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AI in B2B landscape | Brand Elets

AI in the B2B Landscape: A New Era of Innovation and Opportunity

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in the business world. For the B2B sector, its integration across critical functions such as operations, sales, marketing, HR, and customer experience is not just an option but a necessity. Much like the internet revolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s, AI is reshaping how businesses operate, innovate and grow.

AI: Beyond Automation

AI in the B2B landscape is no longer limited to automating routine tasks. It plays a vital role in fostering innovation, streamlining processes, and enabling data-driven decision-making:

  1. Sales and Marketing: On one side, AI’s ability to analyse customer behaviour has made sales strategies more dynamic and personalised. On the other side, AI sales assistants are improving the efficiency of the sales representatives, freeing up to 30-40% of their bandwidth. Predictive analytics tools forecast market trends, while real-time insights help marketers craft campaigns that truly resonate with their target audience.
  2. Customer Experience: Conversational AI and natural language processing (NLP) have redefined customer interactions. For B2B firms, AI tools are providing clients with tailored recommendations and proactive solutions, building trust and long-term relationships. Some organizations have started deploying these conversational AI models on voice calls thereby enabling vernacular support without the constraints of hiring, training and retaining manpower. These AI models are deeply integrated with the CRMs and databases thereby offering personalised and faster resolution for the customers.
  3. Finance and Accounting: AI tools like automated invoice processing or anomaly detection in financial transactions are reducing the need for manual intervention while enhancing accuracy. NBFCs and financial institutions are using it to identify the most profitable customers based on their transaction patterns, helping them reduce NPAs and improve profitability. CFOs are now leveraging AI to run real-time financial scenarios and optimize cash flow.
  4. Manufacturing: Smart factories powered by AI are driving a new wave of industrial revolution. Predictive maintenance minimizes downtime, while AI-enabled robots enhance precision in production. These capabilities are not just improving efficiency but also reducing material waste – a crucial factor in today’s ESG-driven business environment.
  5. Logistics and Distribution: AI’s algorithms use historical trends and various macro & seasonality patterns for much sharper demand forecasting. This further helps B2B firms in better inventory planning and warehousing. AI-driven robots and drones are gradually becoming a reality. AI has become a big enabler for businesses in their logistics & distribution management from route planning to last-mile delivery and fleet management etc. Much talked about quick commerce has been one of the biggest gainers of AI deployment.
  6. Human Resources: From reducing hiring biases to improving employee retention, AI-powered tools are creating a paradigm shift in talent acquisition and management. For example, AI platforms can analyse workforce patterns and recommend personalized learning paths for employees, ensuring skill alignment with future organizational goals.

AI: Shaping Customer Interactions

AI is rapidly becoming a fundamental part of how customers engage with businesses. For instance, chatbots, once seen as basic support tools, now analyse tone and context to provide empathetic and accurate responses. According to a Gartner report, businesses using AI to manage customer interactions have seen satisfaction rates improve by up to 25%.

Moreover, recommendation engines have evolved to offer hyper-relevant product or service suggestions, enhancing both the buyer experience and seller outcomes. For B2B marketplaces, this capability ensures customers quickly find suppliers who meet their unique needs, reducing churn and boosting loyalty.

The Dual Impact: Reducing Costs, Driving Revenue

AI adoption delivers benefits on both sides of the balance sheet:

  • Cost Optimisation: AI-driven automation has reduced repetitive, time-intensive tasks across industries. For example, McKinsey reports that companies implementing AI in supply chain management can reduce logistics costs by 15%.

  • Revenue Growth: By identifying cross-selling opportunities and personalising offerings, AI helps businesses unlock new revenue streams. In B2B e-commerce, AI-powered recommendations can account for 30-40% of revenue growth for leading platforms.

As India’s largest B2B marketplace, we have integrated AI into our core operations, driving value for both buyers and sellers. This includes intelligent matchmaking that can match buyers with the most relevant suppliers and reduce time-to-market for sellers, efficient machine learning models to automate customer onboarding, enhanced customer support using conversational AI that can handle millions of queries and reduced communication gaps between buyers and sellers for better trust across the value chain.

We believe that AI is equivalent to the internet revolution, which can transform the entire B2B and B2C market landscape. To stay relevant, organisations must invest in the right infrastructure, upskill their workforce, and create a clear roadmap for AI adoption. The benefits are enormous, but they come to those prepared to embrace the change.

Preparing for an AI-Driven Future

For organisations aiming to thrive in the AI era, readiness is key. Here are a few critical steps:

  • Develop a Data-First Culture: AI’s effectiveness depends on high-quality data. Businesses should focus on robust data collection and governance practices.

  • Foster Collaboration: Cross-functional collaboration ensures that AI projects are aligned with organisational goals.

  • Invest in Talent and Tools: Upskilling employees and integrating cutting-edge tools can accelerate AI implementation and maximise ROI.

  • Precautions while deploying AI:  Businesses need to work on diverse and exhaustive datasets and keep a close watch to avoid any biases coming from the AI algorithms. Rather than blindly implementing AI, it is imperative to first train, test and validate the model against multiple scenarios including the existing solution deployed. AI solutions are to be used to augment human decision-making, not to replace that.

AI: The Strategic Imperative for B2B Success

Companies that integrate AI into their core operations are already witnessing exponential benefits, while laggards risk losing relevance in an increasingly digital world. Our journey demonstrates that adopting AI is not just about technology but about vision — reimagining business models to create value for all stakeholders. With AI leading the charge, the future of B2B is set to be smarter, faster and more customer-centric than ever before. Will your organization be part of this transformation?

by Dinesh Gulati, COO, IndiaMART InterMESH Limited

Online Coverage: Brand Elets

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