Marketing with Smart Machines: Customer Interaction in the Algorithmic Economy

Computers beat humans in chess, Jeopardy! and the complex game of Go. They drive cars and give life-saving advice to doctors. We’re poised on the brink of a new era of smart machines that will revolutionize all aspects of society—including marketing.

Innovative start-ups are already harnessing the power of cognitive technology to enhance customer experience and automate the marketing process. To compete, established businesses will need to prepare themselves for the growing algorithmic economy.

Marketing with Smart Machines guides marketing managers toward the exciting—and disruptive—opportunities offered by commercial use of artificial intelligence. Beginning with the digitalization of marketing, industry leaders Alexander Borek and Joerg Reinold investigate the three critical strengths of smart machines: omnipresence, cognition, and autonomy.

Smart machine marketing is coming, but the industry will not transform overnight. Now is the time to prepare and overcome the barriers to adopting this powerful new marketing tool—from cultural resistance and social impact to concerns about data protection, cyber security, and digital ethics.

You cannot succeed by remaining stagnant in the face of change. Start your marketing transformation today to harness the full power of smart machines.

Praise for Marketing with Smart Machines:

If you want to thrive and survive in the new millennium, you have to read this book.

Bill Inmon, Computer Science Pioneer and Best Selling Author

Borek and Reinold's book is a must read for marketing and business leaders. If you have already guessed AI and algorithmic systems are not magic, but you can't explain the concepts in a simple way yet, be sure you'll be able to after having read this.

Nicolas Filatieff, Head of Marketing, BNP Paribas Fortis

The next logical step beyond analytics for marketing is to use cognitive technologies to make many key decisions. This book is an excellent guide for marketing executives who need to adopt these technologies, and for marketing professionals who need to add value to them.

Thomas H. Davenport, Distinguished Professor, Babson College, Author of Competing on Analytics and No Humans Need Apply

This book is a good guide to a complex but increasingly relevant trend of ever smarter machines—an insightful and worthwhile read for those who want to understand the complex digital forces that continue to shape our everyday life.

Gerhard Fohringer, Head of Digital Strategy at Siemens

A thought provoking, insightful and engaging text that explores the implications of Smart Machines for marketing. It’s not just factories that will change through automation. Smart Machines will sweep the professions, changing fundamentally the way people work. This book is a great guide to what the future might hold.

Professor Andy Neely, Head, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

If you are not yet convinced that IT decisions are increasingly driven by marketing professionals, this is your must-read to understand why and how it will happen.

Joachim Heel, Senior Vice President Sales at Zebra Technologies

Alexander Borek is responsible for marketing science, smart data & analytics in the Group Digitalization of the twelve brands of Volkswagen AG. He consulted at Gartner and IBM, advising Global Fortune 500 executives across multiple industries regarding digital transformation and analytics innovation strategies.

Borek is the author of many thought leadership pieces, as well as the book Total Information Risk Management, and a sought-after conference speaker. He is an affiliated faculty member of the Information Quality Graduate Program at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Joerg Reinold leads the Global Industry Solutions for IBM’s Watson & Commerce business within the media and entertainment industry. He built up IBM’s international Commerce Consulting & Software business and consulted within IBM’s Strategy & Transformation practice.

A member of IBM’s Commerce Experts, Reinold is a keynote speaker and author of articles on digital and shared economy topics.