In the coming one or two years, things are bound to change very rapidly as the data that is being generated around the world is predominantly digital nowadays. According to Mr Shabir Momin, MD & CTO at ZengaTV.com & One digital entertainment, this will help all the Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) entrepreneurs in finding potential to play and fulfilling the gaps that exist in the market currently.
Q1 - Tell Us About the Digital Transformation in the Business, Work Culture Etc Due to Pandemic. How Has It Impacted Entrepreneurs’ & Startups' Approach?
I think during the first year of the pandemic, most entrepreneurs and startups focused on survival; uncertainty brings stress on cash flow, business cycles and leads to challenging the basic existence and viability of a business. Entrepreneurs are also humans and have emotions. I know they had to take hard decisions on cost-cutting, salary cuts and many other measures to just survive. Some took a very different stand of fighting back with extra efforts and didn't cut on expenses where they could avoid, specifically like salaries of employees.
This change in business circumstances, cuts on expenses or no cuts but most of them jumped right onto digitising the communication, interaction and rapidly started building processes. Some were already using these but scaled it to the next level. It was do or die in the literal sense for businesses. Many I know also shifted business or focus market or focus industry. The digital transformation became an integral part of the business and changed forever.
Q2 - How Is Technology Like ML, AI Going to Make a Difference in Business and Real Life Situation?
When a significant mass and activities move digital, it also ends up generating a lot of data sets of various kinds, from behaviour to actions to reaction, and probability comes into play. ML and AI are data-hungry functions, and this forced digitisation actually has become a blessing in disguise for industries to be able to work on functions, optimisation, process changes, insights and a new lens of how the same world looks so different now. In the coming year or two, so much will change because the data that we all are generating as we are predominantly digital these days, a new generation of ML, AI entrepreneurs are coming in to play and finding potentials in gap management, process optimisation and many other such things which will push the world to a new generation of tech base.
Q3 - How Is Data-Driven Approach Going to Change the Way Marketing Is Done Today in Decision Making?
Marketing was always data driven, just that the data was always a sample and the sizes were small. The current global digitised systems are giving more data, making the value for money count better. But what the world will see as a change is prediction based and probability-based marketing now. This was only possible with large and globally digitisation, which pandemic is going to leave behind like a good after-effect. Integrated, predicted, probable, focus and a very high percentage of conversation is the new game. A new generation of entrepreneurs are already at it; we will see the effects in a year or two in the mainstream.
Q4 - Are These Technologies Living Up to the Expectations of Consumers and Brands in One Breath Which Was Never Possible Earlier?
I don't think there is a choice left; some are mistakenly waiting for this to get over and expecting the world to go back to being what it was. Unfortunately, that's never going to happen; it has changed and changed forever. I would say this is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to dive straight into as the new changed environment needs recalibration of many many things at one go; there are scopes for many things to go and harness.
Entrepreneurs have always created changes, embraced changes and capitalised it; they are the core bloodline to the world; if it wasn't for these entrepreneurs who invented a cheap ventilator to quick drug delivery to goods delivery to super fast sanitisation and many many more innovations which is why as we call it the new normal is normal.
Q5 - Do You Think the World Has Changed & Entrepreneurs Are Thinking Digitally & Moving Their Existing Business Digital or Start-Up Digital?
A lot has been transformed in the past one and a half years. The current situation demands the majority to go digital if they want to survive the business. Currently, the best way to run smoothly is to strategise the operations digitally as much as one can. In the long run as well it would pay off and seek the results. I believe entrepreneurs understand the gravity of the situation and keep updated with the market trends; they know what works best for their venture as per the situation.
