Video: How AI is accelerating product innovation

Dan Diasio discusses how companies are using artificial intelligence to accelerate product innovation at CES 2023.

In brief

• AI is enabling companies to learn more about how their consumers are using their products.
• Companies that are not embedding AI into products may be missing opportunities for growth and brand loyalty.
• Leading organizations are focusing on AI pilots programs aligned to strategic big bets.

How are companies using AI to boost product innovation?

Dan: CES is all about product innovation and AI is everywhere here at CES. So, I've largely put that into two buckets. The first bucket is where there's an existing product and we use AI or machine learning to make this product smart. But the second bucket is one we're seeing, particularly in the health space, where AI is the product itself and the whole value proposition for the consumer is the insights that come from AI. So, if they're selling some device, it's usually just a mechanism to be able to collect data for the AI to work. Think of this as a device you wear to help you sleep better at night or a medical diagnostic kit that you can use to be able to treat yourself better with samples at home. 

How is AI helping businesses better understand consumers?

Dan: Every business today needs to be consumer centric. You can't produce a product and hope that people use it anymore. As these products become more intelligent, that gives the opportunity for companies to listen and learn about how consumers are using their products. Are they using it every day, or have they stopped using it after two days? Are they using it for what we intend them to, or have they come up with entirely new reasons? And as companies do this, they're able to better create marketing campaigns to meet consumers where they are, or to be able to add more value by adding new features into the products in the future.

If companies are not putting AI into their products or not listening to how their products are being used, they're probably falling behind and missing an opportunity to build better loyalty for their brand and create growth.

What advice do you have for companies entering the AI space?

Dan: One thing I would say is focus on pilots, not proof of concepts. It's easy to get caught up in 100,000 flowers in bloom as experiments, hoping that something provides value. We see leading organizations tackling this more from the top down, identifying a couple of strategic big bets that will help them differentiate themselves from their competitors and then organizing their business to be able to make them a reality and win in the market.