It’s one thing to know whether an individual customer is intrigued by a new mattress or considering a replacement for their sofa’s throw pillows; it’s another to know to how to move these people to go ahead and make a purchase. When deployed strategically， artificial intelligence （AI） can be a marketer’s trusted customer experience ally—transforming customer data into actionable insights and creating new opportunities for personalization at scale. On the other hand， when AI is viewed as merely a quick fix， its haphazard deployment at best can amount to a missed opportunity and at worse undermine trust with an organization’s customers.

了解某个客户是对新床垫感兴趣还是在考虑更换沙发抱枕，这是一回事；懂得如何让这些人最终做出购买决定，那就是另外一回事了。若合理运用，人工智能（AI）可以成为营销人员值得信赖的客户体验伙伴——将客户数据转化为可执行的洞见，且可为大规模个性化服务创造新的机遇。反之，若仅把AI视为一种权宜之计，那么随意运用可能会导致错失良机，更可能损害企业客户的信任。

This phenomenon is not unique to AI. In today’s fast-moving digital economy， it’s not uncommon for performance and results to lag behind expectations. Despite the enormous potential of modern technology to drastically improve the customer experience， business innovation and transformation can remain elusive1.

这种现象并非AI独有。在当下快节奏的数字经济中，业绩和成果达不到预期的情况并不少见。尽管现代技术具有巨大潜力可显著改善客户体验，企业创新和转型可能依然难以实现。

According to Gartner， 89% of companies now compete primarily on the experiences they deliver. As marketers and other teams turn to these systems to automate decision-making， personalize brand experiences， gain deeper insights about their customers， and boost results， there’s often a disconnect between the technology’s potential and what it delivers.

高德纳咨询公司的数据显示，如今89%的企业主要围绕客户体验展开竞争。当营销人员和其他团队借助AI系统来实现决策自动化、个性化品牌体验、深入洞察客户心理并以此提升业绩时，技术预期与实际效果之间往往存在落差。

When it comes to AI， frequently， organizations fail to realize the full benefits of their AI investments， and this has real business repercussions2. So how do organization ensure that their investments deliver on their promise for fueling innovation， transformation， and even disruption？ To find success， it requires the right approach to operationalizing the technology， and investing in AI capabilities that can work together throughout the entire workflow to connect various thoughts and processes together.

就AI应用而言，企业往往未能充分实现其AI投资的应有效益，这就会对业务产生实际影响。那么，企业如何确保其投资能够如愿推动创新、转型乃至颠覆性变革呢？要想取得成功，就需要采用正确的技术落地方法，并投资开发在全部工作环节中能有效协同工作的AI功能，可将各种想法和流程串联起来。

Getting real about AI. Realizing the value of AI starts with a recognition that vendor3 claims and remarkable features will only go so far. Without an overarching strategy， and a clear focus on how to operationalize the technology， even the best AI solutions wind up underperforming and disappointing.

务实看待AI。要实现AI的价值，首先要明白：供应商宣传再动听、功能再惊艳，其作用终究有限。若缺乏全局性战略和明确的技术落地重点，再顶尖的AI解决方案也终将表现不佳，令人失望。

There’s no simple or seamless way to implement AI within an organization. Even with powerful customer modelling， scoring or segmentation tools， marketers can still wind up missing key opportunities. Without ways to act on the data， the dream of AI quickly fades. In other words， you may know that a certain customer likes hats， and another customer enjoys wearing scarfs but how do you move these people to an actual purchase， or deliver the right content for where they’re at in the buying lifecycle？

在企业内部应用AI并非易事，不可能一帆风顺。