 Next panel discussion for the day. The topic for this panel discussion is quite the interesting one. The topic and focuses the advent of artificial intelligence AI and the ways it is shaping consumer experience. I'd like to invite our panelist, Adi Priya Sarabhar, Vice President Brand Communication and Corporate Citizen, Ship Faisal. Can we have a round of applause for the lady? Welcome. Please welcome Priya Patankar, Head of Communication Poonpe. And of course, our final panelist, Riddhi Agarwal, Head Brand Marketing and Communications Delivery. Please join us, ladies. Thank you very much. And of course, with a huge round of applause, please welcome the moderator for this particular session, Shabasti Malik. You've got chits and all. Yeah, I'm audible. Thank you all for joining me on this wonderful afternoon at the E4M Women Achieve Awards and Summit. We have with us, Adi Priya Sarabhar. She is the VP and Brand Communications and Corporate Citizenship Professor. Thank you. We have Priya Patankar, the Head of Communications for Poonpe. And we have Riddhi Agarwal, Head and Brand Marketing and Communications for Delivery. Thank you. So the topic for this session is the advent of AI and the way it is changing consumer experiences. As we know, AI is not something that is due. It's been there for quite some time and it has been affecting and easing us in our daily lives all this time. So I would like to start. My first question would be, how has the advent of AI changed the world of PR and communications? And I would like to start with Mr. Awad. Sure. Thank you for that question. And I think principally, fundamentally if you think about AI, the basic intent of AI is its ability to convert human language through process into something that we all are able to understand by identifying preferences, by identifying habits, patterns and all of that. And we in turn are able to use that and leverage that to be able to make very targeted communication or marketing strategies or even products that are specific to audiences. When I come specifically thinking about the public relations and communications industry, the first thing that comes to my mind is how can we streamline routine workflows? I think that is like one big piece, especially in today's time, when productivity of employees and associates has become such a big talk point. I mean, I remember days and I don't know how many of you would remember sitting here that we used to come to office and this is like good 15 plus years back. We used to come to office and used to actually physically track newspapers. We used to track newspapers. We used to identify our news, client news and then paste it on our sheet and fax it to a client. That's like eons back. I'm hoping that is not something that happens anymore, right? So how can you do that? And then there are obviously the very regular things like social listening, getting good insights on your consumers and stuff like that that have been pretty regular, I would say, in the past couple of years. You've seen a lot of communication campaigns that have actually addressed that part. But if you ask me specifically that are there any really solid use cases of PR really leveraging AI or communication. And this is like, this is my view. It's at this view. I haven't seen any. I'll be very honest about it. I haven't seen anything very, very solid and compelling. You know, for example, what I would want to learn and understand is that how can we leverage predictive analytics to be able to preempt a crisis for a client. I mean, I don't think that's something we've evolved in at all, or probably, you know, if I think about measurement, you know, can AI help us create new frameworks for measuring what we do in public relations, right? I mean, I think those are the opportunities are huge. There is a lot of progress that we've made. But I think that it requires a little more uptake and a lot more investment from our part as an industry. Okay, thank you. If you would like to weigh in. So I'd be echoing some of your thoughts. I think I agree. It's actually, there are three advantages which I largely see one of courses. It's automated a lot of the BAU stuff busy work as we PR folks would call it. There's less of busy work, the paper cutting is gone. Your, your team is actually usefully employed and gainfully employed the intern is not sitting and cutting creams of paper any longer. They're actually probably thinking of stories which we can pitch. The other is social listening and digital trends are available in a shape and form in which we can easily consume them we can figure out what's really going on with our brands. My brand is a digital only digital first brand so those things do become important for us. I think on the third one, since I was also managing CRM for phone paper last year. And when I started managing CRM initially you know a lot of the target groups we used to create used to be manually created we'd stitch them together. But with time, when we started using AI and ML signals, what I realized was we were actually able to target very specifically with very specific attributes but that's not PR. We were actually sending customers a lot communication which was a lot personalized because we knew a lot more about them the machines were getting more intelligent with the kind of campaigns we were sending. I'm hoping some of that learning can also flow in PR eventually because one of the questions even the business teams ask us