AI & Automation Jargon: A–Z Glossary

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AI & Automation Jargon: A–Z Glossary

A

AI – Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is technology that allows computers and software to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognising patterns, or making decisions. In marketing and customer service, AI powers tools like chatbots, lead-scoring systems, and automated follow-ups.

AI Agent

An AI Agent is a software “assistant” that can take actions on your behalf based on rules, data, or natural language instructions. In a business context, this might mean handling customer queries, updating records, or moving leads through a pipeline automatically.

Algorithm

An algorithm is a set of rules or steps a computer follows to solve a problem or make a decision. AI systems use algorithms to analyse data, learn patterns, and decide what to do next in a conversation or workflow.

API – Application Programming Interface

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. In practical terms, it’s how your CRM, chatbot, and other tools securely share data and trigger actions behind the scenes.

Automation

Automation is the use of technology to complete tasks with little or no human input. In sales and marketing, this often means automatically sending messages, updating CRM records, or triggering follow-up actions when a customer does something.

B

Bot (Chatbot/Robot)

A bot is a piece of software that interacts with users or systems automatically, often through text or voice. In customer-facing roles, a bot can answer FAQs, qualify leads, or book appointments without human staff needing to step in every time.

Business Process Automation (BPA)

Business Process Automation is the practice of using technology to streamline multi-step processes like onboarding new clients or following up with leads. It reduces manual work, cuts errors, and helps ensure customers get a consistent experience.

C

Chatbot

A chatbot is a software application that chats with users via text or voice, often embedded on websites, social media, or messaging apps. Modern chatbots can use AI to understand questions in natural language and respond in a human-like way.

Conversation Flow

A conversation flow is the structured path a chat or voice interaction can follow, including questions, answers, and decision points. It helps ensure the bot guides users logically toward a goal, such as booking a call or requesting a quote.

Conversational AI

Conversational AI refers to AI systems that can understand, process, and respond to human language in a natural way. It’s the “brain” behind smarter chatbots and voice assistants that can handle more complex, human-like conversations.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy and technology for managing interactions with leads and customers in one central place. A CRM system stores contact details, conversation history, deals, and tasks, helping teams stay organised and improve sales and service.

CTA – Call to Action

A Call to Action is a prompt that encourages the user to do something specific, such as “Book a Call” or “Get a Quote.” In chatbots and funnels, clear CTAs help move people toward becoming leads or customers.

D

Data Privacy

Data privacy refers to how customer data is collected, stored, used, and protected. Any AI or automation that handles personal information must follow data privacy laws and best practices to keep that information safe and secure.

Deep Learning

Deep Learning is a type of machine learning that uses multi-layered neural networks to find complex patterns in data. It’s the technology behind advanced tools like LLMs, image recognition, and speech recognition.

Dialogue Management

Dialogue management is how a chatbot or voice assistant keeps track of a conversation and decides what to say next. Good dialogue management helps the AI stay on-topic, remember context, and handle detours smoothly.

E

Embeddings

Embeddings are numerical representations of text or other data that help AI understand meaning and similarity. They are used to power features like “search this knowledge base” so the bot can find the most relevant answer to a question.

Entity (in NLP)

An entity is a specific piece of information extracted from text, such as a name, date, email address, or product type. Bots use entities to understand details in a message and fill in forms or records automatically.

Endpoint (API Endpoint)

An endpoint is a specific URL where software can send or receive data via an API. When integrating AI or chatbots with other tools, endpoints act like doors through which data flows between systems.

F

Fine-Tuning

Fine-tuning is the process of taking a pre-trained AI model and training it further on your own data so it better fits your specific use case. This can make an AI chatbot more accurate for your industry, products, or style of communication.

Funnel (Marketing Funnel)

A marketing funnel is the path people follow from first discovering your brand to becoming a customer and beyond. AI and automation can support every stage of the funnel with personalised content, follow-ups, and conversations.

G

Generative AI

Generative AI is a type of AI that can create new content, such as text, images, or audio, based on patterns it has learned. In marketing and sales, it’s used for things like message drafting, ad copy, chatbot replies, and content ideas.

