Scudder Web Site Conversant in Al

Software Magazine, June, 1999 by Elizabeth U. Harding

Scudder Kemper Investments, a mutual fund company based in Boston, has rolled out a new 'Net application called Financial Concierge which uses AI (artificial intelligence) technology to allow users to enter queries as "if they were speaking with a person." Type in a question, and the Financial Concierge will present links on the Scudder site where the user can get the desired information.

Key to providing this capability and making Financial Concierge go beyond key-word searches of regular search engines is the AI component NLI (natural language interpretation), according to Iang Jeon, senior vice president responsible for Scudder's Electronic Commerce Group. "AI and the Internet are a natural combination," says Jeon. "We have created an e-commerce architecture [that is] integrated with content management and rules-based messaging. AI capabilities allow our site to adapt to visitors' online behavior and needs."

Once a visitor has requested information on a particular topic, future visits will automatically provide the most recent data on this topic of interest.

"Persistent memory lets us recognize our customers as individuals," says Jeon. "As they interact with the site, we develop a one-to-one relationship with them. In the financial services sector, there is an awful lot of information we're building up over time."

Scudder's interactive Web system was built on a dynamic Web platform package from Art Technology Group (ATG), Cambridge, Mass., called Dynamo Relationship Commerce Suite. A rules-based messaging system, the ATG package was developed in Java and uses Java Beans to talk to all the systems interfaces.

Dynamo's Web application dynamically selects, targets, and delivers personalized content which is managed in the Documentum Enterprise Document Management System, a content management system from Documentum Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.

"From an e-commerce infrastructure perspective, content management is extremely important," says Jeon. "Everything is stored in the content management system. That includes the ATG templates which create the online customer profiles as well as individual content such as text files and graphic files stored in native format."

Scudder's Web site went live earlier this year to support the growing number of households using the Internet as an investment tool. According to Cyberdialogue, an Internet research and consulting firm based in New York City, more than 16 million U.S. adult Web users are managing their investments online today, up from about 8 million a year ago.