"Have you ever wished that every company you interacted with could just know what you wanted and go get it for you? That when you picked up the phone or opened a chat window that the company would use what it knew about you to anticipate your needs? We are on the verge of a future just like that. The age of intent is a world where the smartest of chatbots-- vertual agents-- are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and connected to a customer's complete past history. These virtual agents can anticipate just what a customer is looking for, answering questions through chat, on the phone, and through smart speakers like Amazon's Alexa. They'll transform the business world with efficient, scalable service that's available 24/7 and gets smarter every day. In these pages you'll learn about the companies that have used virtual agents to deliver a superior customer experience. You'll see how: Auto rental company Avis Budget used virtual agents to automate 68% of service calls, saving millions of dollars every year; Danish bank Nordea's virtual agent Nova identified thousands of intents, handled 20,000 conversations a month, and reduced emails and calls by 25%; Satellite operator Dish Network's agent DiVA responded to 4 million queries a year and helped meet surging demand for pay-per-view events; Restaurant chain TGI Fridays used a Facebook Messenger chatbot to boost take-out orders by $150 million a year; Butterball ported its "Turkey Talk-Line" to Amazon's Alexa smart speaker, serving 20,000 customers in the reassuring voices of its most trusted turkey advisors. P.V. Kannan, the leader of the standout customer experience technology firm [24]7.ai, shares his expertise here on how and why virtual agent rollouts succeed, or fail. He explains how to architect key information systems, overcome corporate resistance and bad practices, and analyze customer journeys to make virtual agents maximally effective. You'll learn why selling through conversational commerce is especially challenging, smart speaker platforms are tantalizing but limited, and the best virtual agent systems work hand-in-hand with human support agents. Virtual agents will usher in the biggest change in how companies interact with consumers since the web. They'll increase efficiency even as they improve customer experience. This is a technology shift you don't want to miss out on ... and "The age of intent" is the best place to get smart about it."--