AI and tech glossary

Ad campaign optimisation means looking at how your paid ads are going and adjusting them, so your money goes to the ads that work. That covers who see…

Agile development is a way of building software in small pieces instead of one big launch. You build a small part, put it in front of real people, lea…

Agile project management means running work in short rounds, usually a week or two, with a clear goal for each round. At the end, the team checks what…

AI analytics means using AI to read your business numbers and tell you what they show. Instead of building charts by hand, you get a short summary: wh…

AI marketing means using AI for the parts of marketing that take time but follow a pattern. That includes drafting emails, writing captions, sorting c…

Application development is the work of building an app, from the first plan to testing it and keeping it running. For a small team, an app might be a…

Application management is the ongoing care your apps need after they go live. That means updates, fixing things that break, checking logins are secure…

Application modernisation means updating an older app so it keeps up with how you work now. For a small business, that might be an old Access database…

Application refactoring is tidying up the code inside an app without changing what it does. Users see the same screens, but behind them the code is cl…

Application transformation goes further than updating an app. It means rethinking what the app does and how it does it, often by moving it to the clou…

Applied artificial intelligence is AI doing a real job, rather than AI as an idea or a demo. For a small team, that job is usually something you do th…

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is software that can do some jobs that used to need a person, like reading an email, writing a reply, sorting a list,…

Asset performance management, often shortened to APM, means keeping an eye on the equipment your business relies on, so it gets serviced before it fai…

Augmented reality, or AR, puts digital images on top of what your phone camera sees. A shopper can point their phone at their lounge room and see how…

Automated machine learning, or AutoML, is software that does much of the expert work of building a prediction model. You give it your past data, tell…

Automation tools do repeat tasks for you, following steps you set once. Tools like Zapier and n8n can copy a new form entry into a spreadsheet, send a…

Big data is the term for very large amounts of information, often too big for a normal spreadsheet. Think of every click on a national retailer's webs…

Big data analytics means finding patterns in very large amounts of data, the kind big retailers collect from millions of shoppers. Most small teams do…

Building analytics means collecting data from a building's heating, cooling, lighting, and power, then looking for waste and problems. In a large offi…

A building management system, or BMS, controls a building's heating, cooling, lighting, and security from one place. Large offices and shopping centre…

Building technologies are the systems that run inside a space, like heating and cooling, lighting, door locks, alarms, and cameras. Newer versions con…

Business analytics means using your own numbers to make decisions, rather than going on gut feel alone. For a small team, that might be checking which…

Business intelligence, or BI, means bringing your numbers together into reports and dashboards you can read quickly. Instead of logging into five tool…

Business modernisation means updating how your business runs so it keeps up with how customers buy and how your team works. For a small team, it's rar…

Business process as a service, or BPaaS, means handing a whole task to a provider who runs it through their own software. You pay a monthly fee, and t…

Business process modernisation means looking at how a task gets done, step by step, and updating it. A process is any job your team repeats, like taki…

Business process outsourcing, or BPO, means paying another company to handle part of your work. Big companies outsource whole call centres. Small team…

Business process services, or BPS, are outside providers who run part of your operations, like accounts, customer service, or admin. It's a close cous…

Business rules extraction means finding and writing down the rules your business follows, many of which live only in someone's head. How do you price…

BYOD stands for bring your own device. It means staff use their own phones, tablets, or laptops for work, rather than ones the business buys. Most sma…

A causality engine is software that tries to work out cause and effect in your data. Most reports show what happened together, like sales rising in th…

A chatbot is software that answers questions in a chat window or messaging app. Older chatbots followed a fixed script and got stuck easily. Newer one…

Cloud consulting is advice on using online tools and services, like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Shopify, and Xero, that run on the internet inste…

A cloud data council is a group inside a large organisation that decides how data in online tools gets stored, shared, and protected. Big companies ha…

A cloud data platform is an online place where data from all your tools comes together. Your sales, bookings, emails, and accounts each live in differ…

Cloud deployment means putting an app or website onto servers run by a provider like Google, Microsoft, or Amazon, instead of a computer in your offic…

Cloud enablement means getting your business working well in online tools. That covers moving files off a single office computer, setting up business…

