Zoho has launched Zia Hubs. US-based customers already using Zoho WorkDrive can gain early access to a new AI-powered feature. This feature creates an interface to help them organise and extract insights from their stored data, both unstructured and structured.
There are already some advanced features enabled; for example, it is possible to automatically move a service ticket into a Hub. It would mean that a user could create a Hub for a specific product and another for a specific customer.
Users can create custom workflows with Zoho Flow. Thus, automating the movement of files and data from both Zoho applications and third-party software such as DocuSign PDFs, RingCentral call logs, and Zoom video files. Zia is able to analyse all of these once placed into a Hub or Hubs for later insight analysis by users.
Zia Hubs effectively provides users with a means to obtain a comprehensive analysis of a unified search on a specific set of data. Regardless of the file format or structure.
Raju Vegesna, Zoho’s Chief Evangelist, commented, “According to IDC, 80% of business data is unstructured. Most unstructured data is text-based, meaning pertinent information lives within email conversations, social media posts, word processor documents, or audio and video transcripts.
“With Zia Hubs built into the full product suite, Zoho is able to provide customers with a deeper integration than any comparable software platform and nearly limitless potential uses for their data.”
Deeper Intelligence into specific customer data sets
Zia Hubs enables users to create Hubs like a folder structure within Zoho WorkDrive. They can move files of any type, including videos, images and documents. The Zia AI platform then analyses each folder. Users are therefore presented with a user interface which enables them to ask questions about the data stored within each folder.
The solution goes much further, though. For example, if a folder includes a set of video files, and the user wants to ask about mentions of a specific topic or customer. Note that only Zia will respond with the references in a textual response. Still, it will also enable the user to view the videos with the mentions and tag the specific moments during the video where the reference occurred.
When the AI responds to any question, it will provide the source material and enable the user to quickly find the references cited for any document format. Zoho is continuing to develop Zia Hubs before its roll-out internationally, expected in Q3. For example, they are still working on the ability to have links to files from one Hub to another. Thus, enabling content to be leveraged in different hubs without multiple copies.
The creation of a hub delivers granular control over the information that the AI will have access to. Effectively creating small language models of information the user can interrogate. It will enable a user to create a project or task-specific Hub within WorkDrive.
The future of Zia Hubs
It is still early days for Zia Hubs, and it will be interesting to hear what use cases and improvements Zoho delivers in the coming months. Zia Hubs is the manifestation of one of the foundational development areas that Zoho are investing in. It forms part of the Intelligent Content to Intelligent Action element.
The intent is to develop the platform to the point where intelligent agents can act contextually across content from across the product suite. Use cases are still being developed.
There is no limit to what could be achieved. By creating a hub for a product, could a future agent analyse and provide insights about common issues and even suggest improvements for a product? Perhaps, with a focus on the customer, an agent might suggest changes a customer could make when using a specific product that would reduce their issues.
Zoho are also working to identify and extract structure data within the unstructured information. Suppose all recorded calls were moved to a hub and analysed for each specific customer. Would Zia be able to provide potential updates to a customer record within a CRM record for that customer?
What are Zoho working on next for Zia Hubs
Aarthi Elizabeth Anbu, Senior Marketing Manager, Zoho, also revealed the next three improvements they are working on.
Zia Agents are incorporated into Zia Hubs and can trigger agents using the knowledge base within the Hub. She cited one example, “It will automatically trigger an agent who will talk to the Zoho desk and answer the customer query directly.”
The second is what she described as Model Context Protocol, which “enables multiple agents to interact with WorkDrive and keep WorkDrive as a single source of truth.” She gave an example for healthcare. Where a doctor’s call could be transcribed and automatically create a PDF of the call for later usage. Perhaps to send to the patient as a record.
The third is Contextual Chat Memory. This enables a user to tell Zia how they want similar answers presented in the future. For example, they may want any support concerns by a customer ordered by volume or some other factor. It means that future engagements are consistent, and the AI will remember user preferences for future responses.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
There are many questions that remain partly answered around Zia Hubs. However, it is an exciting development by Zoho. And a practical example of how it is pushing the boundaries of what AI can do. It will be very interesting to see how the early adopters influence Zia Hubs and what changes come to market in the future.
There are many use cases for Zia Hubs, and Zoho is aware that they are just scratching the surface of what is possible.
