These days, customers expect interactions with businesses to be easy and relevant to their specific needs. In fact, convenience and context are the two pillars of modern customer engagement, says Pieter de Villiers, co-founder and CEO of chat commerce platform Clickatell.
The company is a thought leader sponsor of ITWeb AI Summit 2025, to be held on 13 February, at The Forum, Bryanston.
In his scheduled presentation, De Villiers will delve into how AI-powered chat commerce enables businesses to deliver convenient, contextually-aware experiences through customers' preferred chat channels.
“I will share how organisations are leveraging AI to transform routine chat interactions into meaningful commerce opportunities, all while maintaining the contextual understanding that makes these interactions truly valuable.”
De Villiers highlights several factors that he says are key to harnessing the potential of AI:
- The economics of AI, as illustrated with the DeepSeek model disrupting the industry and calling into question the high price tag of training AI systems.
- AI initiatives need to be directly related to business objectives and solve real problems, rather than implementing AI for its own sake. This will require executive understanding and buy-in, and cross-functional alignment on priorities.
- Quality data is the foundation: AI is only as good as the data it learns from.
- Human-AI collaboration: AI augments human capabilities, it does not replace them.
“There is much distrust and insecurity around this new technology, and we need to develop clear processes for how humans and AI systems interact, while investing in upskilling employees to work effectively alongside AI."
Since convenience and context are the two pillars of modern customer engagement, it is important to understand the fundamental shift from rule-based, decision-tree logic, to AI-powered commerce solutions, from basic chatbots to intelligent AI agents, says De Villiers.
Modern AI enables businesses to understand and act on customer data, intent and sentiment, providing businesses with real-time context at scale to deliver uniquely personalised digital experiences.
De Villiers will also cover transforming customer intent into commercial opportunities, the role of intelligent automation in driving business outcomes, and practical strategies for implementing intelligent chat solutions that drive measurable business results.
“The focus will shift from pure technical capabilities to practical implementation challenges and responsible deployment at scale."
His presentation will include reference to:
- Enterprise AI integration
- AI security and trust
- Evolution of the technology
- Responsible AI and ethics
- Democratisation of AI
- Dangers of humanising AI
“The rapid advancements in technology, coupled with shifting political and social landscapes, are redefining conversational commerce. Understanding these trends and proactive engagement with these technologies will position your company not just to leverage and navigate the future, but to shape it.
“Embracing AI-powered, personalised, omnichannel experiences, integrating conversational AI with e-commerce, and prioritising data privacy are not just strategic choices, they are foundational to sustained success.”
Share