Cloud infrastructure is the hardware and software behind online tools, like servers, storage, and networks, run in big data centres by providers such…

Cloud managed services means paying a provider to look after your online tools for you each month. They handle updates, backups, security settings, ne…

Cloud management is keeping your online tools in order over time. That means knowing which tools you pay for, who has access to each one, whether back…

Cloud migration means moving your business data and tools from office computers, old servers, or outdated apps into online services. For a small team,…

A cloud workspace is the online set of tools your team uses every day, like email, shared files, calendars, and chat. Google Workspace and Microsoft 3…

Cognitive computing is an older term for AI that tries to work the way people think. It reads text, understands questions, weighs up evidence, and lea…

Connected places are physical spaces where devices and apps share information. The big version is a smart city, with traffic lights and buses talking…

Connected products are physical things that connect to the internet and share information with an app. A smart scale sends readings to your phone. A c…

Conversational AI is AI that can hold a natural conversation by text or voice. It understands a question asked in everyday words, replies in plain lan…

Core modernisation means updating the main system your business runs on. Every business has one system at the centre. For an online store, it's the st…

Customer experience, often called CX, is the sum of every contact a customer has with your business. That includes finding you, asking a question, boo…

The customer experience journey is the path a customer takes with your business, step by step. It starts when they first hear about you, then moves th…

A customer experience strategy is a plan for how you want customers to feel when they deal with your business, and what you'll do to make that happen.…

Customer intelligence means pulling together what you know about your customers so you can serve them better. That includes what they buy, how often,…

Cyber security is how you protect your business accounts, devices, and data from scams, hacks, and accidents. Small businesses are common targets, bec…

Data analytics means looking at your numbers to answer a business question. Which products sell best? Which days need extra staff? Which marketing bri…

A data ecosystem is the full picture of where your business data comes from, where it goes, and who uses it. For a small online store, that includes S…

Data ethics is about using information about people in ways that are fair and honest, even where the law doesn't spell it out. For a small business, i…

Data governance is the set of rules for how your business looks after its data. Who can see client details? Who keeps the product list accurate? How l…

Data hygiene means keeping your data clean, accurate, and up to date. That means no duplicate customers, no typos in product names, no old phone numbe…

Data ingestion is the step where data gets collected from different places and brought into one. For a small business, those places might be Shopify o…

A data lake is a single store where all kinds of business data are kept together, in their original form. Orders, emails, bookings, invoices, and docu…

Data migration means moving data from one system to another. Small businesses do this when they switch booking systems, move from one accounting tool…

Data mining means digging through a lot of data to find patterns you wouldn't spot by eye. A store might find that customers who buy a cleanser often…

A data platform is the system that gathers your data, stores it, and makes it ready to use. It's the engine behind one home for your data. For a big c…

Data privacy is about protecting personal details, like names, emails, addresses, health notes, and payment details, and only using them in ways peopl…

Data science is the craft of using maths, statistics, and code to find answers in data. Data scientists build models that forecast sales, spot unusual…

Data transformation is the step of reshaping data so it can be used somewhere else. Dates written three different ways get put into one format. Produc…

Deep learning is a kind of AI that learns by looking at huge numbers of examples, using layers of maths loosely inspired by the brain (the industry ca…

Desktop as a service, or DaaS, means your whole computer desktop runs on a provider's servers, not on the machine in front of you. You log in from a l…

DevOps joins two jobs that used to be separate, writing software and running it. The idea is that the same team builds, tests, releases, and watches t…

A digital business is one where online tools sit at the centre of how it works. Customers find you online, book or buy online, and get updates online.…

A digital contact centre brings every way customers reach you into one place. Emails, website chat, Instagram and Facebook messages, and sometimes cal…

Digital engineering is the hands-on work of designing and building the software, data, and connections a business runs on. It covers apps, websites, a…

A digital experience platform, or DXP, is software that manages everything a customer sees online, like your website, app, emails, and content, from o…

Digital operations means running the daily work of your business through online tools that share information. Orders flow into stock counts, bookings…

A digital platform is an online system that many people and tools connect to. Shopify is a platform for online stores. Fresha and Mindbody are platfor…

