Jim Sinai
VP of Marketing, Salesforce Einstein

In the run up to Full Circle Insights’ Circulate 2017, we spoke to Jim Sinai, VP, Marketing, Salesforce Einstein, who is scheduled to speak at the event. In this interview, Jim shares his insights on companies revamping their data practices to be AI-first.

MTS: What brings you to Circulate 2017? Could you share the key takeaways from the event?
Jim Sinai:  There is an unprecedented opportunity for businesses everywhere to leverage AI to help employees work faster, smarter and more productively. I’m looking forward to diving into the conversation that AI is more than just hype and highlight how it can provide meaningful gains to marketing and sales. AI promises to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time and I’m looking forward to showing how that promise is becoming reality. I’m also looking forward to engaging in conversations with customers to discuss where AI is today and what’s on the horizon in the months to come.

MTS: Salesforce Einstein will celebrate its anniversary very soon. How has this journey been so far?
Jim Sinai:  It’s exciting, to say the least. We’ve been laser focused on bringing AI to CRM and since its launch in September of last year, Einstein has made major strides in removing the complexity of AI and empowering Salesforce users of all skill levels to be smarter, more productive and predictive– without the help of a data scientist. Today there are 18 AI-powered features live across the entire Salesforce Platform and Einstein is already having a real impact for our customers of all sizes and industries. US Bank, for example is using Einstein to build a 360 degree view of its 18 million customers with Einstein, streamlining customer interactions in its contact centers and helping reps be more productive and deliver personalized experiences. Outdoor gear and outfitter Black Diamond is also using Einstein to improve online shopping experiences for its customers and has seen a 15% increase in revenue thanks to Einstein Product Recommendations. There is still plenty more opportunities for Einstein to streamline how we work and we’re looking forward to continuing that momentum in 2018.

MTS: How do you see enterprise infrastructure evolving with adoption of modern data science and intelligence tools?
Jim Sinai:  As AI continues to spread into the mainstream, every company will eventually become an AI company. As part of that, enterprise infrastructure will evolve to enable business users– not just data scientists or PhDs– to leverage AI in the context of their business and build AI-powered apps of their own. Behind all of this, companies that want to take advantage of AI must fully embrace the cloud and revamp their data practices to be AI-first.

MTS: How does deploying Einstein enable marketers and sales reps to achieve a unified vision of “customer experience”?
Jim Sinai: Whether opening an email, posting to social media, talking to a service rep or sales associate, consumers expect experiences that are personalized, consistent and relevant to them across all touch points. AI is crucial to achieving this level of personalization and with Einstein embedded directly into Salesforce’s leading apps for sales, service, marketing, commerce and more customer are armed with the predictive insights to understand when, how and with what information to engage with consumers, saving time and driving efficiencies. This is what Einstein Account-Based Marketing is delivering to our customers today.

MTS: What would be the next frontier for MarTech, once marketers have a firm grip on the results from a unified data management, analytics and automation platform?
Jim Sinai: Thousands of technology solutions make up the martech ecosystem today. And many companies are employing a lot of these products to solve specific needs. This causes internal confusion, data silo’s, fiscal loss and as a result, misaligned marketing communications. Companies are working towards unifying all of their data on a single platform like Salesforce, and are leveraging the power of AI to streamline their processes and improve efficiencies, while also enhancing the consumer experience. Before we can think about the next frontier, marketers need to address their current challenges by standardizing on a single platform, and by turning to AI in order to refine workflows and meet the needs of today’s savvy consumers.

MTS: Thanks for chatting with us, Jim.
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