Last week served up a little bit of everything. There were big AI-powered tech releases from Talkdesk and Salesforce, while elsewhere, share prices plunged, and millions of dollars went “missing” at Dubber.
Here are the extracts from some of our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Talkdesk Launches a GenAI-Powered Autopilot, Targets Banking and Retail
Talkdesk has launched its new Autopilot, providing banking and retail users with an industry-specific virtual agent.
The new release utilizes generative AI, prebuilt flows, and conversations tailored specifically for retail and financial services markets.
The CCaaS vendor promises that the Autopilot is capable of dealing with elaborate use cases, understanding customer journeys, and generating intelligent and smooth responses to customer queries – all without the assistance of a human agent.
Dubbed by Talkdesk as the first “industry-specific, GenAI-driven virtual agent” of its kind, the Autopilot comes pre-trained in real-life scenarios based on Talkdesk’s banking, credit union, and retail experience.
Available in the Talkdesk Financial Services Experience Cloud and Talkdesk Retail Experience Cloud, the tool also comes equipped with core banking processors and e-commerce systems, enabling it to automate a wide variety of use cases.
Talkdesk believes that Autopilot has the capacity to increase contact center efficiency, which will lead to improved revenue opportunities and agent productivity. (Read on…).
Salesforce Announces Einstein 1 Studio in Bid to “Unlock the Power” of AI
Salesforce has launched Einstein 1 Studio, providing admins and developers with the tools to customize and embed AI across every Salesforce app and workflow.
Amongst the customizable tools will be the Einstein Copilot.
Launched in beta last week, Salesforce’s new virtual assistant is embedded directly within the company’s AI CRM applications and promises the user unheralded data integration.
The CRM giant stated that the Einstein 1 Studio has been introduced to help tackle the issue that companies are having with “unlocking the power of AI across their business.”
With Salesforce reporting that GenAI has significantly altered the way that IT professionals implement and use technology, it believes that customers are craving an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface.
Salesforce’s answer? The Einstein 1 Studio.
The tool enables low-code and no-code customization of the Einstein Copilot, as well as build and modify features – allowing users to seamlessly connect AI models across the workflow and provide tailored customer experiences. (Read on…).
Teleperformance Shares Plunge to a 7-Year-Low Amidst AI Fears
Teleperformance shares have hit a seven-year low after plummeting by 29 percent last week.
Although it has since recovered somewhat, the stock was still 16.5 percent down when the French Stock Exchange ceased trading yesterday.
Some have attributed the sudden drop to Klarna’s announcement that its AI assistant was handling two-thirds of customer service chats and completing the work of 700 employees.
The Swedish fintech’s claims have strengthened existing fears that AI will replace human agents in the customer services space.
In response to the sudden drop, Teleperformance – the largest employer of contact center advisors globally – released a statement rubbishing AI concerns:
(Our) current activity in no way reflects negative conclusions in its business that could be drawn from technological developments mentioned in this communication.
The French communications provider also emphasized that it is already embracing AI in several of its offerings. (Read on…).
Dubber Suspends CEO Over “Missing” $26.6MN
Dubber CEO and Managing Director Steve McGovern has found himself in hot water after the company discovered $26.6MN missing from its accounts.
The financial anomaly cropped up during Dubber’s half-year financial audit. As a result, the company had to notify the market, giving the following statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX):
“As part of the audit review process for its 31 December 2023 half-year accounts, the Company has become aware of inconsistencies in respect of funds that have been held on behalf of the Company by a third-party trustee.
A preliminary investigation by the Company has uncovered that funds, purported to have be[en] held in a term deposit account, may have been applied for other purposes and are not currently available to the Company.
While the internal investigation dives deeper into what those “other purposes” may be, Dubber has placed McGovern under suspension with “immediate effect”.
That’s no small move, given McGovern has spent over 13 years as CEO of Dubber since he founded the business with James Slaney (COO) and Adrian Di Pietrantonio (EVP).
However, Dubber did not purport any allegations of wrongdoing when informing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). (Read on…).