Digital product development means creating something digital that customers use or pay for. That might be an app, a member area, an online course, a t…

The digital product development process is the path from an idea to a working app, course platform, or online tool. It usually runs through a few step…

Digital product development services are outside teams who build an app or online product for you. They might plan it, design the screens, write the c…

Digital systems and technology is a broad name for all the software, devices, and online services a business runs on. For a small team, that's the lap…

Digital transformation is the name big companies give to changing how they work using online tools and data. It often means multi-year programs and la…

A digital twin is a digital copy of a real thing that updates as the real thing changes. Big organisations build digital twins of buildings, machines,…

Digital workplace services are the setup and care of the online tools your team works in each day. That covers email, shared files, chat, video calls,…

Edge computing means handling data close to where it's created, on a device or a small computer on site, instead of sending everything to a distant da…

Embedded engineering is the design of small computers and software that live inside other devices. The chip in a smart thermostat, a card reader, a co…

Energy data analytics means studying your power and gas use to spot waste and save money. Large sites use sensors on every machine. A small business c…

Energy management means planning and checking how your business uses power, then cutting waste. For a small team, it's mostly common sense backed by a…

Enterprise platform services are the large systems big organisations use to run many departments on one shared base, like Salesforce, SAP, or ServiceN…

Enterprise resource planning, or ERP, is software that runs the core of a business in one system. Finance, stock, purchasing, orders, and sometimes st…

Enterprise service management, or ESM, takes the ticket system an IT help desk uses and applies it to the rest of the business. Requests for leave, ne…

An evolutionary algorithm is a way for a computer to solve a problem by copying natural selection. It starts with many random answers, scores each one…

Evolutionary computation, sometimes called evolutionary AI, is a family of methods that solve problems the way nature improves living things. The comp…

Experience architecture is the planning behind how customers move through your website, app, emails, and messages. It decides what goes on each page,…

Experience transformation is a big-company name for rethinking how customers and staff deal with a business, then rebuilding the tools and steps aroun…

Fraud detection means spotting suspicious activity before it costs you money. For a small online store, that's orders paid with stolen cards, which tu…

Fraud intelligence means knowing which scams are going around and using that to protect your business. Big companies have teams that track fraud patte…

A future-ready business is one that can change without starting over. When a new tool appears, a supplier closes, or customers move to a new channel,…

Generative AI is AI that creates something new, like an email, a product description, an image, or a voice recording, from a short instruction. ChatGP…

Human-centred artificial intelligence means designing AI around people rather than around what the technology can do. The AI helps people do their wor…

Hybrid cloud means mixing online services with systems you run yourself. Some data and apps live in the cloud, and some stay on your own computers or…

Innovation product design means designing a new product, or a better version of an existing one, around a real customer problem. It starts with listen…

Innovation product development is the path from a new product idea to something customers can buy. For a small business, the safest way is in small st…

An integrated workplace management system, or IWMS, is software that big organisations use to run their buildings and offices. It tracks leases, room…

Intelligent process automation, or IPA, joins regular automation with AI. Plain automation follows fixed steps, like copying a form into a spreadsheet…

The internet of things, or IoT, is the name for everyday objects that connect to the internet. A fridge that texts you when it gets too warm, a door l…

An internet of things platform is the software that sits behind smart devices. It connects them, collects their readings, shows them on a dashboard, a…

An internet of things strategy is a plan for using smart devices on purpose rather than one gadget at a time. For a big company, it's a long document.…

Large language models, or LLMs, are AI systems trained on huge amounts of text, so they can read a request in plain words and write a useful reply.

