Some Not-So-Revolutionary Thinking From A Very Bright Guy...
One of the better books I've read in recent years was by
Thomas Siebel of of Siebel Systems, it's called VIRTUAL
SELLING.
Anyway, here's some stuff from a bit about him and what he's
talking about now... It's from Infoworld...
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Siebel says agents will spur I-commerce
By Matthew Nelson
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 12:23 PM PT, Jul 1, 1998
BURLINGAME, Calif. -- At an early morning keynote speech here at the Enterprise Outlook conference on Wednesday, Thomas Siebel, chairman, president, and CEO of Siebel Systems, mixed today's technology with multimedia and science fiction as he described the future of sales and marketing on the Internet.
Siebel predicted that agent technology, created using Java, ActiveX, or other languages, will become more complex and powerful as homes and businesses gain more computing power and higher-bandwidth connections to the Internet.
"With tremendous communication powers, we think that software agent technology will revolutionize the industry," Siebel said. "Today they are still very limited, but they will become smarter very quickly."
Virtual sales and buying agents will become more complex and will begin to grow on their own as they are exposed to the Internet, according to Siebel. Such agents will be able to find information, submit requests, make purchases, and approve sales, he said.
"Human beings can do the same thing, but these software agents can do it better and more consistently, they'll never get bored, and never stop for lunch," Siebel said. "Software agents will rapidly evolve into sophisticated programs. They will become virtual sales agents. They will be empowered to make decisions on our behalf. The software agent will have its own agent DNA that will govern its behavior."
"This agent will have to understand products like you and I understand products," Siebel said. "Ideally, the agent would come to the same conclusion that you would come to."
Siebel peppered his speech with recorded interviews with executives from Andersen Consulting, Compaq, and Novell, and presented a before-and-after film of a couple applying for a home loan in person and then utilizing a personal agent named Helen to submit the loan for them. The film garnered more than a few chuckles from the crowd.
"These standards won't be created overnight -- there will be trials and there will be errors," Siebel said. "The sales and customer service systems that are being installed today will provide the foundation that will be created on your customers' behalf."
"Software agent technology is the next frontier of sales marketing," Siebel added. "In 1998, we will see the general introduction of virtual sales agents and virtual buying agents. Customers will be modifying these agents to meet the needs of their company. We will see incredible advances over the next 10 to 12 months. We'll keep you posted about these developments."
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