Chapter 1: Improving Market Opportunity Identification
Just a few years ago, every conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) seemed to end with an apocalyptic prediction. In 2014, Elon Musk said that, with AI, we are summoning the demon, while Stephen Hawking said that AI could spell the end of the human race. More recently, however, things have begun to change. AI has gone from being a scary black box to something people can use for a variety of use cases.
This shift is because these technologies are finally being explored at scale, including by product teams for market opportunity identification. AI hasn't always been used in the industry. In fact, it started out as a scientific curiosity. In the 1950s, computer scientist John McCarthy wanted to see whether it was possible to build machines that could learn how to do tasks such as play chess themselves. Today, AI is everywhere.
In this chapter, we'll explore how market opportunity identification can be improved with big data and AI, covering the following topics:
- Identifying market opportunities the traditional way
- Big data challenges in market opportunity identification
- Using AI for market opportunity identification
- Exploring AI-powered market reports
Market opportunity identification is important for a product team to identify an unmet need. It helps them find out how their product will stand out in the market and what they need to do in order to grow. They need to identify the competitive landscape, define the market opportunity, and use this to create a value proposition.
Furthermore, market opportunity identification sets the groundwork for later chapters, including creating product ideas and predicting future market trends.