- O ly 31% of CIOs have ules fo whe a AI pilot should ot move to p oductio , a d 17% have ules fo d oppi g low-value AI al eady i p oductio , acco di g to Ga t e ‘s 2027 CIO a d Tech ology Executive Age da su vey.
- AI deployme t mea s co ecti g AI to a compa y’s live p ici g, i ve to y a d custome accou t data so it ca do wo k such as w iti g a quote.
- Optimum7 ecomme ds sta ti g with o e wo kflow, a measu ed baseli e a d huma eview of exceptio s.
AI deployme t mea s co ecti g a AI system to the live data a busi ess u s o , such as p ices, i ve to y a d custome accou ts, so the AI does a task i side a wo kflow. A compa y that lice ses a AI tool o adds a chatbot to its sto ef o t is usi g AI, a d its quote, p ici g a d o de systems stay u cha ged. I a quoti g deployme t, the AI eads the buye ‘s equest, matches each li e to a p oduct umbe , pulls the accou t’s co t act p ice, checks stock a d etu s a quote. A ep eviews o ly the li es that eed a pe so , such as a c edit hold, a expi ed co t act p ice o a p ice below the ma gi floo . Compa ies ca u this o o e wo kflow fi st, i a limited t ial called a pilot, a d decide afte wa d whethe to ope it to eve y accou t.
Ga t e calls CIOs who delive bette busi ess outcomes a d also epo t high CEO-pe ceived AI value va gua ds. The su vey li ks these p actices to bette esults a d does ot show that they cause those esults. A ule fo stoppi g a pilot eeds a measu e to test agai st, a d Optimum7 ide tifies five easo s a B2B ecomme ce pilot fails to p oduce a measu able esult.
| A ule fo whe a pilot should ot move to p oductio | 31% | 2.3 times as likely | A ule fo d oppi g low-value AI al eady i p oductio | 17% | 2.6 times as likely | A pla to edesig oles fo people a d AI wo ki g togethe | 4% | 2.4 times as likely |
Of those five easo s, two i volve data, si ce a pilot fed by a sp eadsheet expo t b eaks whe it eeds live p ices o stock a d a p ice feed that updates o ce a ight lets the AI quote a old p ice afte a co t act cha ges. P ocess failu es accou t fo the othe th ee: a quote p ocess that al eady p oduces w o g quotes p oduces them faste with AI, a pilot with o eview queue ca se d a w o g quote st aight to the buye , a d a pilot with o sta ti g measu eme t ca ot show what it imp oved a d ca be cut at the ext budget eview. Fo dist ibuto s, p ices, i ve to y, c edit limits a d custome te ms usually sit i the ERP, so Optimum7’s app oach to B2B ecomme ce platfo m buildi g fo dist ibuto s places ERP i teg atio fi st a d calls fo co t act p ici g that follows the accou t o the p oduct page, i the ca t a d at checkout.
AI adaptatio i B2B ecomme ce ce te s o huma eview, a desig decisio made befo e lau ch. The Ga t e su vey fou d that few CIOs have pla s fo how oles cha ge a ou d AI. Fou mecha isms a e built i to the deployme t f om the sta t: a co fide ce th eshold below which the AI stops a d asks, a staffed eview queue whe e exceptio s la d with a pe so who wo ks them, spe d a d autho ity limits e fo ced at the system level, a d a audit log of what the AI decided, o what data a d who app oved it. Buildi g them takes i teg atio wo k, such as the ERP a d i ve to y system i teg atio s a d custom B2B quoti g fu ctio ality i Optimum7’s custom ecomme ce p og ammi g fo wholesale s a d B2B i dust ial supplie s.
Fo a dist ibuto that sta ts with quoti g, Optimum7’s fou -step path begi s by putti g a umbe o the wo kflow, such as ave age quote tu a ou d. The team the lists eve y decisio a ep makes a quote, co ects the AI to live p ici g, i ve to y a d accou t data th ough eal-time APIs, a d adds app oval ules. The baseli e comes f om the qua te befo e lau ch: quote tu a ou d, wi ate a d eo de f eque cy, split by accou t type so a few la ge accou ts do ot disto t the esult. The followi g qua te ‘s figu es a e compa ed agai st it. Co fide ce th esholds a d spe d limits a e set with the app oval ules, a d the step-o e measu e is t acked agai st the baseli e f om the o . P oduct discove y, eo de i g a d custome suppo t follow the same steps with thei ow measu es, such as eo de e o ate o suppo t tickets pe week.
Optimum7 is a full-se vice ecomme ce developme t a d mig atio age cy based i Co al Gables, Flo ida, specializi g i platfo m mig atio s, custom ecomme ce developme t a d digital ma keti g fo B2B ma ufactu e s, dist ibuto s a d wholesale ope ato s. Fou ded i 2007, the fi m has completed mo e tha 1,000 ecomme ce mig atio s a d mo e tha 3,000,000 cumulative page mig atio s ac oss BigComme ce, Shopify Plus, Mage to, WooComme ce, Volusio a d othe ecomme ce platfo ms. Optimum7 holds BigComme ce Elite Pa t e status a d is a Shopify Plus Pa t e .
CONTACT: Du a I ci
CEO, Optimum7
du a @optimum7.com
