Salesforce is Playing AI too

(Will further examine) 

Salesforce doubles down on generative AI with Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT

Shubham Sharma  @shubham_719

June 7, 2023 9:07 AM

Today, CRM giant Salesforce debuted two new generative AI products. Announced at the company’s ongoing Connections conference, Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT will power Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud, enabling enterprises to remove repetitive, time-consuming tasks from their workflows and deliver personalized campaigns and shopping experiences, at scale. 

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The news follows last month’s launch of Slack GPT and Tableau GPT and highlights Salesforce’s growing focus on AI, where it is moving the needle to make sure generative AI sits at the heart of its core products and services. However, it must be noted that these products’ features are not available right away and will roll out in phases, starting in summer 2023.

How will Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT help?

Driven by the Salesforce Data Cloud, which hosts customer profiles comprised of data from all systems, and the Einstein GPT generative AI assistant, Marketing GPT allows enterprise users to interface with their Marketing Cloud system using natural language.

Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where top executives will share how they have integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls.

Register NowTo start off, the company said, Marketing Cloud users will be able to put in natural language prompts to query the Data Cloud profiles and identify new audience segments to target. They could also ask Einstein GPT to write or modify personalized emails — complete with subject lines and body content — for campaigns, or use Typeface within the platform to create contextual visual assets.

That’s not all.

In addition to generative functions, the marketing cloud will get AI-driven segment intelligence and rapid identity resolution capabilities.

The former will automatically connect first-party data, revenue data and paid media data from Meta and Google for a comprehensive view of a campaign’s performance, relative to the audience segment targeted.   ..... ' 

Tableau Jumps into Generative AI

We used Tableau extensively. Here another integration of analytics with question asking interaction.  Akin to Wolfram APIs, comparison? 

May 9, 2023

Tableau Jumps Into Generative AI with Tableau GPT

Alex Woodie

Tableau hopes to democratize access to its products with a pair of announcements made today at its annual user conference, including Tableau GPT, which allows users to ask questions using natural language, and Tableau Pulse, a new user interface that houses Tableau GPT. The company also announced its first data cloud and unveiled VizQL Data Services, Tableau’s first headless BI offering.

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 highlighted the immense progress the AI community has made in the fields of natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG). Leveraging a pre-trained large language models (LLM) based on the public Internet, ChatGPT has opened the door for all sorts of new developments, and it’s not closing anytime soon.

Software companies of all stripes are rushing to adopt ChatGPT and other LLMs like it in an effort to streamline how users interact with their products, and in some cases create entirely new experiences. For vendors in the BI and analytics space, such as Tableau, the top use case involves using the LLM in concert with the BI and analytics tool.

Analytic vendors are plugging the LLM in as an intermediate layer between the English language-speaking user and the BI tool, which generates SQL to power the analytics query. On the flip side, the LLM can leverage its vast “knowledge” of how words go together to convert the data returned by the query and generate an English-language explanation of what it means.

Tableau is not using the LLM to generate SQL with Tableau GPT, which it officially unveiled this morning during its user conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, but it using using LLMs to enable users to explore data through a natural language conversation with an analytics database. Tableau GPT can also suggest questions to ask, automatically summarize reports for user, and keep track of metrics on behalf of the user, says Pedro Arellano, GM and head of product at Tableau.

Tableau Pulse helps by displaying queries suggested by Tableau GPT, displaying results, and sharing insights via Slack

“Tableau GPT is a new suite of capabilities that infuses the power of generative AI throughout the entire platform,” Arellano said in a press conference yesterday. “It can enhance and automate things like analyzing data, exploring it, sharing it, consuming it. It introduces a number of really exciting use cases, where for example analyzing data feels more like a conversational Q&A as opposed to a drag and drop. Or imagine anticipating questions that users might ask based on what’s already in the data, or taking hundreds of insights and explaining them using very easy to understand summaries.”

Tableau GPT is based on Salesforce’s Einstein GPT, which Salesforce unveiled in early March. It uses a variety of LLMs, including some developed by its partner OpenAI, but also other proprietary models, Tableau exeuctives said.

Users will interact with Tableau GPT through a new user interface called Tableau Pulse. Customers will have natural language conversations with Tableau GPT within the Pulse interface, and will also view metrics that Tableau GPT is tracking for them within Pulse. Pulse will also help guide users through the data exploration process by finding connections in the data. Integration with Slack, which is also owned by Salesforce, for both Tableau Pulse and Tableau GPT will facilitate sharing of insights.

Tableau Pulse represents “a complete re-imagining of the analytics experience” for Tableau, Arellano said.

