AI and SaaS together can make a winning pair. The benefits from this collaboration, regarding customer support, personalization, and security can be translated into profitability to all businesses involved.
Perhaps you are already familiar with the concept of “Software as a Service” or “SaaS”, a cloud-based solution that provides users with access to software via websites or applications. As COVID-19 strikes, SaaS has got us through the remote working phase with resilience and flexibility that we wish to sustain.
Much like the world out there, SaaS is not going to stand still. As SaaS is constantly evolving, you may want to keep yourself updated on the latest trends in this sector, among which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to profoundly change the face of SaaS in the new normal. This article will show you how AI helps raise SaaS to the next level?
Enhancing customer support
One of the most common challenges that SaaS companies are facing is ineffective customer services. Some SaaS companies focus too much on their applications' features or interface and tend to forget that customer services are just as important. But even when they realize the need for customer support, they can still suffer from the lack of a dedicated team to give instructions on the onboarding steps, answer customer queries, resolve complains, and so on. In this situation, AI can lend a helping hand by adding automation to the process. By integrating an AI-powered chatbot, SaaS companies can respond to customers quickly, resolve recurring questions, and even provide support in multiple languages.
AI can work in conjunction with human to boost productivity and ensure a seamless experience to end-users. Lola Travel, a business travel management platform, is a good example. It combines a human travel agent team and AI-powered chatbot to offer customers 24/7 travel support. Customers also receive better recommendations thanks to the analytics from AI.
Allowing personalization
Users are expecting more personalized experience in every product and service they use. SaaS software is no exception. However, SaaS developers cannot please customers by adding a cluster of features to their products. There is a smarter way to do it: with the help of AI! Sanjay Maholtra, co-Founder and CTO of Clearbridge Mobile, points out: “It’s getting easier and easier to create those truly personalized experiences by leveraging AI and big data.” AI can be leveraged in SaaS to analyze the huge amount of data collected from customers’ interactions with the tool. SaaS vendors can then identify customer needs to develop targeted features or optimize the interface to fit different customer segments. SaaS companies can only win the hearts of customers when they take customer needs to heart.
Strengthening security
Security has been a persistent concern in the digital age, and it is getting more pertinent, considering SaaS tools are based on the cloud rather than installed on personal computers. SaaS solution providers are aware of the security risks when many users have access to SaaS tools, but not many of them have implemented adequate measures to mitigate those risks. As AI can execute pattern matching, human factor assessment, and machine learning, it can replicate hackers or delinquent users' actions to prevent them beforehand. The cloud giant Oracle has recently added machine learning and AI to reinforce its cloud security services. With these technologies' power, they can automatically identify abnormal behaviors, thereby conduct suitable incident response or remediation to address the issue. More SaaS computers are turning to AI as this technology is proved to be the new powerful cybercriminal repellent.
AI is undoubtedly the disruptive factor to all industries, and AI adoption is rising steadily in recent years. AI and SaaS together can make a winning pair. The benefits from this collaboration, regarding customer support, personalization, and security can be translated into profitability to all businesses involved. Whether you are a SaaS provider or a business that uses SaaS solutions, it is useful to keep an eye on the disruptions that AI will bring.
References
Oracle Adds Machine Learning and AI to Cloud Security Services
AI is changing enterprise SaaS profoundly, says Emergence Capital
How Artificial Intelligence is changing the SaaS Landscape
How Artificial Intelligence is Driving Mobile App Personalization
Future of SaaS – Q&A with Phil Wainewright
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