Analytics Bots: What Are They and How Do They Work?

In media, the word bot tends to bring to mind a twitter account run by a computer program that spits out mostly nonsensical tweets at other users. Generating basic language may not seem like a big deal, but language generation is really where the practicality of an analytic bot starts and by no means where it ends. Analytic bots are able to analyze the behavior of the people they interact with, which causes them to revise their future communications with other people. In short, analytic bots react to their environment and adapt.

Though there are many different applications for bots, some are much more interesting and impactful than others.

1. Analytic Bots Allow Users To “Talk” with Their Data

As analytic bots continue to evolve, they are able to better understand and analyze human communication, which makes them able to use language with better fluency. Because of this, analytic bots can be used to answer questions posed by business users and consumers. They make data more accessible and easier to interact with, because it is being relayed to people using natural language. Many bots also use charts and visualizations to make data easily understood. They can also provide alerts when data changes. In a real way, analytic bots make it possible for users to have a conversation with their data, in a way that feels easy and far from mechanical.

A lot of these bots are being used in applications like Slack, which is used by many companies to for projects that require collaboration within their workforce.

2. They Can Provide All Kinds of Information

Though we see analytic bots used a lot with language, the amount of information they can access is really quite vast. There are many applications that are stepping up with a bot on board where the bot will provide information on a given subject if that subject is brought up, essentially predicting the needs of the user.

Perhaps you’re wondering about saving for retirement or saving to buy your first home, if you have an app that utilizes an analytic bot, the bot might provide insight into strategies that will best serve you as you plan for those big life changes. They can even provide information on up-to-date data based decisions you are making, and that data could even be personalized based on your financial situation, which empowers you to make a choice with all the best information available to you.

Analytic bots can also provide a way for companies to fill the gap between automated systems and systems that require human employees. Imagine if a client was able to use an app to message or text with an analytic bot until their problem was either solved or forwarded to the appropriate employee. It could save both the client and the business time money.  

3. Analytic Bots Have Everyday Applications

Imagine, rather than receiving a generic push notification that your balance was low from your banking app, you get a notification that was generated specifically for you and not only tells you the funds are low, but ways you might improve your saving. An analytic bot could be created for that exact purpose, to not only give you guidance, but communicate with you and help you every step of the way.

Companies are already using bots like DOMO to optimize their communication between management and their workforce. Analytic bots can prepare data on employee performance and business communications, which can provide management and employees with the kind of information they need to improve sales and work towards better, more communicative work environments

4. Integration Is Likely to Expand in the Future

As automation technology becomes more and more come, it is likely the use of analytic bots will become more essential and a lot more commonplace. Each day we are seeing more and more companies integrate analytic bots into their own workflow systems, user applications, and server architecture.

Automation and analytics are going to get better with time and as the technology continues to improve, it is going to continue to be utilized. Companies may be able to provide for things like customer support and other interactions by simply using an analytic bot created specifically for that task. Unlike some of the current technology, future analytic bots may feel more human as they improve their ability to converse and interact with humans.