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Generative AI ‘revolutionising’ retail experiences
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Generative AI’s ability to fabricate hyper-customised content is turning the tables in retail marketing and communication strategies, also extending its reach into tasks such as inventory planning.

Kiran Raj, Practice Head of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, said: “In a retail environment where the product-to-experience shift is increasingly significant, genAI can enable the creation of immersive, personalised experiences, integrating virtual and physical retail spaces in a manner that resonates with modern consumers’ expectations. Moreover, it is no longer about a one-size-fits-all engagement; rather, it is about a tailor-made experience catering to individual needs”

Saurabh Daga, Associate Project Manager of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, added: “By leveraging key data points from customers’ purchase history and preferences, genAI can facilitate building personalized shopping experiences and targeted marketing strategies. The technology can empower retailers to deliver superior service at reduced costs, leading to greater customer satisfaction.”

GlobalData’s latest Innovation Radar report, “Cognitive revolution: genAI meets retail,” offers a view of how the disruptive technology is being deployed across the retail value chain, from inventory management and personalised marketing to customer experience and support.

GenAI can transform retail operations such as inventory planning, product recommendations, and customer service. Promising genAI applications include creating new product designs based on defined criteria and sentiment analysis to predict customer trends.

It cites traditional retailers like Carrefour and IKEA are using genAI to streamline operations and augment customer support. Meanwhile, e-commerce players like Amazon, Shopify, and Instacart are leveraging genAI to improve online shopping experiences and increase cart conversion rates. Big technology companies such as Google and Salesforce are offering genAI solutions to help e-commerce players as well as retailers optimize their online customer engagement.

Daga concluded: “While there are inherent challenges in implementing genAI, particularly in consumer-facing sectors like retail, the potential for substantial progress is undeniable. Challenges such as content quality and privacy must be managed through strong governance. Small and medium retailers can benefit from strategic partnerships to overcome entry barriers required to build the supporting technology, infrastructure, and personnel for genAI implementation.”

Image by Hannes Edinger from Pixabay

Apple ‘looking to break free from iPhone dependence’ with Vision Pro MR device
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Apple’s much-awaited Vision Pro headset is a beta device to see if it can emerge from its iPhone dependence, according to a leading analyst.

The Vision Pro, which was unveiled this week at Apple’s WWDC event, is aimed at developers with immersive use cases geared towards productivity, enterprise, and entertainment.

Anisha Bhatia, Senior Technology Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Apple’s 34 million+ active developer community will be key here, as will be cross compatibility with apps from iPhone, iPad, and MacBook platforms. This headset is expected to boost demand for associated augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) games, apps, and services, a category growing in importance to Apple’s bottom line.

“Apple is marketing the headset as an extended display – hence the name Vision Pro – steering away from any mention of the Metaverse, which Meta has seized in recent times. This is a first-gen product, and Apple is playing a long-term game. The availability of Disney’s huge content library on the Vision Pro for a full immersive experience is a plus, as is the alliance with Unity for 3D content. VR and AR headset sales and active headset engagement have been disappointing, but Apple is sitting on a pile of cash and can attract early adopters. GlobalData forecasts annual revenues from AR headsets to reach more than $30 billion by 2030, making this a market ripe for innovation.

“The Vision Pro’s $3,499 sticker price will inhibit adoption, but Apple is not looking to make money off this product just yet. Apple’s entry into this segment will garner mainstream attention for mixed reality hardware, the likes of which only Apple is capable of. The Vision Pro is Apple’s attempt at cracking open the extended reality (XR) door to create an addressable market with iterations of Vision Pro in the years to come.”

AI startups raised over $5bn venture capital funding in 2022
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The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the attention of venture capital (VC) investors globally. Against this backdrop, 3,198 AI startups received $52.1 billion funding across 3,396 VC funding deals during 2022.

However, an analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that 2022 experienced a subdued VC funding activity across sectors and AI space also felt the brunt of a dent in investor sentiments. Although VC funding deal volume as well as value in the AI space declined in 2022 compared to the previous year, the impact was more prominent in terms of value.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, explained: “The number of VC funding deals announced in AI space globally declined by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the corresponding deals value was down by a massive 41.8%.”

AI deal volume experienced a fluctuating quarter-on quarter (Q-o-Q) trend throughout 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, deal value declined for the six straight quarters through Q3 2022. However, there was a rebound in both VC funding deals volume and value in Q4 2022.

Some of the notable VC deals announced in the AI space during 2022 include $1.5 billion fundraising by Anduril Industries, $580 million raised by Anthropic, and $500 million fundraising by Black Sesame Intelligent Technology.

Bose concluded: “The subdued VC funding activity in the AI space seems to be for short-term while long-term prospects are likely to be promising and the rebound in both deals volume and value in Q4 2022 could be seen as an indication of it.”

