programs and Vendor Partnerships, Amtrak
Timothy Tuttle, PhD, CEO & Founder, Expect Labs
Andy Mauro, Senior Director, Cognitive Innovations Group, Nuance Communications

1:45 PM  –  2:15 PM
Case Study: Ticketmaster International
Hear how one of the worlds largest e-commerce sites, Ticketmaster and LiveNation, employs intelligent assistants and highly dynamic semantic search to improve self-service rates.

Speaker: Phil Jennings, Vice President of Contact Centres, Ticketmaster International
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2:15 PM  –  3:00 PM
Taking on the Tough Vertical Challenges – Healthcare and Finance
How companies and enterprises are developing a leadership position through the innovation of intelligent assistants.


Speakers:
Valer Merenyi, Project Lead, Intelligent Assistants, ING
Wayne Scholar, Chief Technology Officer, GetAbby
Haragopal Mangipudi, Chief Evangelist, FinUno Inc.

3:15 PM  –  3:45 PM
Case Study: BMW Financial Services
Up2drive.com, the online auto finance division of BMW, uses a virtual agent to help customers through their car-shopping journey. By evaluating financing options for all makes and models and providing customers with valuable support prior to entering a dealership, the web-based virtual assistant reduces repeat calls, shortens sales cycles, and helps up2drive take the stress out of the second largest purchase people make in their lives.


Speaker: Pawan Murthy, GM, Online Business, BMW Financial Services

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3:45 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:
Shawn Edmunds, VP, North America, ValidSoft
Alex Lebrun, Co-Founder, Wit.ai, Facebook
Wally Brill, Principal Consultant, 21contact
Doc Searls, Author, “The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge”

Categories: Conversational Intelligence, Intelligent Assistants Conference, Intelligent Assistants, Events, Articles

Tags: Opus Research, customer experience, intelligent Assistants, Customer service, Intelligent Assistance