is rather than a spray and pray approach can be micro target have specific segments who are being sent out to communication and start measuring it more. I think one thing which we are not held to accountable for SPR professional is measurement what what exactly did happen now that the press release has gone out and enough people have saw have seen it. I think possibly some of those insights can start flowing when they are micro targeting and looking at smaller campaigns that's the hope and that's the direction we'd go into hopefully. Thank you, Mr. Gowal if you'd like to have your thoughts on the same. Thanks and I do echo a lot of I mean sentiments my colleagues have already shared here. You know, I mean, I think I see AI helping PR and communications. From, you know, I see AI helping PR and communications, you know, from targeting your consumers better. I mean, more from a marketing perspective and using AI to use PR and communications as a stronger marketing tool to reach your audience. Right, because obviously as you already mentioned that, you know, we can tailor made, you know, tailor made content and tailor made messaging to reach a target audience I think so that should be the way to go. Having said that a stronger use case. I mean, I'm yet to come across social listening is definitely helping this, you know, target our audience better. Thank you. So the very gradual next question is how does AI create value for customers, be it a target audience be it a customer that you are approaching or your target audience. So look, I mean, anyone of us sitting in this room, even, I mean, we all are consumers in some way or the other as well right so I think customer and consumer is king. And I wouldn't only restrict it to AI, honestly, I will, I will say digital technologies, more emerging technologies so it's not necessarily I mean AI ML blockchain DLT, you know, RPA there's so many other technologies that come together which are creating experiences that are genuinely meaningful for customers it's driving stickiness in the, you know, with between brands and their customers and how that association wants to, you know, take it forward. If I think about, you know, examples like which come immediately to my mind you know like, I mean, chatbots is something we've all seen even I mean it's the most common piece with even online shopping you get somebody asking you what are you looking for may I help you and stuff like that right. You look at business development. The fact that AI gives you the opportunity and the ability to validate leads before it goes to the sales team is a huge, you know, it's a huge advantage for the sales team that you're actually working on something that might actually convert rather than you know going help us delta. If I talk about my own organization advisor, we basically, you know, have made it possible for financial institutions FIs and their consumers to actually literally speak to data. So it's as basic as a consumer walking in having not walking in really but a consumer asking, you know, financial queries to a digital assistant and getting responses right there and then. I mean it can be as basic as that and how you basically you know stitch that up for the entire consumer journey. And you know honestly I won't stop there because we've been, you know, molecule to think in a manner that it's all about consumers, but you think about it. How can these emerging technologies actually help us and you know especially folks who are on the corporate side to engage their employees. Right. I mean if you think about it. They are a big stakeholder when it comes to organizations as well right. So right from starting from how you're acquiring your talent, you know what are the markets you're actually going to, or probably how are you engaging them or how are you onboarding them and how are you doing that entire journey, you have to just see it from a perspective of a journey whether it is a consumer journey or an employee journey and you know what kind of technologies you can actually bring in to be able to create those experiences which are really sticky, which really drive, you know, brand value. Thank you. Yeah, if you would like to win. Yeah, so how's AI helping us it auto fills most of my Google emails this year so when I start typing it has it suggests what should I be saying next. So I think there are so many ways it when I'm shopping on Flipkart I get personalized recommendations. Netflix is telling me what should I be watching next what should I be watching when my heart is broken and when I want to be celebrating. So I think it's these, the personalization and recommendation which is bringing in as something we've started accepting and probably not even realizing on a serious note when I talk about my own brand, I think, much like I think we are spoke about. Over time what we've been able to do is personalize the journey for a consumer on the app, because it's not a one size fits all after you download an app right. Your journey on the app is very different versus though it's a digital payment app and it's of course a utility utilitarian service, but the point at which you want an intervention is very different from probably the next customer I'll give you an example we all pay our bills in different times of the month. But if there is a notification which comes when you need it. It's, it just improves your experience, it nudges you to do the next thing. If, if I don't own a bike insurance