About Us: ChangeCX is a full-service omnichannel firm specializing in innovative solutions for retailers and brand manufacturers. Each member of our leadership team brings an average of 20 years of experience working with some of the largest retailers in the world, giving us unparalleled vision into what it takes to succeed in today’s competitive retail marketplace. Our insight tells us that the next generation of break-out retailers will be those who embrace omnichannel strategies for all interactions with their customers, and it is our singular mission to place you among the elite, illuminating the way forward well into the future. Our Perspective: The most successful retailers today—and beyond—will be the ones who prioritize the customer experience. Connecting customer, product, transaction, and service data at every touchpoint in the shopper’s journey are essential to achieving your objectives, and we’re singularly qualified to make that happen. The next generation of retail stores will not differentiate between the ability to find, fulfill and service transactions based on the location of either the customer or the product. Creating these highly connected experiences requires a partner who understands how to bring those experiences and the data that drives them into a single, seamless experience for the B2B or B2C shopper.

Change CX

I started my career as a first-generation analyst focusing on writing SQL scripts, learning R, and publishing dashboards. As things progressed, I graduated into and Data Engineering where my focus shifted to managing the life-cycle of models and data pipelines. 2022 is my 16th year in the data industry and I am still learning new ways to be productive and impactful. Today, I am now the head of a data science & data engineering function in one of the unicorns and I would like to share my findings and where I am heading next. Data Science ML When I look at the big picture, I realized that the problems most companies face are quite similar. Their vision towards being data-driven has turned into a BHAG — pronounced “bee hag” ( ig airy udacious oal). B H A G We data folks like patterns, so here are my findings: During 5 out of 10 review meets, I have witnessed people question the reliability of the data/report/dashboard. Additionally, HODs will also try to convince others that their data is the most accurate or reliable :) A lot of times, HOD comes and says that the data is not updated. The data team is already working to fix the report/data table. A new product got launched the week before, however, we are yet to figure out the performance. The data team is working on a query change and will soon update the CXO team. Everyone has built expertise around writing complicated ML (machine-learned) models, however very few talk about or deploy inference monitoring. There is a high probability of model drift or performance drift in the coming weeks/months if not monitored or observed efficiently. Very few companies deploy solutions or models to detect performance anomalies. The list is long, I am sure you can relate or add more to this. In a nutshell, I found that data reliability is a BIG challenge and there is a need for a solution that is easy to use, understand, and deploy, and also not heavy on investment. I am and I am on a mission to build and develop a solution to make your data reliable. Jatin Solanki What is needed to make your data more reliable? Complexities around data infrastructure are surging as companies gear to get a competitive edge and out-of-the-box offerings. Every company goes through a data maturity matrix. In order to reach a level where you deploy AI models or self-service models, you need to invest in a robust foundation. in garbage out. In my opinion, the foundation begins with a reliable data source or defining source of truth. Your data models won’t be impactful if it’s ingested with bad data. You know it’s garbage On a high level, here are a few checks you can implement to ensure data reliability: It ensures all the row/events are captured or ingested. Volume: Recency of the data. If your data gets updated every xx mins, this test will ensure its updated and raises an incident if not. Freshness: : If there is a schema change or a new feature that was launched, your data team needs to be aware to update the scripts. Schema Change : All the events are in an acceptable range. e.g if a critical shouldn’t contain values, then this test ensures to raise an alert for any . Distribution null null or missing values : This is a must-have module, however, we always underplay these ones. Lineage provides a handy info to the data team of the upstream and downstream. Lineage : I would say recon or finding deltas between two given datasets. This could be used to understand the difference between and OR between and . This could be effective in running some financial recon too, like payment gateway to the sales table. Reconciliation staging production source destination What next? How do we implement this? The most common question people face with: Build versus Buy I am a big fan of open-source tech, however, in some critical modules, I prefer buying an out-of-the-box solution because it’s scalable and already tested in the market. Developing in-house might cost you around US2k per month and it includes a few hours of engineer’s time along with cloud cost. If you are inclined toward buying an out-of-the-box solution, here are a few factors that should be part of your checklist. Should be able to connect to popular sources which require minimal config. Extract information automatically without the need for additional code. No-code or CLI (I leave it to you) Lineage and Catalog module. Data Reconciliation along with scheduling feature. Anomaly detection Of course, Of course, all the tests we discussed earlier along with alerts should be in a position to tell where to . debug A robust platform provides easy access to all the incidents and also evaluates the data health. It should be in a position to automatically detect my critical data assets and apply hygiene checks. The only platform to group alerts instead of pushing 100+ alerts. At last, the solution should help you reduce data quality incidents and make your data more reliable. So, do I need a data observability platform? If your answer to any of the below questions or scenarios is “Yes”, then you should procure or deploy a data observability solution right away. Dashboard not getting updated on a regular basis? Don’t know which report is accurate? Business stakeholders are the first to learn about data incidents. Questions during a meeting on the performance stats. Have at least 2 members in the data team. Deployed a business intelligence tool. As software developers have leveraged on DataDog, Dynatrace, etc kind of solutions to ensure web/app uptime, data leaders should invest in data observability solutions to ensure data reliability. Also published here.

