No-Code Bots Help Businesses Work Smarter, But Need Careful Thought
Microsoft’s Power Virtual Agents suggest a switch from traditional coding for chatbot and AI agent systems to instant design for point solutions.
As the market matures and vendors look for their own unique angle, how we deploy and use chatbots will change fast, which could create chaos for business.
If you didn’t know the first thing about coding, you could still get a chatbot up and running on your website using a codeless design tool. Sure, coding knowledge helps, especially when it comes to linking APIs for translation tools and advanced AIs, but generally, business tools shouldn’t need a full IT department or a coding whizz to run and operate them.
In the 2020s, businesses, departments or sole traders can expect to search for “I need an appointment bot” and will be able to set up and use something like Square’s Assistant just like any other cloud service or tool. That’s the way agents and bots are going, and Microsoft’s recent news will further drive this trend along with clever tools like SnatchBot’s design-based approach.
As more companies see the advantages of using AI, agents and chatbots, the trend will accelerate. And, as the evidence pours in there’s no going back. Microsoft’s own research shows a 5% gain from businesses adopting AI over those that don’t. Even small businesses with more pragmatic goals can see the savings in revenue and time from their busy schedules.
The Bots For End Users and Creatives
Unveiled at the recent Ignite event, Microsoft’s Azure-based agents can be built using the very conversations the bots will have, as virtual LEGO to create the process and harvest analytics from the results.
Power Virtual Agent is designed to enable business users to create bots within a UI-based bot building SaaS experience, without having to code or manage specific AI services. If more advanced work is needed, Power Virtual Agents can have their underlying code exposed, allowing developers and business users to collaborate in building bots.
Other news from the event is the integration of bots in Teams, making for better collaboration and engagement across offices or distributed departments. Also, Skills for Power Virtual Agent will soon allow new skills for these bots to be built using Bot Framework and Azure Cognitive Services without needing to build a new bot from scratch.
Expect other bot players to focus on doing more without the need for deep code, and to expose their AI-power to all kinds of systems. And your business won’t need to be a Microsoft, IBM or Google cloud subscriber to enjoy features like these, expect them to be everywhere as part of whatever business packages you use.
That type of environment would allow any worker to create an AI bot to analyze some data from a series of spreadsheets without needing crazy macros, or to create a chatbot to instantly handle a rise in interest in a new product, or if there’s a faulty batch of consumables on the market — all done in minutes rather than weeks.
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Building the Best Bots
For now, the best bots need good training data, backed up by a solid business case to work well. Understanding and appreciating the customer is also vital to ensuring a positive outcome, all of which require some skill, effort and dedication.
With that in mind, expect these new types of AI service to be able to pull this kind of data from useful archives (possibly for a fee), or learn it on the fly, as future bots are created. All helping to automate the crafting service and reduce the need for expert help.
Larger businesses will still fret over vendor lock-in through platforms and partners. But for most workers, they will pick the bot that does the job based on what they’ve seen in the wild. Which is why it is important to start building your bots now, showing in-house how to build a good bot, and to encourage people to learn about how they work.
The distribution of chatbots will also be important, with many bots needing to be a part of social media platforms, messaging tools, bespoke apps and websites. Security, privacy and other issues must also be understood to ensure that bots obey local and global laws, depending on their spread.
If it wasn’t crystal clear, designing chatbots has never been a massively challenging task, but it is about to get easier. Businesses need a firm hold to prevent bots emerging out of every office and team. Creating the rules for good chatbots means starting now with your development and understanding of the creation landscape, and how those bots will operate for the business.
Leave it too late and it won’t be long before we see a company brought down by their own rogue bot that thought it was being helpful but caused some unforeseen and irreparable harm.
