Dive Brief:

• In one of the first major moves in the artificial intelligence space on the agency side, Publicis.Sapient and Luminoso Technologies have partnered to help marketers turn unstructured data into actionable insights as reported in a release.
• The first product from the partnership is a virtual assistant for the retail industry that was announced at the AI Summit trade show.
• The companies are expected to focus on four areas for AI solutions: customer experience, marketing services, government and retail.

Dive Insight:

The retail virtual assistant announced at the AI Summit was described as different from other digital assistant options currently available because it makes recommendations based on verbal and written cues from consumers, where many of the assistants already on the market only capture intent.

“Most virtual assistants available on the market today feature simple decision trees that lead to defined and narrow outcomes," Catherine Havasi, CEO of Luminoso, explained in the release. "What we have created with Publicis.Sapient is the truest form of conversational commerce: an interactive experience designed to draw insight about a customer and curate a wider range of more personalized options for him or her as a result. What we’ve effectively created are ‘Conversations that Matter.’ 

Publicis.Sapient will need to catch up in the AI as leading technology platforms have already been active here, working closely with a number of brands on solutions. IBM’s Watson has long been the “face” of consumer artificial intelligence, and Saleforce recently released Einstein, its AI engine designed to become a core tech piece in its CRM and marketing software. Google just released a new messaging app, Allo, that includes an AI/machine learning element providing users with a digital assistant that taps into their Google data across devices and products.