Data Observability: The First Step Towards Being Data-Driven

I bring to your attention the state management for React. The library is still under development, but you can already try it. library Let’s start with an example of everyone’s favorite TODO organizer. Source code on . First, let’s create the main component, main.js. Github // main.js
import React, { createElement, Component, createContext } from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import {Connect, Provider} from './store'
import Input from './InputComp'
import TodoList from './TodoList'
import LoadingComp from './LoadingComp'

const Main = () => (
  <Provider>
    <h1>Todo:</h1>
    <LoadingComp>
      <TodoList/>
    </LoadingComp>
    <hr/>
    <Input/>
  </Provider>
)

ReactDOM.render(<Main />, document.getElementById("app")); Next, store. We need the Store to initialize the library, and also here; we specify all the necessary files with actions. In our example, this is and . actions.js actionsSetup // store.js

import React, { createElement, Component, createContext } from 'react';
import createStoreFactory from 'redoor';

// Exporting all functions from actions.js и actionsSetup.js
import * as actions from './actions'
import * as actionsSetup from './actionsSetup'

// here we specify the necessary functions of the React library
const createStore = createStoreFactory({
  Component, 
  createContext, 
  createElement
});

// creating a store as a parameter, you must specify an array of objects
// of all used action functions
const { Provider, Connect } = createStore([
  actions,
  actionsSetup
]);

export { Provider, Connect }; File with our actions and project status // actions.js

// each local state can contain its own set of variables
// redoor will automatically add them to the global store
// initState is a reserved variable it can be either an object,
// or a function that returns an object with a state
export const initState = {
    todos:[],
    value:'',
}
// adding a new task to the array
// the state variable contains the global state
// the args variable depends on the values passed from the component
// the function returns new state variables
export const a_enter = ({state,args}) => {
  let {value,todos} = state;
  todos.push({
    id:(Math.random()+"").substr(2),
    value:value,
    done:false
  });
  return {
    value:'',
    todos
  }
}

export const a_done = ({state,args}) => {
  let {todos} = state;
  let id = args.id;
  todos = todos.map(it=>(it.id === id ? (it.done = !it.done, it) : it))
  return {
    todos
  }
}

export const a_delete = ({state,args}) => {
  let {todos} = state;
  let id = args.id;
  todos = todos.filter(it=>it.id !== id)
  return {
    todos
  }
} Components of views // InputComp.js
import React from 'react';
import {Connect} from './store'

// redoor adds the cxRun function and all variables to the props
// globally store
const Input = ({cxRun, value})=><label className="input">
  Todo:
  
