AI-powered CRM: Building the New Frontier of Customer Engagement with Salesforce

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In the ever-evolving tech landscape, Large Language Models (LLMs) have emerged as a significant advancement in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These models offer the potential to enhance operational efficiency, productivity, and customer engagement across various industries through their unique ability to understand and generate natural language text. However, these models do come with considerations regarding data security, retention, and use.

AI technologies can be a game-changer for businesses, from delivering high-quality services and experiences to customers and end-users to improving operations and nearly everything in between. Sure enough, organisations of all types are taking note. Salesforce, the market leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), made several significant announcements at Dreamforce 2023, with a primary focus on AI and innovation. These initiatives, ranging from the introduction of Einstein Copilot, a cutting-edge generative AI-powered conversational assistant, to the formation of alliances with key industry players, have the potential to transform the future of technology and business.

How AI is revolutionising Salesforce CRM

AI-powered CRM is exemplified by industry leader Salesforce, which has introduced solutions like Einstein Co-Pilot, SalesGPT, and ServiceGPT. These products leverage advanced AI-driven language models paired with the award-winning Salesforce CRM, enabling businesses to efficiently manage customer data and use the language models to deliver personalised customer interactions.

The fusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) offers numerous benefits to businesses if done in a secure way. AI enhances customer interactions by automating routine tasks, enabling instant and personalised support through chatbots, and facilitating predictive analytics to meet customer needs—all of which lead to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Going further, new Einstein Co-Pilot functions allow any user of Salesforce to immediately get relevant data, display context-aware information, or automate tasks – all using the power of LLMs.

Considerations around Data Access and Usage

Striking a balance between leveraging the advantage of AI and safeguarding data privacy and security is a challenge that most businesses have to solve. Apart from the usual data breaches, LLM usage poses questions regarding inadvertent data leaks, ethical considerations around responsibly handling customer data, bias prevention, and the correctness of generated data. One of the biggest considerations regarding LLMS is GDPR compliance and the non-exposure of customer private data to third parties, which is why Salesforce addresses these concerns with its “Trust Layer“. Salesforce integration ensures secure data handling while harnessing the benefits of AI, such as highly personalised and context-aware customer communication capabilities and a trust layer that can safeguard customer privacy by anonymising data.

As AI gains momentum, security will gain more prominence, particularly with technology organisations that rely on data-driven solutions. The DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) too, is witnessing the rise of AI, making security and privacy even more critical in the coming years as AI solutions quintuple between 2022 and 2026. Persistent, being a data expert, is well aware of the significance of AI’s security requirements and is at the vanguard of it. Persistent understands the importance of security and data privacy in the wake of AI, and ensures that our clients are on top of it as well.

AI market in the DACH Region

Persistent’s approach to AI-enabling Salesforce integration

Persistent teams have stayed at the forefront of the current state of AI research. In parallel to Salesforce’s effort of CRM integration, we are leveraging an AWS connector to sanitise data before ChatGPT queries and ensure enterprise company policy compliance. In Salesforce, we have also developed a modular Salesforce-OpenAI integration. Usable on Flows, Lightning Web Components (LWCs), Apex code, and directly onto record pages, it leverages External Credentials to store OpenAI integration Credentials – a security best practice in any integration. It also leverages Custom Metadata to define endpoints, endpoint configurations, and initial prompts, for enhanced Administrator flexibility.

Due to our continued interest in the AI space, Persistent is at the bleeding edge of Salesforce’s offering and can also help businesses that cannot leverage the standard offering to still benefit from the productivity increases that AI-powered CRM can offer.Get in touch with us today to learn how we can guide you toward a rapidly evolving CRM future while safeguarding customer data.