Experimenting with AI in CRM
Introducing this Substack
If you’re like me, you can’t really understand a thing unless you play with it. The more complicated, the more experimentation that’s needed. Stuff gets confusing, and the people explaining it not only don’t do a great job but they often intentionally stretch truths and claims so far that it’s hard to see the actual product that’s nestled inside of the marketing pitch.
This sub stack is dedicated to (a) getting our hands dirty playing with the stuff and (b) doing so in a way that doesn’t cost more than pocket change¹ or require getting a bunch of sign-offs from people. In other words, it’s a way for your average admin / developer to tinker a bit, learn how stuff really works, and then be ready to make well grounded recommendations for the future.
I’m going to focus on Salesforce, because that’s what I know best. But I’m certain the concepts are applicable to other CRMs as well, just with a change in tooling.
When there is an Apex or Lightning Web Components involved, I’ll give you a set of working code to play with. They won’t be production ready, but they will be solid enough that you can create compelling demonstrations with them.
There will be a couple of types of newsletters: Informational, which just introduce concepts or technologies, and projects which walk you through demonstrating them. Even if you don’t want to build things, the informational posts should give you a sufficient foundation to talk about technologies.
Finally, even though I’m focusing on Salesforce, I will often use the “raw” technology rather than Salesforce’s Einstein versions. There are two reasons: (1) you may not have access to Einstein in the environments you want to work in (and don’t want to ask the company to spring for licenses quite yet) and (2) removing a layer means you can understand better how things really work. This is not to say that Einstein isn’t the right choice for production; just not for learning the underlying technology.
Let’s get experimenting!
¹ For me, pocket change is around $20 a month, an amount I think most people would be willing to spend to advance their learning and demonstrate their capabilities at work. I hope the amount is less than $5, but it will depend upon how much you want to demonstrate your capabilities!