Guardrails (AI Guardrails)

Guardrails are rules and safeguards that limit what an AI system can say or do. They help keep conversations on-brand, compliant, and safe for your customers.

H

Hallucination (AI Hallucination)

An AI hallucination is when an AI confidently gives an answer that sounds plausible but is factually incorrect or made up. Good system design, verification steps, and clear guardrails help reduce the impact of hallucinations.

Human Handover / Human Takeover

Human handover (or takeover) is when a bot passes a conversation to a live agent, usually when an issue is complex or sensitive. It combines the efficiency of automation with the empathy and judgment of a real person.

I

Integration

Integration is the connection between different software tools so they can share data and work together. For example, integrating your chatbot with your CRM allows conversations and lead details to be logged automatically.

Intent (User Intent)

Intent is what the user is trying to achieve when they send a message, such as “book an appointment” or “ask for a refund.” Identifying intent correctly is crucial for a bot to respond appropriately and trigger the right workflows.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

IVR is the automated phone system that interacts with callers using voice menus (e.g., “Press 1 for sales”). Modern IVR can be powered by conversational AI to understand spoken requests more naturally.

J

JSON – JavaScript Object Notation

JSON is a common format for structuring data so it can be easily sent between systems. It’s widely used when APIs pass information between a chatbot platform, CRM, and other tools.

K

Knowledge Base

A knowledge base is a structured library of information, such as FAQs, help articles, and product details. AI chatbots can connect to a knowledge base to give consistent, accurate answers without needing a human every time.

KPI – Key Performance Indicator

A Key Performance Indicator is a measurable metric that shows how well a campaign, funnel, or bot is performing. Examples include reply rates, bookings generated, or revenue from automated campaigns.

L

Lead

A lead is a person or business that has shown interest in your products or services and shared some contact details. Bots and automation help capture, qualify, and follow up with leads at scale.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is the process of assigning points to leads based on their behaviour and fit (such as actions taken or data collected). AI can enhance lead scoring by spotting patterns in which leads are most likely to convert.

LLM – Large Language Model

A Large Language Model (LLM) is an AI system trained on vast amounts of text so it can understand, generate, and work with human language. LLMs power many modern chatbots, content tools, and AI assistants.

M

Machine Learning (ML)

Machine Learning is a branch of AI where systems learn from data rather than being explicitly programmed for every task. In marketing and sales, ML is used for things like predicting which leads will convert or when to send messages.

Multilingual Support

Multilingual support means an AI system or chatbot can handle more than one language. This allows businesses to serve diverse audiences without needing separate teams for each language.

N

NLP – Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the field of AI focused on understanding and working with human language. It helps bots interpret what users type or say, including slang, typos, and varied phrasing.

NLU – Natural Language Understanding

Natural Language Understanding (NLU) is a part of NLP that focuses on grasping the meaning and intent behind text or speech. It helps the bot figure out what the user wants, not just what words they used.

NLG – Natural Language Generation

Natural Language Generation (NLG) is the part of AI that creates human-like language as output. When a bot “writes” a reply that feels natural, it’s using NLG.

O

Omnichannel

Omnichannel means communicating with customers across multiple channels—such as SMS, email, WhatsApp, and social media—in a joined-up way. AI and automation help keep these channels in sync so conversations feel continuous, not fragmented.

Open Rate

Open rate is the percentage of people who open a message, such as an email or broadcast. It’s a key metric for understanding whether your subject lines and timing are working.

P

Personalisation

Personalisation is tailoring messages and experiences to each individual based on their data and behaviour. AI makes it easier to deliver personalised content and timing at scale.

Pipeline (Sales Pipeline)

A sales pipeline is the visual representation of where each lead or deal sits in your process, from new enquiry to closed sale. Automations can move leads between pipeline stages based on actions they take or outcomes of conversations.

Prompt (AI Prompt)

A prompt is the text or instruction you give an AI model to tell it what you want it to do. Clear, specific prompts lead to more accurate and useful responses from the AI.

Prompt Engineering

Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and refining prompts to get better results from AI systems. It involves choosing the right wording, structure, and context to guide the AI effectively.

Q

Qualification (Lead Qualification)

Lead qualification is the process of determining whether a lead is a good fit for your product or service. Bots can help qualify leads by asking key questions and scoring the answers automatically.