// here we can change the store directly from the component
  <input onChange={e=>cxRun({value:e.target.value})} 
					value={value} 
					type="text" 
  />
  
// by clicking, we call the action a_enter from actions.js
  <button onClick={e=>cxRun('a_enter')} disabled={!value.length}>
		ok
	</button>
</label>

// соеденяем с redoor наш компонент и экспортируем 
export default Connect(Input); cxRun can operate in two modes. The first is to directly change the store's contents, as in the case of a string parameter or calling an action from a file actions.js. And the last component that outputs the to-do list itself. // TodoList.js
import React from 'react';
import {Connect} from './store'

const Item = ({cxRun, it, v})=><div className="item">
  // we call the a_done action, where we specify as a parameter
  // array element in the asense this variable will be called args
  <div className="item_txt" onClick={e=>cxRun('a_done',it)}>
    {v+1}) {it.done ? <s>{it.value}</s> : <b>{it.value}</b>}
  </div>
  <div className="item_del" onClick={e=>cxRun('a_delete',it)}>
    &times;
  </div>
</div>

const TodoList = ({cxRun, todos})=><div className="todos">
  {
    todos.map((it,v)=><Item key={v} cxRun={cxRun} it={it} v={v}/>)
  }
</div>

export default Connect(TodoList); In our project, there are only two variables in the global store, value, and todos. They are initialized by in the file . can be an object or a function that should return an object with a state. Here it is important to understand that all the states in the action file are placed in a single object and each action has access to any state variables. initState actions.js initState Actions are functions that must start with the prefix “ a_ “ or “action”. The name of the action function will be specified as the first parameter when calling cxRun. The input parameter will be an object with the state and args variables. state — this is the entire global state of the project args is the second parameter of the call to the cxRun function. In our project, when you click delete, we call cxRun(‘a_delete’, it), where the first argument is the name of the action function, and the second is the element itself, which is what we get in args. The action should return a new state of the state, which will automatically redraw the components that are connected to the store. What should I do if the action works asynchronously? To do this, we need to connect the setState method to the local variables of the actions file.js using the bindStateMethods function. //actions.js
let __setState;
let __getState;

// connecting the methods of working with the state
export const bindStateMethods = (getState, setState) => {
  __getState = getState;
  __setState = setState;
};

export const a_setup = async ({state,args}) => {
  __setState({loading:true});
  let data = await loading();
  __setState({
    loading:false,
    todos:data
  })
} When you call the “a_load” action, the download icon will appear before the download starts, and after the data is loaded, the data array will be updated, and the download icon will be disabled. If you need to get a global state inside an asynchronous function, you can call __getState, which returns the current state. Debugger For debugging, there is a tool. A debugger is a server that listens to data from the redoor library and passes it to a single page at . Thus, the debugger can be located not only in another browser but also on another machine. This is especially useful when developing for mobile devices. redoor-devtool localhost:8333 > yarn add redoor-devtool in a separate console, run the console debug server > npx redoor-devtool -o The “-o “ key will open chrome at , where the debugger will be. http://localhost:8333 Conclusion On my own, I can share that I have already done several projects using this library. It was quite convenient to work with her on a project with sockets. There are, of course, features of use. For example, you need to remember that all actions are “visible” from all modules. This will not be a problem if you have a clear structure for naming actions. In my projects, I use . a_moduleName_actionName That’s all for now. If you are interested, I will try to write a more detailed review. Also published on . Medium

