In today’s issue we talk about the very same platform on which this newsletter is published - LinkedIn - to preview its upcoming shift towards AI, a shift which will touch most core areas of the platform from sales navigator to recruiter as well as bringing benefits to everyday users. Let’s dig in.
Focus On: OpenAI Role in Augmenting LinkedIn Features
LinkedIn’s latest AI capabilities aren’t just experimental bells and whistles. As we all know, LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, which in turn owns 49% of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and other generative AI products.
It’s no surprise that after recent announcements about the integration of Copilot in Windows 11 and the availability of OpenAI technology on Azure, Microsoft is now extracting more value out of OpenAI, this time to the benefit of LinkedIn. The upcoming features will be fully integrated into the platform’s core functionalities, driving job hunting, learning, marketing, and sales. The main ones will be:
Recruiter 2024
Think of this as your AI-powered magnifying glass for talent. In essence, it goes beyond mere keyword-based searches. Instead, it deciphers the semantic intent behind your query, offering nuanced matches rather than tag-driven results. For instance, searching for a “versatile marketer” won’t just yield people with that tag but also those whose profiles and activities suggest adaptability.
This feature will also provide smarter suggestions, simplified candidate outreach plus actionable data and insights - a significant improvement over today’s offering which is mostly a search engine with more filters and unlimited results.
Learning Coach
On the surface, it looks like a chatbot for career advice. Dig deeper, and you’ll realise it’s a reservoir of personalised learning paths. Initially focussed on soft skills, this AI coach uses machine learning algorithms to understand your learning style, gaps, and strengths.
Emulating a human coach, this AI assistant will also prompt the user from time to time keeping motivation and consistency high throughout the programme.
Accelerate
Augmenting Sales Navigator capabilities, Accelerate will leverage generative AI to help sales teams generate leads, prospects and proposals faster and more effectively by parsing through thousands of profiles, activities, and engagement levels to surface leads that are more likely to convert. It will also provide insights on the best time and channel to reach out to potential customers thanks to machine learning (a lighter version of Salesforce EinsteinGPT).
AI is quickly shifting from being a strategic advantage to a bare necessity in marketing too. LinkedIn’s Accelerate aims to be your go-to tool for running campaigns, targeting ads, and even predicting ROI. However, for the foreseeable future this feature will only work natively on LinkedIn.
The Big Picture
LinkedIn is soon joining enterprise service providers such as Adobe and Salesforce in integrating generative-AI powered features as part of existing workflows. Whilst companies are and will experimenting with their own fine tuning and commercial or open source models, the reality is that for most generative AI will become an everyday part of their operations simply because it is being integrated by their existing technology providers as part of existing processes.
These features are currently in Beta (I trialled them as part of my Early Access programme) and will be likely released in production in Q1/2 2024. If you want to learn more about these upcoming features, head straight to Hari’s post on, well, LinkedIn.
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That’s all for this week. To keep up with the latest in generative AI and its relevance to your digital transformation programs, follow me on LinkedIn or subscribe to this newsletter.