and if you're sending me notifications of communication around that means nothing. I'll tell you another funny story there was a brand which used to send me shaving product notifications every single day. I left that about it for a month and then I just, I uninstalled the app I was done. There's no way I wanted any more of those. So I think over time, you will see less of these moments and you will see a more personalized touch when it comes to talking and engaging to customers. Thank you. How do you think that AI can create value other than the points covered here already is definitely driving social commerce to boost sales. Right. So that is one of the big trends. Which is again governed by understanding your customer better and personalizing content. But having said that, you know, so that is the large, that's a big trend in the industry right now from a B to B standpoint, given the industry that we're in. I mean, how AI is really enabling us is to drive their engagement, higher qualifications and onboarding and retention so the entire, you know, really mapping the entire customer journey. Okay, thank you. Mr. Abbott, you mentioned a while ago that you are yet to see AI being integrated completely into every aspect of PR. Like you said about crisis mitigation and how AI can aid into that. So, if you could tell me the ways that how AI and machine learning can improve customer experience strategies. So, look, I mean, I personally think consumers like any one of us sitting in this room are actually looking for connected experiences right and I'm genuinely you know coming from the payments and fintech industry. I mean, I'm seeing a very gradual and a very obvious shift from siloed experiences to connected experiences and that's where the need for only channel, you know, experiences really comes into being. So think about it right I mean, for example, a person is actually viewing a product on his smartphone, but he wants to be able to say go to a store and actually physically see the product and then probably go somewhere else and do a qr payment and then go somewhere to see the product. Right. The entire inflection point between digital experience and physical experience is blurring more and more as we go through this whole evolution with the more integrated and the more seamless this, you know interaction and experiences made that much more advantage, you know consumers and customers will have at their hand. I mean imagine this, you know, say I want to go with my husband to an Italian restaurant. I mean if I'm imagining I should go with somebody else but imagine that I'm going to an Italian restaurant for for dinner. What is my expectation right I mean I want that I should have a reservation, probably a customized, you know, recommendation for a menu, my ability to be placed enough to place an order before I get to the restaurant. Then the whole experience at the restaurant, then loyalty rewards, and then probably making a frictionless payment. So you just see how that entire journey starts at online goes to physical and goes back onto online right. It's how these connected experiences can really make a difference in how you know brands really drive their marketing strategies for consumers. Thank you, Mr. Awad, Priya if you would like to. So I think you've made a pitch for all of us to go to Italian restaurant now I was imagining pizza. So I think one I was imagining George Clooney. Okay, I think one thing which I think AI has made a huge difference and I've personally seen that as chatbots earlier when you were talking to a bot. It was, it was a frustrating experience because occasionally, when you were asking a question you were being answered something you hadn't even asked. And it was not really solving your problem. Now if you look at it the, the experience is so seamless that there are times you don't even realize that you're not talking to a human being it's just gotten so much smarter over. I think zillions of transaction, at least in our case information which flows in the second step also is you know, there is predictability in terms of when you will need help. The AHA experience in my head is that you're helping me before I know I'll need help. There is just a question mark which says, which knows people will get stuck at this point, and it will help. So it will just make your experience so much more superlative. Thank you. Mr. Gawal, if you would like to have your thoughts. Yeah, I think more on the chatbots 24 seven customer support and extending 24 seven customer support has been possible, you know, because of AI. And so I think that's definitely an area, you know, which has driven strong customer experience, empowering different brands. I mean, I mean, obviously streamlining different processes, you know, unbiased decision making, and you're reducing scope for error across across communication. So yeah, okay. I want to ask your next question I just wanted to add to something you know you both said about chatbots I mean if you think about it NLP as a technology, the fact that it can actually decode human, decode, you know, like human language spoken or written. Just as thought, just that itself makes such a lot of difference in terms of how things are being interpreted. So with the talk of AI and any discussion with AI comes the next gen of digital transformation, which is the metaverse to the latest bus 100 town and most brands and agencies and companies are taking advantage of utilizing the