How Salesforce Einstein Uses Machine Learning

Salesforce Einstein uses machine learning in its range of AI features for businesses to implement intelligent processes into their workflows. To elevate their performance, consider adding an intelligent market monitor to Einstein Discovery to maximize the CRM experience.

What's inside this article:

Understand These Common Salesforce Terms
Salesforce Einstein Offers Key Machine Learning Features
Have a Plan for Salesforce Einstein
Salesforce Einstein Helps Sales, Service, and Marketing
Get More Out of Salesforce Einstein

Does Salesforce Use AI?

Salesforce Einstein is the range of intelligent features from the popular CRM that uses AI to power smart recommendations, sales automation, and predictive forecasting. Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and other Salesforce users can leverage Einstein to level up their work processes. If adopting AI sounds like a daunting challenge, Salesforce makes it easy to use AI for both small businesses and large organizations.

Salesforce Einstein Uses Intelligent Processes

As much as AI is talked about as either the future of work or the demise of human civilization, it can be a complex concept to fully understand. What does AI mean? Is machine learning the same process or something different? As a starting point, let's define AI as a technological advancement in which machines demonstrate intelligent processes.

Machine Learning Drives AI

There's still more to understand beyond that simple definition—what about machine learning? This article gets into some common examples and promising applications of AI. As for machine learning, it can be understood as a subset of AI, along with natural language processing. Salesforce Einstein uses machine learning to power some of its most valuable features.

Understand These Common Salesforce Terms

In addition to AI and machine learning, there are a few other common terms that regularly appear in conversations within this topic. Included below are simple definitions based on how they're used in Salesforce Einstein. Even with this basic understanding of the technology, users can begin to appreciate the ease with which AI features are now available in digital tools that help businesses improve sales and fuel efficient growth.

Model – A custom formula based on inputs used to generate insights that can explain why something happened, what could happen, and ways to improve predicted outcomes.
Predictions – An estimated value for a future outcome.
Training data – Data used to train models to make predictions.

AI Is an Academic Field

AI didn't start with data-driven insights from Salesforce—it has a deep history rooted in academic interest and research. As a field of study, AI falls under computer science and originates around the 1950s. Interest in the topic fluctuated over the next several decades up until now.

Salesforce Einstein Is Backed by Research

Salesforce is known for leading the trend towards AI for everyone and every business. As a popular CRM, Salesforce is uniquely positioned for integrating intelligent processes into its features thus allowing users to take advantage of the valuable benefits. The company has also dedicated resources to contribute to AI-related research, including deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.

We Know These Everyday AI Examples

As mentioned, one of the best ways to understand AI and machine learning is to realize how almost everyone already interacts with the technology. Virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, email spam filters, and search engine result refining are examples of machine learning that many interact with every day. Machine learning is also familiar through the personalized recommendations that come up when shopping on Amazon or watching Netflix. When businesses understand the digital tools that users most often use, they can take the next step in applying this technology to common business challenges.

Salesforce Einstein Offers Key Machine Learning Features

The best way to see machine learning in Salesforce Einstein is in the next three features explored in this article. Each of these intelligent tools uses reliable data to make relevant business predictions. For a more complete AI experience, Salesforce users can search through the AppExchange marketplace to find additional digital tools, like intelligent market monitors, that maximize the CRM experience.

Use Einstein to Discover Data Patterns

Einstein Discovery encapsulates what machine learning can do for a business. Salesforce uses this technology to help teams discover relevant patterns in their CRM and external data. Complex business challenges sometimes need simple AI insights and recommendations that are presented in Einstein Discovery. In terms of external data, additional AI features can be used to specifically process and present recommendations on all the billions of buying signals relevant to a business.

Machine Learning Makes Predictions Easy

Building custom models isn't reserved for large organizations with a team of data scientists. Now every business has the power to predict outcomes like churn risk and lifetime value of clients with Einstein Prediction Builder. This intelligent tool relies on past data to predict what could happen next. AI has never been more accessible to small businesses that want to transform their CRM into a digital sales machine.

Salesforce Einstein Gives Data-Driven Recommendations

The last machine learning Salesforce feature that is reviewed in this article is Einstein Next Best Action. Again, it uses relevant data sources to offer valuable recommendations to both employees and clients. Salesforce describes this as a great tool to define recommendations, create action strategies, build predictive models, display recommendations, and activate automation.

Have a Plan for Salesforce Einstein

After an introductory understanding of machine learning and how Salesforce Einstein uses it to power three different intelligent features, this article will go over the next steps for implementing an AI machine learning plan. This could range from basic sales automation using simple machine learning techniques or more complex endeavors like building custom predictive models. For any new process like these, a business will have to create an implementation plan that must include access to and management of data.

Data Is Valuable to Machine Learning

The value of data could not be overstated with its importance to Salesforce AI and machine learning. Think of data as the power source to keep these intelligent features functional. Each of the described Salesforce Einstein features mentioned in this article relies on accurate data to present meaningful recommendations.

Salesforce Einstein Helps Sales, Service, and Marketing

Salesforce Einstein can use machine learning to help in every department and stage of the sales process. As a leader in CRM AI, Salesforce offers its users the opportunity to change the day-to-day work of business. In the following examples, this article looks at applications of machine learning features in sales, service, and marketing teams. Each demonstrates how AI can be used to best equip employees to perform their most successful work.

Application #1: Einstein Lets Salespeople Get Back to Selling

Sales automation should not be forgotten as a smart process that benefits employees and clients. When salespeople can focus on high-value tasks like exceeding client expectations through meaningful sales relationships, they're doing what they do best. Plus, with features like Einstein Discovery and Einstein Prediction Builder, salespeople learn from data-driven insights so that they become more informed about the status of the sales process. For a more dedicated exploration of the use cases of CRM AI, read the list of Relevant Use Cases for Salesforce Einstein.

Application #2: Exceed Client Expectations With Einstein

For larger organizations with their own customer service department and for small businesses that do their part to serve clients, Salesforce Einstein uses machine learning to help get the job done. With a tool like Einstein Next Best Action, teams can more accurately attend to client needs because there are data-driven insights guiding their business decisions. This is the power of machine learning to prepare employees to not only meet but exceed client expectations.

Application #3: Einstein Helps Create Targeted Messaging

Just as with sales and service, marketing teams contribute immensely to a successful business. Einstein Discovery allows marketers to understand clients better based on predictive insights gleaned from past interactions. With this, they can create targeted messaging and more effectively communicate in net new markets. It's these benefits of Salesforce Einstein that make it a remarkable tool for marketing teams.

Salesforce Einstein Could Be the New Standard of Work

The future of work will be consciously decided by the businesses that choose to either adopt AI or let it go unused. Products like Salesforce Einstein could mean the difference in how intelligent processes are adopted across industries. As for machine learning, it may be one of the first ways in which teams implement AI and could become synonymous with a new standard of work. When teams are using the best digital tools, they perform their best work and this is the choice that businesses can make now.

Get More Out of Salesforce Einstein

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