OpenText expands GenAI for enterprise content, IoT

OpenText users on Monday got new Aviator generative AI features focused on user groups in enterprise content management, IoT, security and more.

OpenText launched its first round of AI-powered automation services in 2023. Like Salesforce AI tools, Aviator GenAI automates single tasks or groups of tasks within a business app.

The new IoT Aviator creates a data lake for IoT event data and sifts through the signals that endpoint devices transmit. Humans responsible for the performance, uptime and tracking of high-value assets can trace and authenticate the signals for IoT devices, as well as use AI to develop maintenance plans based on historical data and outside information such as weather or news.

Aviator for Axcelerate eDiscovery gives users in the legal industry a tool to search and summarize digital data connected to case investigations and strategy. Paired with Axcelerate’s predictive search, it could potentially speed up case work.

OpenText Experience Cloud now has a customer journey builder to execute customer communications during various points of the customer lifecycle. It’s an interesting idea when paired with Exstream, OpenText’s customer communications tool, said Alan Pelz-Sharpe, founder of Deep Analysis, because it brings AI personalization to a process where personalization is already being done manually or with less sophisticated automation.

“Customer communications” span many channels, both digital and paper. They include marketing communications first and foremost, but also many other notifications, such as updates to accounts, product recalls and legal notices. Such communications can get very complicated and convoluted. Pelz-Sharpe cited the example of a legal update to a bank account or insurance policy sent out to customers in 50 U.S. states, where regulations can vary from one state to another.

OpenText's Muhi Majzoub speaks on stage at OpenText World Europe.
Content AI took center stage at OpenText World Europe; Muhi Majzoub, executive vice president and chief product officer, presents feature releases.

“That’s a very, very good use of generative AI,” Pelz-Sharpe said. “That’s a very niche market, and they’re probably pretty much the first one at scale to say, ‘I can generate stuff on a website for marketing, and I could use this for my customer communications on the other end.'”

Regulated industries tread lightly with GenAI — so far

OpenText’s customers are tech-savvy, but also typically are not early adopters of new technologies because they are in highly regulated industries or verticals such as oil and gas, where intellectual property is closely guarded. For these customers — and for OpenText — generative AI will be implemented slowly.

Many customers are just getting started with GenAI proof-of-concept studies, said Muhi Majzoub, OpenText executive vice president and chief product officer. Behind the scenes, OpenText itself is still evaluating which large language model it will standardize upon; that decision will be made later this year.

That said, OpenText’s typically conservative banking and financial customers are coming around to generative AI for security applications, sales and marketing.

“The banking industry is very excited,” Majzoub said. “In the last two months, I’ve met with three of the largest banks in the United States, and five of the largest in Canada. They have different [OpenText] systems for personal banking, business banking, wealth management and brokerage. One use case is to tie them all together to get a holistic view of the customer.”

The new AI updates are part of a slate of improvements launched in OpenText Cloud Editions 24.2, released in conjunction with OpenText World Europe held in London this week.

Don Fluckinger is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial. He covers customer experience, digital experience management and end-user computing. Got a tip? Email him.