Redoor: New Alternative to Redux

Taking care of customer needs and forming strong emotional connections are crucial for successful customer-brand interactions. However, to achieve positive user engagement, it's essential to create consistent experiences across different touchpoints. That’s where comes in, seamlessly aligning with customer needs and increasing customer retention. omnichannel customer experience (CX) In this article, I'll cover various omnichannel experiences that extend beyond retail and e-commerce and explain the three steps needed to create impactful interactions. Step 1. Evaluate Your Current UX Strategy According to a recent survey, over feel emotionally connected to a brand when they can easily reach the company through various channels. 43% of consumers While many companies have attempted to implement an omnichannel strategy, only a few have managed to create a truly comprehensive customer experience. With the rise of new interaction possibilities, experiences are now . Those who prioritize the customer and consider touch points as part of a journey will derive the most benefits. more interconnected than ever before To achieve this, companies and strategies based on the following principles: evaluate and change their UX processes Consistency Providing unified experiences across all channels. Optimization Tailoring channel experiences to specific devices, content, and channel limitations. Seamlessness Ensuring effortless transitions between channels, allowing customers to pick up where they left off. Orchestration Guiding customers through their journeys with personalized content at the right moments. Collaboration Enhancing the by enabling them to utilize multiple channels simultaneously, thereby improving the overall customer experience. customer journey Step 2. Make Human-Centricity The Core of CX Omnichannel CX should revolve entirely around customers—their behaviors, needs, and expectations, making customer-centricity the central focus of every interaction. Through the examination of the current landscape, understanding user journeys and requirements, and communicating the business impact, design teams can create experiences that meet customer expectations across various channels. Companies that excel in omnichannel engagement typically retain 89% of their customers. That makes a substantial contrast to the of those who do not prioritize it. 33% retention rate Nevertheless, providing an omnichannel experience involves more than just studying needs and creating customer journey maps. It requires a mindset shift in the entire organization, from the C-suite to customer support. That means restructuring teams around customer journeys and adopting an to quickly address customer concerns. As companies shift towards putting the customer first, it becomes crucial to encourage collaboration and agility, ensuring a smooth experience at every interaction point. agile mindset Step 3. Centralize Efforts for Omnichannel CX A customer's journey to making a purchase typically involves interacting with a brand through about n multichannel environments, customer data is often scattered across various systems, posing challenges for stakeholders who need to access and gain a comprehensive understanding of their customers. 20 to 30 . I touchpoints To bridge these gaps, businesses should centralize customer data in a single shared system, ensuring it's readily available to relevant parties. The functionality, accessibility, and data storage capabilities of such a system play a crucial role in establishing and delivering a seamless omnichannel experience. This approach offers stakeholders Furthermore, it lets them achieve the desired levels of convenience, personalization, and engagement at each touchpoint. better visibility into the complete customer journey. Wrapping Up: The New Dynamics in CX The landscape of customer interactions will be continuously changing, with users expecting excellent omnichannel experiences from nearly every company they engage with. To meet these expectations, businesses must adopt a customer-centric omnichannel approach to be able to cater to unmet customer needs. By shifting to a holistic, customer-driven strategy, companies can get valuable insights into their operations from the customer's perspective and deliver seamless experiences across all channels. The question for businesses in 2024 is clear: Are you ready to and stay ahead in the ever-competitive market? make omnichannel CX a top priority

