More Businesses are Turning to AI … But for What?

By Kurt Knippel,
Production VP / Project Manager

Everyone’s talkin’ about AI – and it’s true – AI is not just for the tech hotshots anymore. The National Small Business Association reports that 1 in 4 small businesses uses AI for day-to-day operations. 

That stat got me thinking and eXploring AI to look for ways businesses might use it to unlock new levels of productivity and efficiency – because productivity and efficiency are at the core of everything we do.

At eXcelisys, we’ve spent 24 years delivering client-centric business solutions that help our customers automate and streamline day-to-day processes. Each decade has brought new technology into the fold. In the early 2000s, we wrestled with static HTML pages and browser quirks. Then JavaScript took over followed by APIs and responsive design, along with frameworks like React that reshaped how we build scalable apps. Cloud computing and mobile-first design pushed things even further.

Now, AI is the next big shift. So what are businesses using it for?

Every decade has delivered technological breakthroughs, but AI represents a seismic shift that will reshape entire industries. Imagine inventory systems that forecast demand fluctuations, customer relationship tools that suggest the perfect outreach timing, or financial models that spot opportunities and risks weeks ahead of your competition. These are not distant possibilities. This is possible today! 

Smart Use Cases for AI

• 24/7 Customer Support – For businesses that need constant, around-the-clock customer service, AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants are great. They can answer frequently asked questions and guide customers to solutions any time of day or night. Customer service chatbots are perfect for simple questions like password resets, order tracking, initiating a return, and so forth.  

AI in Action: A customer visits your website at 2 a.m. with a question about product availability. Instead of waiting for a human rep to respond the next day, an AI chatbot can answer the question, potentially securing a sale in the wee hours of the morning before the customer moves on to a competitor’s site.

• Faster Response Times – Speed is everything in customer service, and AI drastically reduces response times by automating tasks. AI-powered tools can sort customer inquiries into categories, prioritize them based on the parameters of your choosing, then draft a response or route them to the appropriate team member for handling.

AI in Action: An AI-driven email system can scan incoming customer requests, automatically categorizing them as sales inquiries, support issues, or billing questions, then respond with relevant information or direct the inquiry to the correct department. And don’t worry–you can train your customer service AI to respond with your brand personality and tone.

• Personalized Customer Interactions / Proactive Customer Engagement – AI systems can analyze customer data and interactions to provide personalized recommendations and responses. Using machine learning algorithms, these systems can predict customer preferences and suggest the products/services they would like. Additionally, an AI system can monitor when a customer’s subscription or product warranty is about to eXpire and automatically send a renewal offer. Additionally, AI can analyze patterns of usage and send a personalized message offering assistance with features customers haven’t used yet, thus boosting engagement and driving additional sales.

AI in Action: An AI system can analyze a customer’s past purchases and browsing behavior to recommend the products and services they’ll be most interested in. If a customer frequently purchases fitness-related items, AI can suggest new products or promotions in that category–both on the website or for email drip marketing.

• Lead Generation and Sales Automation – AI can help businesses generate new sales by identifying potential leads and automating sales processes. AI tools can analyze website visitor behavior, social media interactions, and other customer data points to identify the leads most likely to convert. These leads can then be automatically nurtured through targeted email campaigns or personalized outreach.

AI in Action: If a website visitor spends significant time viewing a product page, AI can flag this visitor as a potential lead, send them a personalized follow-up email with additional product information, and even offer a discount or other incentive (like free shipping) to encourage a sale.

• Improved Data Analysis and Insights – AI systems can quickly analyze vast amounts of customer data. This helps businesses gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and pain points. With AI, businesses can make data-driven decisions to improve products, services, and customer interactions.

AI in Action: By analyzing customer inquiries and feedback, an AI system can identify common pain points and suggest changes to your product or service. If multiple customers inquire about the same feature or issue, your business can address it proactively, improving customer satisfaction and reducing the number of support requests.

• Helping Companies Scale – As a business grows, so do customer requests, complaints, and inquiries. AI offers the scalability businesses need to handle increased demand. Automated systems can manage a higher volume of interactions than human teams alone, ensuring that your customer service capabilities grow in line with your business.

AI in Action: During peak sales seasons like Black Friday, AI chatbots can manage a surge in customer inquiries about promotions, product availability, or shipping times, ensuring every customer receives timely assistance.

Are You Ready for AI?

Picture this: A world where your FileMaker databases automatically analyze customer patterns; your scripts intelligently adapt workflows in real-time; and/or your business variables feed AI models that predict market trends and optimize operations before you even realize the need.

We’re not talking about distant possibilities – these are possible today with the latest version of FileMaker Pro. Imagine inventory systems that forecast demand fluctuations, customer relationship tools that suggest the perfect outreach timing, or financial models that spot opportunities and risks weeks ahead of your competition.

Every decade has delivered technological breakthroughs, but AI represents a seismic shift that will reshape entire industries. While others are still figuring out what’s possible with the latest tools available in FileMaker Pro, we are already able to make it happen.

These are just some things to think about. 

At eXcelisys, we are eXploring and implementing the best methods and practices to integrate AI with one of our favorite platforms – FileMaker Pro. Tune in next time to see how we are helping businesses transform operations with AI through the use of semantic searches for data queries. Who knows what we’ll do next. The journey has begun.