Generative AI may seem like the newest buzzword — but as it sweeps keynotes and conversations on a global scale, many are left wondering: what exactly is it, and how does it work?

The answer is more complex than it may seem. Generative AI, by definition, is a form of artificial intelligence that generates text, images, and other media using generative models. Simple enough, but there are additional layers of complexity that define this generative capability:

• Generative AI models are trained using vast data stores from databases across the internet, so they don’t create “original” or “new” content in the way we might expect — instead, they rely on old data (i.e., pre-existing images and text) to generate new data with similar characteristics to the old data.
  
  
• These models rely on user prompting; users type prompts into a generative AI program to generate results. The AI then takes that input and filters through data to identify similar characteristics that match the prompt description.

Given its utility, demystifying generative AI is desirable for forward-thinking leaders — after all, knowing how to utilize this rising technology could very well help businesses achieve critical efficiencies or even secure advantages against competitors! Let’s explore how.

What can generative AI do for businesses? 

Generative AI has taken off across the business sphere with the ability to produce new media, boasting an expected annual growth rate of 37.3% between 2023 and 2030. Decision makers worldwide are trusting in this technology — according to a recent Salesforce survey, 73% of the Indian population utilizes Generative AI, followed by 49% of Australians, 45% of US citizens, and 29% of UK residents.

During Dreamforce 2023, Salesforce’s Principal Architect of Ethical AI Practice, Kathy Baxter, weighed in on the power of comprehensive AI technology for businesses during the “AI and Data Keynote: Invest in Your AI Future” keynote, noting:

“Generative AI has the potential to help our customers connect with their audiences in new, more personalized ways across many sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, and IT interactions,” she said. “We’re even exploring the use of AI-generated code to help our customers [...] write high-quality code faster, using fewer lines of code and therefore, requiring less CPU."

With a plethora of ways to bring value to business operations, choosing a generative AI program is an appealing option. However, with new advancements come new challenges; generative AI could threaten data privacy and company information. Let’s discuss why choosing a competitive solution that doesn’t sacrifice privacy is an important measure.

Leveraging generative AI with trusted data

While generative AI has seemingly boundless potential, businesses must approach this burgeoning technology cautiously. Data privacy is a primary concern with generative AI. According to Forbes, data privacy risks will continue to emerge as AI utilization continues over the next decade, and companies are grappling with present issues of copyright, privacy, and security. 

During the Dreamforce Main Keynote, Marc Benioff, CEO & Chair of Salesforce, expanded on the importance of the trusted data practices at Dreamforce, “Like a lot of new technologies in our industry, there appears to be this thing called a trust gap. Somehow, there might not have been as much trust built into these technologies as you might have expected. You know, these AIs want your data, but we need to protect your data.”

Luckily, Salesforce Einstein has already tackled the trust gap; unlike other AI programs, this solution features the Einstein Trust Layer. The Trust Layer serves as a middleman between company data and the large language models learning from data inputs. Other AI programs have no protection layer, and they allow large language models to collect corporate enterprise data, which paves the way for data breaches and client concerns.

As generative AI continues to evolve rapidly, integrating it into a company’s CRM has become safer and more manageable — by choosing a solution that respects data privacy, industries can obtain the cutting-edge technology advancements necessary to cement future advantages.

As Cary Chow, a Newsroom Anchor for Salesforce, pointed out during a mid-Dreamforce recap session: “The AI revolution is a data revolution; the AI revolution wouldn’t exist without the power of all that data. 71% of your company applications are disconnected. That’s not good, but we want to help you bring it together so that you can use it in your AI. And that’s why we have Einstein 1 Data Cloud. It’s included in all the applications: Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, Industries, everything.”

Salesforce Einstein empowers businesses to leverage generative AI for greater ROI for a multitude of business needs, including:

• Sales. Armed with automated tools, sales reps can search for specific details in customer calls instead of parsing through wordy transcripts. They can also summarize highlights and auto-generate sales emails that align with the tone and style of their audience.
  
  
• Customer Service. When paired with chatbot technology, AI empowers service employees to resolve issues faster. Customer service agents equipped with auto-summarizing technology can handle customer issues in greater volume than ever before by auto-summarizing complex support cases and field work orders.
  
  
• Marketing. Marketing professionals can auto-generate surveys following online actions to gain customer insights, create contact forms that auto-populate in Salesforce, and quickly generate email copy for campaigns.
  
  
• Developers. With intelligent tools, developers can turn natural language prompts into Apex code and use scanning functionality to check for code vulnerabilities.
  
  
• Commerce. Generative AI allows retailers to create product descriptions in multiple languages, automate the management of multi-product catalog data, and leverage SEO metadata generation that drives conversions.

Generative AI is packed with productivity-raising potential, piquing the interest of competitive decision-makers on a global scale.

Implement Salesforce with a trusted partner

Leveraging Salesforce Einstein provides businesses the strategic advantage to get ahead of competitors, but implementing it can feel like a hurdle. Choosing a seasoned implementation partner like Gerent eases that burden. Gerent’s consultants are skilled at implementing solutions; given our industry-refined knowledge and devotion to customer care, we are confident in our ability to unlock generative AI potential for your organization. 

For more information on how Salesforce Einstein can elevate your competitive advantage, contact us today.

‍