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[00:00:09] Lee: So I think the first question really is what's the starting point? Where'd companies start when they want to bring AI into their existing systems?
[00:00:17] Sean: Well, as you said, AI is a big topic at the moment and people are excited by the prospect of using it. And I think they're skipping a few steps in terms of that implementation.
[00:00:30] So where I believe a good place to start is actually break down. Your service, your customer journey into the steps that people are following, and then when you do that as a service blueprint, you can actually see the technology that you're using already, and the next step is to link AI to, that technology so it can provide a better experience and linking that back to the user.
[00:00:56] I think the mistake a lot of companies are making is they're so keen to implement AI that they're doing it with some of the limitations it's got, but it's not necessarily improving the customer experience.
[00:01:08] Lee: Yeah. You mentioned a service blueprint there. Do you want to just elaborate on that a little bit?
[00:01:12] Sean: Yeah. So it's a part of service design. So service design goes a step further than a normal customer journey where it's actually mapping out the before, the during and the after. a example that I use for that is
[00:01:24] when you're booking something on Uber, you start with the app, it's the person booking.
[00:01:28] a ride, but then it also links to a different system with a driver. So you're breaking down, well, how does it find a driver? How does it find the ride?
[00:01:37] So it will cover every step, but it won't just cover that will cover the technology used on all the other elements that are tied to that. And then when you have that, you can sort of see areas for improvement.
[00:01:47] And when you're looking for areas of improvement, you're linking AI from the perspective that it's gonna provide a better experience rather than just shoehorning it in because it's a bit of a buzzword.
[00:01:58] Lee: How would you get started in providing a service blueprint then, or a service map in that regards? Where would you suggest a company starts?
[00:02:10] Sean: If you're doing it yourself, you need to understand your customers deeply and you really need to not just understand the marketing aspects, but it's the collaboration between the different teams that are all involved in those areas.
[00:02:22] And then once you have that, it's a good way to go through as a team and sort of break down the different areas of your service or your product.
[00:02:31] So you could actually start looking for ways you could improve it with AI
[00:02:34] Lee: So when you're implementing AI as a business, what would be the main goals you would
[00:02:40] set yourself?
[00:02:41] Sean: So I've spoke about service design. That's one side of it. If you were looking to implement AI with a product. Another side of AI is it can improve internal efficiencies as well. and how you look at that is slightly different. I think before you start looking into AI, you should have a good idea of what your goals are as a business.
[00:03:01] Internally, it could be efficiency. How can we do things more quickly? If you're doing it internally, looking at the processes you already have, if you don't have processes for things, I think it can be more difficult to see where AI would fit into that are what type of tasks are you looking to improve with AI?
[00:03:20] Are you trying to improve? the work that people are doing. Are you trying to allow them to work on things that are less monotonous or repetitive?
[00:03:28] And then from the actual product side, how can we use AI to Or how might we use AI to improve the experience for users? Is a good place to start.
[00:03:39] the other thing I'd say with goals as well, they need to be smart. So they need to be measurable. because the other thing as well is with people rushing to implement AI, they're probably not thinking.
[00:03:49] What does good look like?
[00:03:50] Like they've implemented the AI, but they don't actually know whether it's been successful or not.
[00:03:55] Lee: It's like
[00:03:56] they want to just slap that powered by AI sticker on the product and move on.
[00:04:00] Sean: Yeah, which can look impressive to users, but an example I would use is so a B2B company might think, well, we can get an AI chatbot.
[00:04:10] And it means that. All of our staff have less time speaking to customers, so they'll have more time to do other stuff or seek out new business.
[00:04:17] But then a downside of that is when they implement it, customers might be annoyed that people aren't speaking to them and they're having to speak to something that isn't relationship based.
[00:04:27] So ultimately the integration of AI is dependent on the customer itself, like how and understanding those customers using those personas.
[00:04:35] If you've got them, if you haven't create personas to really understand the customer, Understand the journey that they go on. So you're implementing things that make a difference rather than
[00:04:45] Just Oh, well, we're saving time or we're saving money, or we've got to do it because everyone else is doing it.
[00:04:52] Lee: It almost sounds like you want to put AI in without having AI be in direct contact with your customers in some ways. Would you agree with that?
[00:05:04] Sean: Well, I think. It depends on what the customers want.
[00:05:07] Like, with different sectors, people's goals are different. I think one of the things with AI, it's a little bit limited about what it can do.
[00:05:17] And people are seeing a lot of large language models and that type of stuff, which is good for certain types of things, but not so good for others. As AI progresses, it's going to get better at lots of other things.
[00:05:28] So I do think, you know, Just looking at what, benefits the customer and implementing things that do that.
[00:05:35] And I don't think it matters whether the AI is visible or not. I think if it's a seamless experience, that's what we want. We don't, the fact that its AI doesn't necessarily matter as much.