Twitterati shows mixed feelings towards Meta Verified
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Diverse perspectives among Twitter influencers around Meta’s user verification initiative surged dramatically in the third week of February.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a paid subscription bundle “Meta Verified” starting at $11.99 a month that includes account verification with impersonation protections and access to increased visibility and support.

And according to GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform there has been a mixed response among Twitter Influencers following the announcement.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Some influencers opine that the service is needed to filter fake accounts, as Meta is actually verifying and not just charging for the badge. They prefer the steps taken by Meta to verify over Twitter and slams the SMS verification of Twitter.

“Meanwhile, some influencers say this new change may also give rise to verified scammers. Influencers have also found it expensive for users as the company wants to monetize its new features.  At the same time, some influencers expect the remaining social media platforms to launch verification subscriptions.”

Below are a few of the most popular influencer opinions captured by the GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

  1. Ross Gerber, CEO at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management:

“Meta is offering customer service with their subscription service along with verification. This is well needed on instagram as it’s filled with fraud and fake accounts… and so many ‘influencers’ who can now be verified. Nor are they charging the people already verified. $META”

  1. Ari Paul, Founder of BlockTower Capital:

“Worth noting how unrelated this is to twitter’s program.  Meta is actually doing verification, not just charging for a badge.  And comes with service.”

  1. Mark Gruman, Chief Correspondent at Bloomberg LP:

“Twitter, Facebook etc should charge all they want for verification, extra features, fewer ads, new icons, better customer support etc. Completely reasonable. But charging for things like SMS authentication and for preventing platform problems like bot impersonators isn’t right.”

  1. Rachel Tobac, CEO at SocialProof Security:

“If we’re going to do paid verification at all, I’m glad Meta has required 2FA for it.

This ensures that an additional step is required upon sign in and reduces account takeover. Would love to see additional education on likely scams to steal pw/MFA for these types of accounts.”

  1. Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder CoinDCX:

“After Twitter Blue, #MarkZuckerberg launches Meta Verified badges! Wondering if this is actually thought out for adding real value to the audience or more for generating revenues. Also worried that this strategy may give rise to verified scammers!  Will have to wait and watch”

  1. Ben Parr, Co-Founder at Octane AI:

“Meta is rolling out the ability to pay for verification on Instagram. It will change the entire ecosystem around verification as a status symbol. Will the idea of verified accounts as being important symbols fade away? Check marks mean nothing anymore.”

  1. Ken Yeung, Co-Host and Producer at The Created Economy:

“Will #YouTube, #TikTok and #LinkedIn soon follow suit and launch a verification subscription offering like Twitter and Meta?”

ChatGPT, WebAssembly, and Serverless will spur app modernisation this year
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DevOps will be a dominant driver in the cloud computing arena in 2023, as enterprises advance their app modernisation strategies using the likes of ChatGPT and other AI-driven tech.

This prediction came about as part of research by GlobalData Technology Analyst Charlotte Dunlap, who notes that significant innovations in sophisticated application architectures will usher in new serverless deployment integrations with various cloud services, abstracting complicated configuration requirements.

Dunlap said: “Ground-breaking new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot achievements based on large language models (such as ChatGPT) will ease developers’ cumbersome coding requirements by automating the writing/converting of scripting, particularly programming languages developers are unfamiliar with.

GlobalData reveals that increased AI/automation advancements and accessibility will significantly escalate in 2023, playing a greater role in easing next-generation app development capabilities among developers and DevOps teams.

Dunlap added: “A primary example that highlights 2023 AI/automation innovations is the recent release of ChatGPT, version 3.5. The Natural Language Processing (NLP) model, developed by OpenAI, is trained on a massive amount of text data, so it’s able to generate human-like text and response. In addition to using the prototype AI chatbot to outright create new code without having to know any programming languages, a major use case will be in improving the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) of apps targeting customer service to provide more human-like responses to user-inputs. Such technology advancements will result in a newfound prioritization of DevOps among enterprises, based on a new wave of developer technologies, which significantly remove obstructions hindering deployment of modern apps.”

Additionally, over the next 12 months, developers will have access to integrated serverless app deployment options through key services including database management and app development tools, paving the way for serverless computing to be paired with event-driven architectures.

Dunlap conlcuded: “Since its rollout a few years ago, serverless computing hasn’t lived up to expectations due to the problematic underlying architecture. However, in recent months, providers have worked through some of those issues, including abstracting scalability configuration requirements.

Furthermore, game-changing developer tools, including WebAssembly, will leverage traditional web browser technology to create new uses with containers and Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS). The new technology is able to provide more robust cloud management of apps at scale on the same cloud infrastructure.’’