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A smoother road to customer engagement Rob High, an IBM Fellow who is vice president and chief technology officer for IBM Watson, describes in a recent blog article how Internet searchers too often end up going down a tortuous path when trying to engage with a company. As High sees it, “the onus is on you [the customer] to discover your own answers, and that experience can be very disengaging.” It’s a simple matter now for advertisers to use a browser’s search process to discover specific interests and target their advertising accordingly. But the path from detecting interest to consummating the sale is littered with failures to engage. At the very point when customers want answers or need assurance from an experienced advisor, they end up lost on the company’s website. Or they go wading through hundreds of reviews looking for someone whose opinion they can trust. Or worse, they get caught in 800number purgatory, pressing phone keys in the hope of getting a real person on the line. High sees customer engagement as one of the next big areas where AI and cognitive computing will make a difference. Whether it’s financial products, insurance, telecommunications or travel, this new type of computing can help potential buyers in their quest to know more about a company’s goods and services. Cognitive conversion and engagement applied to travel It is now possible to take what we’ve learned about cognitive computing to deliver fast, accurate, personal recommendations and apply it to the travel industry. With these new intelligent engagement capabilities, customers can now interact with hotel or travel company websites and apps in more meaningful ways. 8