Customer expectations are higher than ever due to the hyper-personalization they routinely experience with the familiar tech giants. Using traditional approaches, it’s difficult to provide real-time interactions however by combining edge computing with artificial intelligence, brands will be able to provide real-time personalization and access and analyze in-depth customer data and behavior analytics, providing actionable insights for up-to-the-minute personalization.

According to Janakiram MSV, principal analyst at Janakiram & Associates, edge computing and AI are a marriage made in heaven because machine learning and AI are all about real-time decision making. “By moving AI to the edge, the results are delivered much faster. AI models have two phases — training and inference. While training continues to happen in the public cloud, inference — the mechanism of making predictions from unseen data — is moving to the edge.”

He said edge computing is a way to ensure exceptional customer experience extends to the brick-and-mortar world. It brings the level of personalization we see in online shopping to physical shopping. “In a multi-branded store or a mall, edge computing can calculate how much time you spend at each brand’s outlet and provide a recommendation through a contextual online ad. The combination of AR/VR and edge computing is set to revolutionize the consumer experience,” he said.