[00:05:45] Lee: So how would you judge the success of a project that was implementing AI?
[00:05:51] Sean: Well, before the project starts, you need to set out KPIs, key performance indicators of what good looks like. Whether that be hours saved in terms of efficiency, whether it be, the amount of customers helped, whether it's a, like a customer service integration, or whether it's like a revenue based
[00:06:11] there's got to be a clear defined goal that everyone who is working on that project understands and is clear on before the project starts. Setting the goal is quite difficult with something so new, but if you can't set a clear goal of what you want to do, then you probably shouldn't be looking at AI anyway.
[00:06:28] Lee: What would you see as a long term strategy to move those businesses onto a different Model that where I can be part of it and actually provide benefits that would improve the experience for the end users of the customers?
[00:06:44] Sean: Well, there's another question there, and it's like when any technology is introduced, like if you think back to the Internet and then smartphones changed how, people interacted and it created new markets. I mean, with AI with how big it I think it's going to be. It is an opportunity to not just think about the implementation of AI, but actually how your business model works.
[00:07:08] if it's a case that everything can be done really, really quickly, . Could you, either, Look to be more competitive in the market because the other element of it is what does the market do with it or other companies going to see it as an opportunity
[00:07:22] and then other companies have to react to that. Are you not going to implement AI and try and differentiate on a personal service? I mean, it opens up a lot of avenues Like any new technology will do. so I think companies have got lots of potential to rethink businesses as well as implementations
[00:07:44] Lee: Potentially, these businesses might find other ways to incorporate AI and machine learning into their processes that doesn't require that same level of, investment initially, uh, and into a building their own. Systems.
[00:08:01] Do you see anywhere in those sorts of businesses that that could be a good strategy?
[00:08:07] Sean: I think it could be. Some business strategy can come down to what is easier. Is it easier to use something that already exists or is it easier to create something of our own and the decision has lots of complexity to it.
[00:08:24] How much money do you have is another aspect? Like what's your budget? How capable are the tools that you're looking at?
[00:08:32] How easy is it to integrate with stuff that you already use? So there's lots of questions that come from that. And I mean, as a business, we have conversations with clients like that all the time and we have discoveries to go through, how to integrate new technology and you lead a lot of that as well.
[00:08:50] Lee: And like we said, I think not just slapping that sticker on, for any business that's watching this and wants to understand where to start this journey that they've not done anything with AI yet, but they want to investigate the process.
[00:09:06] What sort of road map? Would you see that taking?
[00:09:11] Sean: Yeah, that's a great question. I think the first step is you need to understand who your customers are. If you don't already, because they're ultimately going to drive the market will drive the business. A lot of what you implement on what they want. So creating customer personas, I'd say, would be the first step from there.
[00:09:29] I would be mapping out the journey with those customers. So how do they interact before they actually buy your product or use your service?
[00:09:38] What's that journey like when they're using it? And then also afterwards as well. And then when you do that, you will have a breakdown of every interaction and how that interaction happens.
[00:09:51] So it will be linked with the technology teams. It will be linked with the marketing teams and everyone could be on the same page about what is happening at the moment. When you know that it might be, clearer where possible improvements could be made. but then also it will be clear.
[00:10:07] for the whole team about what goals they want to set,
[00:10:11] and then from an internal perspective, a good place to start will be to look at the processes you have already. If you don't have any processes in place, it might be a good idea to do that because it will become a lot clearer what processes could be improved as well as what processes may not need to exist anymore and could be replaced with AI.
[00:10:31] Lee: You mentioned that about replacing a process with AI, and there's been a big kind of conversation around AI and the potential for it to take different jobs away and, and almost make some people redundant. looking at the long term strategy of implementing AI, do you see it as a threat to people's jobs?
[00:10:54] Sean: That's a good question. I think that it is one of the barriers that companies may face when starting a process like this. I think, as you say, we're still a little bit unsure of the full capability of AI and what it can and can't do.
[00:11:08] And I think there are going to be people that may need to be involved in the process that may be worried that if I come up with a process here or replace a process, I don't need to exist anymore.
[00:11:18] , I mean, a good example is that I worked in a company and a guy that worked there was a lot older than I was.
[00:11:23] And he said to me , someone's job used to be to carry an envelope around with all the messages in for people. Email made that job obsolete. but the internet created loads and loads of other jobs. And I think AI will be a similar story I think if you ignore it, then you're in danger of just being left behind.
[00:11:41] I think you should not fear it, but embrace it and work with it and understand it. And I think you'll be in a great position,
[00:11:49] Lee: And, and almost. Kind of own it in a way. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Okay, great. Well thanks for that.
[00:11:56] That's been really insightful, Sean. Um, great to have you here today.
[00:11:58] Sean: Oh, thank you very much
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