Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 12, 2023
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

Using AI to Adjust Your Marketing and Sales in a Volatile World

By: Das Narayandas and Arijit Sengupta
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

Why are some firms better and faster than others at adapting their use of customer data to respond to changing or uncertain marketing conditions? A common thread across faster-acting firms is the use of AI models to predict outcomes at various stages of the customer journey. These firms are using AI to predict which customers are likely to churn, while their competitors react after the customers have already left. And when their predictions go off track because of external changes or market conditions, they use that feedback to quickly reorient and redirect their marketing and sales efforts. Using AI models to predict customer response has translated, in effect, to designing and running a large number of digital experiments that helped these firms respond to market changes faster than firms not using those tools. And while AI tools are far from infallible, they could reshape how we make decisions in functions such as marketing and sales and maintain a competitive advantage.

Keywords

Forecasting and Prediction; AI and Machine Learning; Consumer Behavior; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

Citation

Narayandas, Das, and Arijit Sengupta. "Using AI to Adjust Your Marketing and Sales in a Volatile World." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (April 12, 2023).
  • Register to Read

About The Author

Das Narayandas

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • May–June 2023
    • Harvard Business Review

    Analytics for Marketers: When to Rely on Algorithms and When to Trust Your Gut

    By: Fabrizio Fantini and Das Narayandas
    • April 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Bored Ape Yacht Club: Navigating the NFT World (A)

    By: Das Narayandas, Scott Duke Kominers and Kerry Herman
    • January 2023 (Revised March 2023)
    • Faculty Research

    Digital Transformation at Tata Steel

    By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas and Radhika Kak
More from the Authors
  • Analytics for Marketers: When to Rely on Algorithms and When to Trust Your Gut By: Fabrizio Fantini and Das Narayandas
  • Bored Ape Yacht Club: Navigating the NFT World (A) By: Das Narayandas, Scott Duke Kominers and Kerry Herman
  • Digital Transformation at Tata Steel By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas and Radhika Kak
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College