Query

A query is a question or request made to an AI system, database, or search tool. In chatbots, every user message can be considered a query the AI tries to answer or act on.

R

Retargeting

Retargeting is the practice of marketing again to people who have already interacted with your business, such as website visitors or past leads. AI can help segment and time retargeting messages for better results.

Routing (Conversation Routing)

Routing is how conversations are directed to the right place—whether that’s a specific bot flow, human team, or department. Smart routing reduces delays and gets customers to the right help faster.

RPA – Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation uses software “robots” to mimic human actions in digital systems, such as copying data from one place to another. Combined with AI, RPA can remove repetitive admin tasks from your team’s workload.

S

SaaS – Software as a Service

Software as a Service is software you access via the cloud on a subscription, rather than installing and managing it yourself. Many CRM, marketing, and chatbot platforms are SaaS products.

Segmentation

Segmentation is dividing your audience into groups based on shared traits or behaviours, such as location or actions taken. It allows your AI and automation to send more relevant messages to each group.

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis is an AI technique that detects whether a text message is positive, negative, or neutral. It helps businesses understand customer mood at scale and prioritise conversations that need attention.

Sequence (Message Sequence)

A sequence is a pre-planned series of messages or steps that go out over time, often triggered by a specific event. AI can optimise sequences based on how people respond or behave.

T

Tag (Contact Tag)

A tag is a label added to a contact or conversation to mark something important, such as interests, actions, or status. Tags make it easier to segment, trigger automations, and track behaviour.

Token (in LLMs)

A token is a small unit of text (such as a word or part of a word) used by language models to process and generate language. Token limits affect how long prompts and responses can be in an AI system.

Training Data

Training data is the information used to teach an AI system how to perform a task, such as past conversations, documents, or examples. Better, more relevant training data generally leads to better AI performance.

Trigger (Automation Trigger)

A trigger is an event that starts an automation, such as a new lead being added or a form being submitted. Triggers are the “starting gun” that tell your system to begin a workflow.

U

Upsell

Upsell is the practice of offering customers a higher-value or additional product or service. AI and automation can suggest upsells at the right time based on customer behaviour and past purchases.

User Journey

A user journey is the path someone takes as they interact with your brand across touchpoints and over time. Mapping user journeys helps you design AI and automations that support people at each stage.

UTM Parameters

UTM parameters are tags added to URLs to track where traffic and leads are coming from. They let you see which campaigns and channels your AI-powered funnels are benefiting from most.

V

Vector Database

A vector database stores embeddings (numerical representations of data) so AI can quickly search and retrieve relevant information. It’s often used behind the scenes in advanced AI assistants and knowledge-based chatbots.

Virtual Assistant (Digital Assistant)

A virtual assistant is a software-based assistant that can handle tasks like answering questions, scheduling, or simple admin. When powered by AI, virtual assistants can understand natural language and work across multiple channels.

Voice Bot

A voice bot is a conversational AI system that interacts with users via spoken language over phone lines or voice apps. It can handle tasks like answering calls, routing queries, or taking orders automatically.

W

Webhook

A webhook is a way for one app to send real-time data to another app when something happens, such as a new lead being created. Webhooks help your AI, chatbot, and CRM stay in sync.

WhatsApp Business API

The WhatsApp Business API lets businesses send and receive messages with customers on WhatsApp at scale. Chatbots and automations can use it as a powerful channel for customer support and campaigns.

Workflow (Automation Workflow)

A workflow is a series of automated steps that run when a trigger fires, such as sending messages, updating records, or assigning tasks. Well-designed workflows help your business run smoothly in the background.

X

XML – Extensible Markup Language

XML is a format for structuring and sharing data between systems. While less common on the front end of marketing tools, it still appears in some integrations and legacy systems.

Y

YAML – “YAML Ain’t Markup Language”

YAML is a human-readable format often used for configuration files and settings. Some AI and automation tools use YAML under the hood to define complex workflows or system instructions.

Z

Zapier

Zapier is an online automation tool that connects different apps and lets you create “Zaps” (automated workflows) between them without coding. It’s commonly used to link CRMs, chatbots, calendars, and email tools so data flows automatically.

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