metaverse to promote their products or their services. What do you think in what ways do you think the metaverse and its applications can be used across industries. Mr. So, look, it's as for me it's as simple as where your client is or your organization is or your audiences, communications and PR needs to be there right so metaverse for me is just another channel. I think we have as an industry moved away from. I mean we've not moved away exactly but earned media has become a very small part of everything that we do. For example, safe of a bank right say offer services in the metaverse and as a consumer I go, I engage with and, you know, say an avatar advisor, I, you know, talking about my financials, and I walk out of that appointment, and I go to the ATM next door, I insert my pain, I get money in my digital wallet, and I go to the next door, you know, handbag store and I buy a virtual just think about the number of brands just in this small transaction of me going there, doing the ATM bit doing the pain doing the digital wallet and the brand handbag that I bought. There's so many brands just involved here and each of them has an opportunity for communications or PR to be able to do targeted messaging right. The opportunity is massive there is no. There's nothing contesting that, but I think you know before that I want to take like two steps back and just think about the fact that you know when web one came into India. It was late 90s and then you had web to which was early, you know 2012 2015 around that time, and both the times, India was a follower, it had already evolved and read some stage globally right and we were just like, getting our act together on it with web three, we are evolving at the same speed as the world is. Look at our start up ecosystem right I mean like the number of firms that are actually offering services specifically for brands to be able to create strategies versus huge I mean they are the organization like drum works and there's meta meta form, which only do this. I think on our part as you know PR and communication professionals, we have to be able to have an open mind to engage more with our ecosystem. And you know build those partnerships and collaborations to get those domain expertise in because that is really going to be able to drive that extra value that you want to be able to provide to your clients. That said just last point, whether it's metaverse or it is a newspaper or it is any other channel. There are two things to my mind that will always be fundamental for any communication or a PR or a brand professional is content will continue to be king, whether you're telling a story or you're creating an infographic. And the second piece is going to be, it's always about the experience it's always about that experience you leave at that touch point. Okay, thank you Mr. Robert. Yeah, if you would like to weigh in with I think she's pretty much said it all, there are just three things that quickly like to add. The first time I heard of metaverse was I think there was a meta wedding happening in metaverse, and there were 1000 people attending during the lockdown, and people were choosing their avatars to attend the wedding from all over the world. So I mean, it just completely, I felt like a boomer at that moment when I realized okay there's an alternate reality here. What I do do realize is that from telling the story metaverse will make us live the story. And that does come with a bit of responsibility extremely excited about it but two things one the rules of engagement right now in this virtual world which is opening up is very clear. We need to also think a little about that. And as brands how do you protect your reputation in something so intangible. So it's, it's also going to be interesting for us as PR professionals will keep us on our toes trust me. Thank you, Priya. Miss Agarwal, if you would share your thoughts on this. Yeah, just to add on to both of them. I think for me metaverse is really you know a shift from story telling the story living. You know, moving on from the flat interaction on social media to a more immersive augmented reality. Right, having said that how that really imbibes for our brand is yet to be explored. I mean the immense possibilities and it does look very lucrative specially target Gen X and Gen Z. Yeah. But how does that experience really work for brands like us, I think it's yet to be. Yeah, and if you just think about it you said Gen X, right. Gen Z. Yeah, it's very confusing. You said boomer as well. But just to think about what you said right gamification for example is such a big deal and I think metaverse is just the right place where you can actually do something like that even if it's just for your employees or your customers. Yes, I think we're at the end of a session so I'll just quickly wrap up on how you feel the future of AI should look like. What do you envision for the future of AI in your respective industries. Mr. Howard. Three words, accessible, secure and seamless. Thank you. I think for me, it should be a mind reader. I mean that's all is left right. It's already filling in my emails. So, yeah, I mean, a robot version of me. That's how I think of it. Accessible as an easy accessible and enabling customers enabling customer journey. Thank you so much ladies for joining me on this session. It was really insightful and I'm sure going out back with a lot of thoughts. Thank you so much for hosting us. Thank you everyone.