3 Elements of Omnichannel CX Excellence

Being flexible and adaptable is a must in both day-to-day and business life. After all, the world around us is changing rapidly and dictates its pace to everyone. It is the same with user experience that keeps on evolving no matter what. Nothing can slow down the evolution of user preference and expectation, so without further ado, let's talk about the changes they will see in 2023. It Will Become More Secure To keep on providing better services, businesses and support teams need to accumulate more and more customer data. Apart from regular name, date of birth, and shipping address, businesses now need such information as the history of orders and requests, the preferred style and medium of communication, and other details that can help improve customer experience. To gather the needed information, businesses will have to improve their security. PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA compliance, and ISO certification — all of which are active at my company, SupportYourApp — will help big companies and small startups safely gather as much information as they need to provide the best customer support. It Will Become More Immersive Customers want to have a more honest and immersive experience. The main challenge here is reaching that almost elusive immersiveness. Let's start with what immersive customer experience is? It is an amalgamation of different tech solutions: VR, AR, AI, and so on. To provide customers with every one of these, brands need to start to implement them into their customer communication strategy. And that takes resources: support consultants need to be more tech-savvy, the tech department needs to be in sync with support teams’ and customers’ requirements, and Service Delivery departments need to be ready to tackle challenges that may come along with implementing this many difficult technologies. But, as I have learned through more than a decade in the industry, the bigger the challenge, the better the reward. Among the best ways to deliver immersive services to customers are: Implementing AI and ML into the CRM system used for storing and managing customer communication. Utilizing co-browsing, video support sessions, or even VR. Offering omnichannel support. Speak the customer's language. Being available 24/7/365. With the development of Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse, I am sure we are only seeing the beginning of the immersive user experience. It Will Become More Authentic Authenticity and transparency are the best ways to establish trust with customers and promote long-lasting loyalty. But why should CX be authentic? First off, because customers want it — want support consultants to opt for live communication rather than using the scripts and to resolve their issues fast and effectively. 82% of customers Second, because it is better for the support teams themselves. Being open with every customer, having the freedom to communicate every resolution and timeframe, and the opportunity to adjust the style of communication to every user prevents burnout and gives support agents a chance to shine and grow. It Will Become Phygital Phygital is the future of customer communication. Physical reigned all the way until the pandemic, which completely changed customer preferences and put digital into the spotlight. Seeing the combination of the two seems like a perfectly logical development for the industry. One of the best examples of phygital is a good old McDonald’s restaurant, where human checkouts and digital kiosks coexist and serve customers within the same space. It can also be found in shops where an order was made via the internet but picked up on location. Where we already see phygital in customer support is in one-on-one video calls and co-browsing sessions, where human interaction meets and seamlessly blends with the latest technology. Overall, users will expect more honest, human, immersive, and technology-driven CX. Among others, these components are what will drive the evolution of CX in the future.

How Will User Experience Change in 2023?