Machine learning is how a computer learns patterns from lots of past examples, so it can make a good guess about the next one. Nobody writes a rule fo…

Mainframe modernisation means moving the work off a very old central computer and onto newer systems that are easier to change and connect. It's mostl…

Marketing analytics is looking at the numbers behind your marketing to see what brings in customers and what doesn't. That means things like email ope…

Marketing automation is setting your marketing messages to go out on their own when a customer does something, like booking, buying, or going quiet. A…

Marketing technology (the industry calls it martech) is the set of apps you use to find, reach, and keep customers. For a small team, that might be Ca…

Natural language processing (the industry calls it NLP) is how a computer reads, understands, and writes everyday human language. It's what lets an AI…

A neural network is a type of computer program, loosely based on how brain cells connect, that learns patterns from lots of examples. It's made of lay…

Neuro is the idea of combining three things in one way of working. Automation does the repeat steps, like copying an order into a sheet. Intelligence…

Omnichannel commerce means selling across your website, physical shop, markets, and social channels as one business, with the same stock, prices, and…

Omnichannel customer experience (the industry shortens it to CX) means a customer gets the same good service whether they reach you by email, Instagra…

Omnichannel marketing means every place a customer meets you tells the same story, so your emails, Instagram, website, and shop counter all know what…

An online whiteboard is a shared space on screen where your team can draw, add sticky notes, and move ideas around together, even when nobody's in the…

Operational efficiency means getting your work done well without wasting time, money, or effort along the way. In a small team, waste usually looks li…

Operations intelligence means using the information your tools already collect to see how your business is running day to day, so you can act sooner.…

Operations strategy is your plan for how the daily work of the business gets done, so it supports what you're trying to achieve overall. In a big comp…

Perishable data is information that loses its value fast, so it's only useful if someone acts on it soon. A booking question sent to a salon's Instagr…

Predictive analytics means using what happened in the past to make a sensible guess about what's likely to happen next. For a small shop, that could m…

Predictive maintenance means watching how a piece of equipment is running so you can fix it before it breaks, instead of after. It's mostly a factory…

Process analysis means looking closely at each step of a job to see where the time goes and where things slip. You write down how the work really happ…

Process automation means having software do the repeat steps in a job, so people don't have to. That could be copying a new order into a spreadsheet,…

Process innovation means finding a better way to do a job your business already does. The product stays the same, but the steps behind it change. We w…

Mapping how you work (the industry calls it process mapping) means writing down each step of a job as it really happens, who does it, and which tools…

Process technology is the set of tools and methods a business uses to turn raw inputs into a finished product or service. In factories, that means mac…

Product lifecycle management (often called PLM) means keeping track of a product from the first idea, through design, making, launch, and sales, to th…

Quality engineering and assurance means building checks into how a product or service is made, so problems get caught before a customer finds them. In…

Quality management is the set of habits, checklists, and reviews that keep your work at the same standard every time. Big companies hire outside firms…

R is a free programming language built for statistics, number crunching, and charts. Data analysts and researchers use it to find patterns in large se…

Remote collaboration means your team works together on the same jobs, files, and decisions without being in the same room. It runs on shared tools lik…

Risk assessment automation means using software or AI to spot and flag possible problems in your work, so a person can decide what to do. Banks use it…

Robotic process automation (often called RPA) is software that copies the clicks and typing a person does on a computer, to finish repeat tasks by set…

A service desk is the one place where customers or staff send a question or a problem, and someone tracks it until it's sorted. In a big company it's…

A smart building is a space where lights, heating, cooling, and door access are connected and run on their own, based on time, sensors, or who's booke…

A smart home is a home with connected devices, like lights, heating, locks, cameras, and speakers, that you can control from your phone or set to run…

A smart product is an everyday item that connects to the internet, collects data, and can be controlled or updated from an app. Your phone is the obvi…

A smart space is a room or area that uses sensors and connected devices to adjust to the people using it, like lights that follow the daylight or a ro…

Structured data is information kept in a fixed shape, with the same columns for every row, like a spreadsheet of orders with a date, a customer, a pro…

Thick data is the human detail behind your numbers, gathered from conversations, reviews, interviews, and watching how people behave. Your sales repor…

Unified device management is looking after all your team's devices, like laptops, phones, and tablets, from one dashboard. From there you can push upd…

Unstructured data is information that doesn't fit into neat rows and columns, like emails, chat messages, photos, PDFs, voice notes, and customer revi…

User experience design, often called UX design, is the work of making a website, app, or form easy and pleasant to use. It covers what people see, wha…

Virtual reality, or VR, uses a headset to place you inside a computer-made space that you can look around and move through. It's best known for games,…