She's got a broadsheet
Reading down the list of the going wrongs (oh, yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm gettin' no sleep
Tossin' and turnin' all night long
Oh, there's somewhere I've been meaning to
Take the conversation (hold that thought)
Oh yeah, there's somewhere I've been meaning to
Take the conversation
But I just can't do it
I grew up watching Saturday Night Live religiously, throughout the decade of the 90’s.
Masterful comedy. Great music. Many important cultural moments.
Today? Unwatchable. Lost, directionless, and the only thing that matters: not funny.
So much so, rumors have swirled persistently about the show ending entirely in 2025 after Lorne Michaels retires and the show commemorates 50 years of existence.
But you know what? They still get their share of powerhouse musical guests.
The 1975, which are the modern cross-product between The Beatles and the entire decade of the 1980’s, showed up this past Saturday night and rocked the house with a couple of songs, including their latest single, I’m In Love With You.
The song speaks to a relationship that yearns to reach the next level, but is having trouble getting there, waiting for something to come along.
I joined Charlie Mitchell of CX Today to talk about the Gartner magic quadrant for conversational AI.
(CX Today published an excellent explainer of this visual, complete with information on all 19 companies listed.)
My interview with them focused on what the value of this Gartner product is.
The answer is it's a mixed bag:
Pros: it's a floor function for conversational AI. These companies don't suck. It is a marketing device designed to make the selection of these vendors more defensible in the boardroom.
Cons: Very similarly to another "floor function" type of device - a college degree - you have no idea what a major in computer science really means, by itself. Did the graduate make a 4.0? Or did they barely scrape by? You have no idea.
Thus, something like this Gartner visual is a starting point, rather than a final destination, and very important to view it as such.
My commentary on Gartner's magic quadrant is likely best communicated with no words at all - with our own Conversational AI Industry Landscape Map. Everyone as equal, no one paying to be on it, and carefully devoid of value statements such as "completeness of vision."
The bigger takeaway here is why this magic quadrant exists, in any meaningful fashion, at all.
That reason is that the metrics around comparing one conversational AI solution to another simply do not exist yet.
How do you compare, say, Cognigy to Kore.ai?
The answer is, perhaps outside of cost and time to delivery, you don’t.
If Openstream.ai knew its solution brought 42% more efficiency to financial contact centers than Boost.ai’s solution, while reducing costs 33% more, you’d never hear the end of it.
To adequately compare conversational AI frameworks, there’s a need for more complex metrics that don’t exist yet.
The first company to nail that next-level storytelling will be a unicorn.
But for now, every aspect of conversational AI today is the Wild West.
Gartner’s magic quadrant is the crudely-drawn treasure map, while Gartner themselves is the mysterious gypsy willing to sell it to you, without ever really explaining their relationship with said treasure you and the entire rest of the townsfolk are after.
Actually, I take it back. Gartner DOES make their relationship with this metaphorical treasure resoundingly clear, thanks to the language they and all participating vendors insert into their press releases:
Disclaimer:
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
I have no choice but to stand up and applaud this.
Whoever wrote this has an extremely promising career as a budding comedian.
Perhaps we should introduce Gartner to SNL.