• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 28, 2022

The technology that drives dynamic email is now being applied to products, judging by Intelligent Products and Services: Unlock The Opportunity of a Connected Business, a new study by Capgemini. 

For instance, Samsung is offering an AI-powered fridge-freezer that alerts users to “low supplies, even making meal suggestions based on stored ingredients.” 

And Propeller Health’s connected inhaler can record “when and where patients experience asthma conditions and provide insights into local aggravating environmental factors.”

It sounds like the Internet of Things, although Capgemini dubs it “intelligent products and services” in this report. 

And it raises privacy concerns — at the least, consumers would have to opt in for these types of notifications and be able to block sharing of sensitive data with third parties. 

A prior study by Capgemini found that 62% of organizations struggling to scale up IoT applications cited cybersecurity and data-private threats as holding them back.  

But 57% of brands use a cybersecurity-by-design approach that minimizes the risks, the study states.  

Meanwhile, of the companies polled, 78% are developing a strategy for a move to intelligent products. In addition, 59% have well-defined visions and strategies, and 41% are working on them. 

And they are reaping these benefits: 

• Reduced environmental impact (e.g., CO emissions) — 84% 
• Reduced cost of servicing — 83% 
• Improved customer experience (e.g., increase in NPS/CSAT score — 83%
• Accelerated R&D for improvements to existing products and services — 79%
• Improved product performance/usage — 77% 

At the least, email systems must be synced into these capabilities so alerts can go out in this channel and even make intelligent product suggestions. But that would take a very smart system.  

Who’s offering intelligent services? The sectors include:

• Hi-Tech — 39% offer services at present, and 52% plan to in the next 1-5 years
• Medical technology — 38% offer them, and 50% plan to 
• Automotive — 37% offer them, 50% plan to
• Industrial and capital goods — 33% offer them, 52% plan to
• Energy & utilities — 33% offer them, 54% plan to
• Consumer products — 27% offer them, 59% plan to.

Despite the above, only 7% of the companies polled have scaled use cases for intelligent products and services. 

Consumer products is the winner here — 12% have fully scaled these uses. Only single-digit percentages in the other sectors can say the same. 

The problem is that 66% of firms are working in silos, and 59% have no central department/unit responsible for planning intelligent products and services for the entire organization.  

Capgemini surveyed 1,000 respondents from traditional manufacturers across 11 countries in April-May, 2922. All had more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The respondents were at the Director level or above.