“It is no longer just about exploring data,” he said. “It’s also about communicating it and consuming it. It is no longer just about expressing yourself through visualizations. It’s also about language. It’s not just primarily for analyst. It’s for consumers. It’s for everybody.  And it’s sort of a personal guide for your data, where it knows your data, it knows the goals you’re trying to achieve, and it helps you reach those goals.”

The company also unveiled Data Cloud for Tableau, which is based on the Customer Data Cloud that Salesforce unveiled in September. Just as Salesforce’s data cloud functions as a database for customers to store and serve a variety of data they may need for CRM and customer 360 purposes, the Data Cloud for Tableau provides a type of database for Tableau customers to store and access third-party data may need for analytics and BI use cases, says Francois Ajenstat, chief product officer at Tableau. ... ' 

Tableau Adds Big Data Analytics

We were early users of Tableau.  Now part of Salesforce.

Tableau gains new big data analytics features

Kyle Wiggers, @Kyle_L_Wiggers  in Venturebeat

Salesforce today debuted new features in Tableau, including data and analytics platform capabilities available with new enterprise subscription plans. Key enhancements and improvements focus on managing data and enabling scalable data governance, as well as ensuring that analytics adapts with changing demand.

“Tableau has long been a favorite to help individuals see and understand data,” Francois Ajenstat, chief product officer at Tableau, said. “We’re making it easier for IT leaders to make it a favorite across the entire enterprise and deliver an end-to-end solution to leverage the full power of data analytics.”

Big data analytics

The pandemic has underscored the need to increase data self-sufficiency. According to McKinsey, 92% of companies are failing to scale analytics. And new data from MuleSoft and Coleman Parkes Research found that 87% of IT and business leaders are concerned that security and governance are slowing the pace of innovation.

Among the features heading to the latest version of Tableau (2021.3) are revamped data prep tools, which make it easier for customers to reduce loads and server costs automatically while mapping out data trends. New governance features alert users of potential issues and provide visibility into the type of data they have, and where it came from. And enhanced management controls let admins centrally configure which users and groups have access to which slices of data.

A new enterprise reference architecture, Enterprise Deployment Guidelines, provides customers with an approach to achieve basic availability, scalability, and security requirements. Meanwhile, dynamic scaling and resource management — which are also new — helps enterprises define limits on resources for their deployments, ensuring that enough software containers are available during peak-demand times and scale down during low demand.

Doug Henschen, VP and principal analyst at Constellation Research, said, “IT leaders are facing unprecedented challenges today, and the pandemic has underscored the need to increase data self-sufficiency and empower everyone to do more with data. It’s no longer a luxury for businesses to have a data analytics platform, it’s a necessity that could make the difference between surviving and thriving.” ... ' 

Data Driven Companies, Trends

Tableau Writes, here's the intro:

What do data-driven companies have in common? Research reveals five key trends By Ashley Howard, Tableau

Recent IDC research, sponsored by Tableau, found that 83% of CEOs want a data-driven organization, but only 33% of executives are comfortable questioning business KPIs and metrics1, revealing disparities between what executives “want” and “have.”(1) Nearly all executives say they want their organization to be more data-driven, but discount cultural investments that help bring that change to reality.

As more organizations see and understand their data, and some grow data use at enviable rates, Tableau and IDC felt it was useful to explore behaviors, characteristics, and key trends that set data-leading companies—ones with a strong Data Culture—apart. We conducted a survey of over 1,100 business leaders across 10 countries in technical and non-technical roles, investigating the presence and depth of five trends that drive a successful Data Culture and help shift the position of organizations to become data-leading.  ... ' 

Tableau Conference Nov 13-15

Particularly interested in seeing how they are integrating with Salesforce, providing new AI methods,  New kinds of data handling, Better visualization and prescriptive methods for decision makers.  I will be there. 

Via DSC: See the Tableau conference, free from anywhere.

Tableau Conference Livestream

November 13 - 15, 2019 | 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM PST daily
REGISTER NOW 

Get notified when the event goes LIVE

Don't miss a moment from Tableau Conference

Tableau Conference is right around the corner, and we are ready to get the data party started. If you aren't able to attend in person, we've got great news. We're bringing the excitement, inspiration, and learning to you, LIVE — Wednesday, Nov. 13 through Friday, Nov. 15, 8:30AM - 6:30PM daily. Access our amazing keynotes as they happen, including Iron Viz and Devs on Stage, along with our most popular sessions. And be sure to check out Tableau Conversations to take a deep dive into some of our newest features and offerings. You won't want to miss it. Register for our free Livestream and get notified by email when we go LIVE. Prepare to geek out over all things data.  ... "

Using Databricks with Tableau

Intriguing update for Tableau.

Visualize your data lake with the new Tableau Databricks Connector

Tableau 2019.3 was a momentous release for a number of reasons. Along with the unveiling of Tableau Catalog and Explain Data came a new native connection to Databricks for Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server. The new connector offers better performance, a straightforward connection experience, and high-quality error handling.

