Understand the World through Data | Bob E. Hayes | Engati Engage

Bob E. Hayes is the president of Business over Broadway. He conducts research in the area of customer experience, data science, customer feedback, and provides consultation to help clients improve the way they use their customer data. He has over 25 years of consulting and research experience in enterprise and midsize companies, including Microsoft, Oracle, Agilent Technologies, and more.

Bob has published numerous articles in both scientific and trade journals and presented at national and international conferences as a keynote speaker on various topics.

Bob E. Hayes — Understanding the World through Data — the video interview

Summary of “Understanding the World through Data”

This section will contain a quick summary of our interview with Bob. But, if you’d rather hear it, we’ve got our Spotify podcast embedded below.

How does the world of algorithms help and how prevalent do you see AI becoming in decision support?

The current algorithms, as a result of machine learning, it’s everywhere, according to Bob. If you’re not using this data, if you’re not looking at these algorithms, then you’re already behind. Data helps businesses in two ways-

1. Helps build better automated systems

For example, the use of data and algorithms help build incredible, and knowledgeable chatbots.

2. Helps decision-makers make better decisions

Data helps you understand how the world works. For example, say you have a company that offers an incredible range of products. And in addition, you also offer great support. How will you know what the better driver for loyalty is? If you look at it as an empirical question, you can collect data and find out what the better predictor is.

The bottom line is, analytics teaches you how the world works, how businesses run, and what factors you have to pull to make changes happen.

How would you go about designing a superlative customer experience using a data-oriented approach?

So Bob’s is a huge fan of data, so he takes a data-driven approach at all times. One of the things he likes to do is conduct customer surveys, collecting feedback from customers. He enjoys linking up survey data with more objective measures. He encourages everyone to quantify and to understand that customer touchpoints, wants, and needs are the best predictors for loyalty.

You can also understand where you’re not doing so well, so you have the biggest opportunity for improvement.

What is your perspective on the use of automation technologies for customer service and support? And where do you believe the future of customer service and support is headed?

Firstly, Bob prefers looking at AI as Augmented Intelligence, over Artificial Intelligence. He does not think we should completely replace employees with automated systems. He personally strives for using AI to help current employees with solving simple problems for customers. When a chatbot cannot handle a query, it should be transferred to the appropriate person. Whether it’s a customer service representative, or someone from the support team, or HR.

AI isn’t here to replace people, it’s here to help us become better employees. It’s a supplement.

The sheer amount of data available could be overwhelming to some businesses and the cost of hiring high-end data analysts and scientists can be out of reach for most SMEs. What do you recommend for such businesses?

First, define what problem you want to solve. You have to have a goal. Then based on the problem, figure out what you want to do. If it’s a small problem, start small and hire a team to address that particular problem. For example, if your issue is related to not having enough people to handle clients for customer support, a tool like can help by offering support via Chatbots 24/7.

Find it interesting? Check out the whole interview here.