What are bots, why are they useful, and how anyone can use Dexter to build their first bot Bots have been around for decades, from ELIZA to Smarter Child, but in the last year they have seen a return to popularity due to data indicating that messaging app usage has surpassed that of social networks. Bots offer a great opportunity for customer service departments to reduce costs by adding automation and are a new medium for content publishers to reach their audience. This presentation will provide an introduction to the bot ecosystem, examples of current bot applications, and a demo of Dexter, a platform that empowers writers and businesses to create their own bots. https://tech.rakuten.co.jp/

1. Rise of the
Rakuten Technology Conference
October 22, 2016

2. Who Am I & What Is Dexter?
Daniel Ilkovich
CEO & Founder
@danielilkovich
Dexter is the simplest way to build, launch,
and host chatbots and automated messaging
solutions without writing a single line of code.
rundexter.com

3. What’s a bot?
A “bot” can mean
many things.
Let’s think of them
as conversational
interfaces.

4. What’s a bot?
1950
Alan Turing
Can machines think?
1966
ELIZA
A bot psychotherapist
2000
SmarterChild
AOL Instant Messenger
TODAY
“Everything old is new again… kind of”

5. The Botscape

6. Bots are hot.

7. Bots are hot.

8. Bots are hot.

9. Bots are hot.

10. Bots are hot.

11. Bots are hot.

12. Bots are hot.

13. Bots are hot.

14. Bots are hot.

15. Bots are hot.

16. Bots are hot.

17. Bots are hot.
like, really hot

18. Title Text
Body Level One
Body Level Two
Body Level Three
Body Level Four

19. Bots By The Numbers
3bn MAU
2.5bn MAU
*via Business Insider
Usage of messaging apps has
surpassed that of social networks
0
65.5% of smartphone
users download
apps/
month

20. Key Use Cases
* Information Retrieval &
Customer Service
* Marketing
* Transactions
* Content Publishing &
Advertising

21. Bots: Economics
Charge your users directly, just like in an app. utilize the
payment methods and credit cards your users already have on
file in messaging apps.
Charge your advertisers too. They’ll love you: 49% of millennial*
smartphone users use messaging apps.
Reengage Your Customers Take advantage of a relatively clean
notification screen.
*millennials = age 18–29; via Pew Research Center

22. Bots: Development?
“Writers are the new designers”

23. Bots > Apps?
They accomplish the same functionality and share similar interaction &
economic paradigm and more:
* Highly engaged, young audience
* Reach your audience where they already are
* Bots are simpler to build
* Bots are the ultimate deep link

24. But then there’s this:

25. Key Takeaways
* As NLP / AI continues to improve the bot
ecosystem will continue to expand
* They’re only good for SOME problems, but for
those problems they’re REALLY good
* Writers have a shiny new role
* Distribution is a problem

26. Now how can Dexter help?
If you can write, you can build a bot.

27. Built on Dexter.
Dad Joke Bot: Father’s day marketing
campaign that has told 1mm dad jokes
and counting.
Botline Bling: Onion writer’s parody
Drake bot ("BOTLINE" to 630-755-6641)
BFF Trump: political bot telling you the
Donald’s most egregious sayings
(https://m.me/bfftrump)

28. Thanks! 👋
Quick Demo then Q&A
daniel@rundexter.com
@danielilkovich

29. +1 919-296-0230