At Tableau, we’re thrilled to partner with Databricks to empower the full spectrum of data people throughout an organization. Databricks is helping data teams solve the world’s toughest problems, while Tableau makes it fast and easy to connect, explore, and make decisions data-driven. The two platforms are on a mission to make data more accessible and to enable organizations with self-service analytics, so creating a finely-tuned connector was an obvious next step for the partnership. This native connection is intended to better serve our customers as their organizations scale and their data strategies evolve.  .... "

Salesforce to Acquire Tableau

Worked with Tableau from the very beginning.   Seen impressive things from both companies.  Indications from both for linking to learning AI.

Salesforce is buying data visualization company Tableau for $15.7B in all-stock deal   By Ingrid Lunden  @ingridlunden / 6 hours ago

On the heels of Google  buying analytics startup Looker last week for $2.6 billion, Salesforce today announced a huge piece of news in a bid to step up its own work in data visualization and (more generally) tools to help enterprises make sense of the sea of data that they use and amass: Salesforce is buying Tableau for $15.7 billion in an all-stock deal.

The latter is publicly traded and this deal will involve shares of Tableau Class A and Class B common stock getting exchanged for 1.103 shares of Salesforce  common stock, the company said, and so the $15.7 billion figure is the enterprise value of the transaction, based on the average price of Salesforce’s shares as of June 7, 2019.

This is a huge jump on Tableau’s last market cap: it was valued at $10.79 billion at close of trading Friday, according to figures on Google Finance. (Also: trading has halted on its stock in light of this news.) ... " 

History of Data Visualization and its Future

Good, detailed and lengthy piece.  Remember many of the transitions.  Now would like to see more and better analytics/AI visualization to add to this.    And better ways to understand deeper context and application of data for use potential.

The 3 waves of data visualization: A brief history and predictions for the future  By Elijah Meeks, Senior Data Visualization engineer, Netflix

This post is based on Elijah Meeks’ keynote from the 2018 Tapestry Conference. Elijah is a Senior Data Visualization Engineer at Netflix. A version of this post originally appeared on Medium.com.

Fifteen years ago, there was no D3, no Tableau, no ggplot or even Prefuse/Flare. If you wanted to do network visualization you might use the newly published Cytoscape, though it was focused on bioinformatics—the science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data like genetic codes. Geospatial options were more advanced, with ArcGIS providing more and more cartographic functionality in its many red toolboxes.  .... "

Tableau Announces Smarter Analytics

Report at the link.   We were early users of their systems.

Tableau Advances the Era of Smart Analytics

A look at Tableau's intelligent data prep, discovery, recommendation and upcoming query capabilities.   New Constellation Research report: Tableau Advances the Era of Smart Analytics. 

 Author Doug Henschen, VP and Principal Analyst, explores the evolution of self-service BI and the rise of smart analytics in the market, examining four key areas in which Tableau continues to invest: Data prep, data analysis and discovery, natural language interactions, and predictive analytics.  ... "

Uncovering the Details

Good, detailed piece in the Tableau blog.   Have used Tableau in two large enterprises, and its a great tool.  But I further like the broader implication of the title.  Analytics of any level of sophistication and 'intelligence' can uncover details.  What we sometimes disparagingly called 'descriptive' analytics.   Working with your data closely, with people that know the data and where it comes from and is used, can lead to valuable insight.   Even before you get predictive or prescriptive.  Keeping it simple can work.

How analytics helps cash flow management by uncovering key details
  
By Ed Barrie Senior Director, Treasury at Tableau ....

Tableau Acquires AI for Data Understanding

Makes sense to integrate visualization with analytical methods and AI methods.  Visualization is a form of human understanding,  AI augments these human methods.  Look forward to seeing how this works, was a long time user of Tableau in the enterprise.

Tableau acquires Empirical Systems, an AI startup with MIT roots
By Maria Deutscher in SiliconAngle

Tableau Software Inc. is looking to enhance its data visualization platform through the newly announced acquisition of Empirical Systems Inc., an artificial intelligence startup with roots at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The deal was made public this morning. As part of the transaction, Tableau is gaining Empirical’s Analytics Engine, a software tool designed to take much of the complexity out of large-scale data modelling. .... " 

Building Dashboards with Story and Flow

Nicely done 12 page pdf from Tableau on building Dashboards.

 ... Making Flow Happen:
How to Build Dashboards That Persuade, Inform and Engage

In data visualization, flow is crucial. Your audience should smoothly absorb and use the information in a dashboard without distractions or turbulence. Lack of flow means lack of communication, which  means failure.

Psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi has studied flow extensively. Czikszentmihalyi and other researchers have found that flow is correlated with happiness, creativity, and productivity. People experience flow when their skills are engaged and they’re being challenged just the right amount. The experience is not too challenging or too easy: flow is a just-right, Goldilocks state of being.

So how do you create flow for an audience? By tailoring the presentation of data to that audience. If you focus on the skills, motivations, and needs of an audience, you’ll have a better chance of creating a positive experience of flow with your dashboards. And by creating that flow, you’ll be able to persuade, inform, and engage. ... " 

Tableau Changes Pricing Structure

Looks good, but seems expensive for the small business.  Though I was a long time user in the enterprise, have not looked at how they structure their pricing for some time.  A popular direction, but I think it gives smaller business pause to get into subscription costs.  There are now many options available for these services.

In Computerworld: Tableau moves to subscription pricing for its BI products. ... The data visualization company will let all businesses pay as they go  ...   "

Getting More Insights from Data

Good piece from Tableau:  Find hidden insights in your data: Ask why and why again by Andy Cotgreave.     I will add, always check with your business process context.  Some why's should always come from that context.

Alteryx and Tableau Guide

Used Tableau for years in the enterprise, mostly known for data visualization.  here a 'definitive guide'  for using it with Alteryx, which is known for data preparation, blending  and analytics.   Was suggested I examine it.

" .... When you need advanced joining and manipulation, that's when Alteryx becomes useful. Let the computer do the stuff it's good at. I want to do what I'm good at: being creative. Enable the cycle of visual analytics with Tableau and Alteryx together." ..... 

If you are like many data analysts you spend most of your time preparing data – leaving you less time to visualize data. Download our new whitepaper and see how Alteryx enables

Fast blending of multiple, disparate data sources ... Cleansing and shaping of data sources to perfect for output ... Analyzing data with predictive and spatial analytics, no coding required

All your work is done in an intuitive drag and drop workflow that is re-useable, modifiable and outputs to a Tableau Data Extract – saving you time and letting you visualize your data faster.  ... " 

Data Visualization Lessons in History

From Tableau:  A video:  100 Years of Data Visualization – It’s Time to Stop Making the Same Mistakes ... " .  Best practices for data viz and more.  Interesting historical view of data and viz.  We are still in a period of wondering what to do with our data ... 

Another look at Vizable: Simplicity in Design

Fast CoDesign looks at the design of Tableau's free tablet oriented Vizable, which I recently reviewed. They say nicely done, and I agree.   Not nearly all the bells and whistles of Tableau senior, but that is actually a good thing in disguise.   I look for some reasonable, simple,  standard approach, rather than an artistic design tool.  The best stories are simple ones.  Still testing with fresh data.  " .... An Easy, Intuitive Tool For Making Sense Of Your Data  ... Tableau's new Vizable App Transforms spreadsheets into information you can actually use and understand.  ... "

Review: Tableau Launches Vizable for Tablet

Tableau has launched a free data visualization capability for the iPad called Vizable.   I loaded it up today and ran through a number of examples. Includes basic visualization forms.  Nicely done, includes the ability to import data, filter variables, plot and to export the results.  No analytics.  No way to save visual models,  just resulting images.  No calculated fields.

Its nowhere near like all of Tableau, but covers basics.    Notably leaves out things like Geo mapping and range filter selection.  Also no advanced formatting of visualizations.   Has impressive multiple column manipulation.  Pinch style editing on tablet.  Sorting and rearrangement of columns. Simple comparison trends.  The export is a fixed  image and non interactive.  Says it will import up to 200K rows and 25 MB  files.  CSV and simply formatted Excel files.  Implies it will only work for later version iPads.  But I got it to work well on an iPad 2 running IOS 9 with small files.

Vizable would be a good thing to point out to students,  to get them used to manipulating files and variables under multiple visualizations.  That's often hard to get used to.  Also being on a tablet is nice for easy interaction and demonstration.  Although for now it is only on one tablet and not on a laptop.   Impressive for free.  See the Vizable community site for more information, getting started, help and hints and social conversations about its use.

Will follow with other review links here.  ....

Dashboards that Persuade

Whitepaper by Tableau Software.  Well done.  Registration information required.   " .... Do your dashboards tell the story you want to get across or does your data get lost in a sea of pixels? Tableau strives to keep our users in the flow with software centered on principles of design, cognition, and perception. The same principles apply to great dashboards. .... " 

Intro to Data Visualization

From DSC:   Uses Tableau which has a free public version. We used Tableau for years in the enterprise, after seeing it at a Stanford demo,  where it did bring visualization closer to the end user.   I pointed out Tableau to a non technical exec and within hours they were visualizing.  In our shop data visualization was a requirement first step for doing any kind of analytics.  Nicely done example that gives you the basics.  Pass it on.