Innovation is a determinant of several static and dynamic factors; different organizations think about it in different ways. However, the purpose of innovation often revolves around achieving specific goals. It can be about retaining existing customers, acquiring new ones, expanding market presence, and generating revenue streams. In today’s business world, the urgency to adapt has never been higher given the rapid digital upswing, technological disruptions, and a global health crisis upon us. Data-led monetization possibilities and potential ways to consume and harness the power of data is playing a crucial part in this upheaval. Gartner predicts that by 2022, of organizations will be either sellers or buyers of data via formal online data marketplaces. Be it at the C-suite level or departmental/sub-divisional levels - studying past and current data is critical for bringing innovative ideas to light and making out-of-the-box decisions. 35% Product Information Management (PIM): Sustains innovation in all possible ways Effective can be a game-changer for enterprises in pursuit of innovation.  For instance, analysis of product data can be the foundation of implementing effective planograms (visual assortment of offerings in shelves) and can even unearth valuable information to target a specific user group in sales campaigns. product data management However, to leverage product data in the best possible ways, companies require ever-increasing velocity and scale of analysis to process and access data, especially in the face of unprecedented market shifts. That is where a PIM comes into the picture. Source: Aberdeen Group With near-perfect interoperability between various systems and end-to-end visibility of product information – PIM can act as a tool to increase sales, enhance customer experience, speed-up go-to-market cycle times, maintain omnichannel consistency, and automate data delivery and administration processes. But above all, PIM empowers enterprises to be on their path to growth. Hence, PIM will always be at the core of all your innovation endeavors, as it: Enables faster growth Multiple business moves can drive business growth. It can result from improved sales, new product launches, business acquisitions, and other initiatives. All these strategies require efficient management of product data. That is where a PIM system comes into play. PIM systems pave the way for rich data analytics that supports business decisions, enables easy integration for cross-department data flow, and significantly improves user experiences to boost ROI. PIM can automate operational processes like catalog management and manual updates which further cuts costs and drives business growth. Faster product launches and efficient collaboration between siloed systems are also instrumental in augmenting business capabilities. Source: Forrester Standardizes data of any kind or size Whether it is custom-defined standard or an internationally accepted one, PIM can gather data in uniform formats for easier and faster search and validation. All product attributes are showcased systematically in a single catalog with required data profiling and cleansing of duplications and redundancies. With a centralized data repository and standardized formats, searching a particular data point becomes very easy. Each department can view product data that is most important to their team and easily identify opportunities in new channels or product lines. Moreover, PIM also helps in modeling standard attributes for different categories and ranges for a consistent baseline of product content. Increases speed to market PIM increases the quality, consistency, and velocity of data to reduce the time taken for the product listing process considerably. By streamlining and automating several manual and inter-departmental data entries, it makes data available for end-user consumption instantly. PIM empowers enterprises to derive intelligent, actionable insights from data at all stages of processing and all levels of the organizational hierarchy. Data can be holistically leveraged to fasten product launches, integrating new systems, or managing large-scale change. With faster enrichment of descriptions, documentations, and other related data components, new product introductions and upgrades become effortless. Continuously improves CX The right information at the right time in the right place is the first step to improving customer satisfaction and conversions. PIM delivers consistency and reliability at every stage of the buying process with traceable, reliable, and up-to-date information across every channel. It even helps in optimizing web classifications and search/filter processes to harmonize customer relations cohesively. It ensures that the brand’s voice and presence remain consistent while improving product data quality across all channels. PIM enables global teams to create highly targeted product experiences tailored to different locales, channels, and languages. With a robust PIM in place, businesses can craft customized product experiences that guarantee improved customer engagement. Builds operational efficiencies PIM can help automate up to of manual marketing and sales tasks. Personnel can focus on critical functions like intelligently assorting product information, making seasonal edits to catalogs, and ideating promotional activities. PIM can also eliminate bottlenecks in workflows by streamlining processes and allowing all stakeholders to access the latest, consolidated data. This way, the probability of manual error is highly reduced, and everybody is on the same page. 80% Ensuring product data consistency across various channels also becomes possible. PIM is designed for easy integration with existing platforms like ERP, SCM, CRM, etc. It can be seamlessly implemented at scale. Final Thoughts It is undeniable that data and information are at the core of business continuity and innovation. The true potential of data can be unlocked by harnessing the power of Product Information Management (PIM) system. A PIM provides businesses with a 360° view of product data that make huge transformations possible. Such a system will not only propel innovations but also nurture ideas with accurate, dynamic, assorted information. That’s the reason rules of innovation may keep changing, but PIM will always be at the heart of it.

