GenAI reached its peak hype cycle in 2023. Now that the hype has cooled somewhat, it’s time for B2C and B2B brands to take it seriously. A recent BCG survey found that 71% of the respondents plan to increase their company’s tech investments in 2024 and an even larger percentage (89%) of executives rank AI and GenAI as a top-three tech priority for 2024. It's clear the companies that don’t leverage GenAI to deliver better experiences to their customers will fall behind their competitors. I do understand the hesitancy. When OpenAI first released GenAI there were problems with accuracy, security, hallucinations, and the “free will” factor which made it hard to trust and control. As a result, GenAI was relegated to the role of a friendly chatbot, without yielding tangible results or return on investment.

To achieve a higher return on investment, brands should apply GenAI to use cases that are most valuable, for example, empowering customers to ask questions as part of their product research. In this scenario, GenAI can provide responses to their questions such as, “What is the best lens for wildlife photography?”

While there’s chatter about GenAI taking the place of search, nothing could be further from the truth. GenAI is not AI search’s killer, but AI search is GenAI’s savior, so to speak. In fact, advanced AI-powered search vendors, who already used natural language, semantics, vector similarity and large language models (LLMs), are the only players with the potential to 'ground' GenAI within real business requirements and ensure hallucinations don’t happen. Retailers can harness the power of GenAI for product discovery, to directly increase RPV, conversion, AOV, LTV and brand awareness, but they cannot do this without first investing in AI search.