Rules of Innovation Change, but PIM Will Always Stay at the Heart of It

Biases and approach It’s well known that humans tend to fear the unknown, and are more comfortable with things or situations we understand and are familiar with. This phenomenon was reinforced when and Asha Labs surveyed over 1000 consumers to understand customer sentiment on Intelligence (AI). We asked consumers between the ages of 18–65 whether they knew about Artificial Intelligence ( and what impact they believe AI will have on their lives or on society. 20% of the respondents did not know what AI is. Amongst the 80% who did know, there was an even split between those who believe AI will have a positive impact and those who believe it will have a negative impact on society. It gets interesting when we assess how respondents believe AI will impact individuals personally. Surprisingly, the majority of those familiar with AI do not think AI will impact them. Zpryme Artificial the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence) What does this have to do with the utility or energy industries and employees? Let’s start with three short stories on where AI and data science are today to illustrate the potential that innovative thinking has to transform our industry. Stories of AI in real-life : In 2016, Google’s DeepMind built AlphaGo, AI that could play the board game, Go. Go is considered the world’s most complex game with 361 legal moves for every player turn and 10^(5.3 × 10¹⁷⁰) total moves, i.e. a whole lot of moves. The DeepMind team trained AlphaGo by having it ingest all the historical data on all moves made in every recorded game of Go and provided by experts. AlphaGo defeated the world champion 4–1. AlphaGo played moves that ‘ Even the greatest Go players in the world. This feat seemed incredibly impressive at the time. Impressive enough that National Grid signed a partnership with DeepMind to use AI in optimizing data center energy usage, this after DeepMind had performed the same feat of resource usage optimization in Google’s data centers. , AI that was only provided with the rules of the game and a Goban (the board on which the game is played). AlphaGo Zero trounced AlphaGo 100–0. Story 1 did not make sense to human minds.’ Just a few months later, the DeepMind team announced that they had built AI (AlphaGo Zero) : Amazon changes product prices . That amounts to a price change for an average product of about every 10 minutes. No two customers see the same price. The price changes are based on customer shopping patterns, demand/supply, competitors’ prices, profit margins, inventory and hundreds of other factors. Using data science (and some claim AI), Amazon can predict what products users will buy and, in a feat of impressive operational efficiency, pre-deliver it to a location close to the user. This enables same-day delivery. Story 2 2.5M times per day : The Alibaba group’s grocery store, HEMA, displays the prices of products (in their physical locations) on wi-fi enabled price tags. The prices are determined by online and offline supply/demand, product freshness, the location of the store and proximity to different customer taste profiles etc. Customers shop in the store using their mobile phone with the Alipay app. Two shoppers who walk past the same product within a few seconds will see and pay different prices for the product. All based on hundreds of factors, including shoppers’ buying history and propensity to buy. Should a customer choose the delivery option when ordering online, the same models are used to optimize price and delivery.. Story 3 What does this mean for incumbent companies? In assessing new technologies and ideas, our minds rely on old models of understanding. When it comes to AI possibilities (intelligence at a level we cannot truly understand), we model AI as a potential extension of the things we already know (data analysis getting more powerful and not impacting us as individuals ). Respondents to the survey believe that AI (or data science) will not impact their lives, but AI is already enabling companies to harness optimal levels of operational efficiency that create unbelievably personalized experiences and, consequently, generate margins and revenues that we couldn’t fathom just a few years ago (Trillion Dollar market cap companies!?!!). Most customers don’t even realize this is happening in real-time, because it is that seamless. Where is the equivalent of this in the utility or energy industry? that much Honing In On Utility Industry CX For customers to truly feel the impact of AI, utilities will have to make an investment in forward looking employees that are open to embracing change. To build the technologies that will enable utilities to compete with companies like Amazon in delighting customers (or at least stealing some mindshare), utilities need employees who truly understand these technologies. The industry will need to attract employees who can build AI to create a future utility platform that optimizes for resources and prices with no historical info, like AlphaGo Zero. An employee driven culture of innovation will enable the technological revolution that personalizes pricing for the customer, all the while improving the operational efficiency of delivering reliable, safe, and cost effective power. These employees, and their perception and consequent interests, will cut across the traditional demographic profiles. new The capital requirements and asset base of the current electric grid model prohibits upstarts from from totally dis-intermediating utilities soon. This is one reason the industry is complacent, and it has lead to a dearth of talent to compete in a future where technology will provide experiences/value unlike what we’ve ever experienced. Ultimately, it will amount (and is amounting) to a in a time when , the ones who got us to where we are, will retire in the next few years. Now is the time to refresh the pool with the right talent for the industry’s future_._ The survey data sheds some light on sentiment across taste profiles, gender and even traditional demographics that require some deeper analysis. spiral of lost opportunity 50% of the industry Over the last few months I’ve spoken to or heard about talent leaving the utility industry on both ends; mature talent retiring after having served the industry so well and newer talent leaving the industry to transition into other sectors due to the ‘ ‘ in the utility industry. To stay vital, every organism sheds skin and replaces it with new skin. The utility industry is shedding skin but not adequately replacing it with the new talent necessary to create these futures-we-want™. Hiring as usual won’t cut it. How can we attract the talent that makes the utility industry exciting again? Talent that moves the industry from chasing to leading the customer empowerment revolution? lack of exciting or innovative opportunities The answer is in speaking the language that younger creatives and new age workers (who won’t have the 15yrs of experience in the traditional industry) speak. These new workers will come from outside our traditional recruitment approaches. We’re not suggesting that the industry declare itself to be AI first, like Google. But, we do need to bring in employees with the technical understanding and strategic vision to see where the possibilities lie for the future of this industry. Employees who speak the . language The real question then is, what is that language? More to come… Powered by HarperJacobs.com

Winning CX With AI (aka Seeing Opportunity In Jobs Lost)

Are robots taking over our jobs? Well, not exactly. Robots have been around for a long time, and while robots can take over menial, repetitive tasks that no longer require human intervention, this is not always a bad thing. Robots do the menial, repetitive tasks, which frees up the humans to do other things. We are seeing this more often in customer service, where artificial intelligence is taking over the menial data entry or information gathering tasks and cutting out the time needed with an actual human. And most of the time you don’t even know you are dealing with artificial intelligence. Nearly 85% of people have interacted with AI in the past year, but only half were even aware of it. But already AI is making your life simpler without you even knowing it. In customer service AI can reduce the amount of time you are on the phone, connect you with the correct department so that your problem gets resolved more quickly, and even identify major problems before they get out of hand based on repeated customer feedback. Artificial intelligence is the computer inside the robot, and it was designed to make your life easier, not take over the world. Learn more about the role of from this infographic! AI in customer service

How Will AI Change Customer Experience?

Bitcoin slumped over 50% from its all-time high. While these drawdowns are always painful, they are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, Bitcoin has experienced plenty of such drawdowns in its history. Just take a look at the chart below. Holding through multiple 50 to 80% crashes takes an insane level of conviction and mental resilience. Those with experience understand that you don’t get the right to enjoy exponential return without stomaching lots of pain along the way. I thought I would share a few quotes from investing legends that may help you alleviate the pain. Here are a few of my favorites: “You make most of your money in a bear market, you just don’t realize it at the time.” Shelby Cullom Davis “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.” Mayer Amschel Rothschild I've always said the key organ here isn't the brain. It’s the stomach. When things start to decline - there are bad headlines in the papers and on television - will you have the stomach for the market volatility and the broad-based pessimism that tends to come with it? Peter Lynch “Volatility is good. Stock Market volatility is what helps it give you stellar returns.” Peter Bernstein “The first rule of investment is ‘buy low and sell high,’ but many people fear to buy low because of the fear of the stock dropping even lower. Then you may ask: ‘When is the time to buy low?’ The answer is: When there is maximum pessimism.” Sir John Templeton “For the investor who knows what he is doing, volatility creates opportunity.” John Train “The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.” Benjamin Graham “Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections than lost in the corrections themselves.” Peter Lynch “Invest for the long haul. Don’t get too greedy and don’t get too scared.” Shelby Cullom Davis “Your success in investing will depend in part on your character and guts and in part on your ability to realize, at the height of ebullience and the depth of despair alike, that this too, shall pass.” Jack Bogle “The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.” Benjamin Graham “The stock market is a device to transfer money from the impatient to the patient.” Warren Buffett To sum up, it’s essential to realize if you want to be a day trader or an investor. If you’re trying to outsmart the markets or simply dollar-cost-average into a great asset. The investing legends and the data confirm that the DCA investors tend to overperform the traders over the long term. So ask yourself what kind of investor are you?

CHANGE CX

changecx.com

51-200 employees

Since 2021

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CHANGE CX

EVERGREEN INDEX #2398

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CHANGE CX

changecx.com

51-200 employees

Since 2021

COMPANY RANKING

CHANGE CX

EVERGREEN INDEX #2398

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