How Indian airlines are adopting AI for superior customer service
Indian airlines are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance customer service and reduce the workload of their agents. Air India has introduced an AI virtual agent, AI.g, as part of a five-year transformation plan. Meanwhile, IndiGo, the country's largest airline, employs an AI chatbot named 6Eskai that operates with 1.7 trillion parameters, and can understand written language and verbal instructions. Akasa Air is also investing heavily in technology solutions across all business functions.
AI's role in streamlining airline operations
Air India's Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Satya Ramaswamy, emphasized the importance of an "AI-infused" approach in their technology strategy. He highlighted how AI has helped reduce variance in customer service responses and streamline contact center functions. Additionally, he pointed out the role of computer vision in analyzing images and videos at airports, maintenance bases, and airplanes using various algorithms.
Air India's AI agent efficiently handles customer queries
Ramaswamy shared that Air India's AI.g has a containment ratio of 93%, meaning only 7% of queries are escalated to a human agent. The AI virtual agent handles over 1,300 topics. He cited an example where the company's pet policy was injected into the AI system, enabling it to understand and respond to queries about different dog breeds. Recently, Air India also deployed a generative AI agent for answering employee queries.
IndiGo's chatbot reduces workload, enhances service
IndiGo's implementation of the AI chatbot 6Eskai has resulted in a significant 75% decrease in workload for customer service agents. The chatbot can address customer queries in 10 different languages and provides a platform for booking tickets across the entire network. Currently, only 2-9% of chats are transferred to human experts, demonstrating the efficiency of this AI tool.
Akasa Air leverages AI for operational insights
Akasa Air is investing in optimization and AI technologies to gain insights into customer behavior and operational parameters. The airline's Co-Founder and Chief Information Officer, Anand Srinivasan, highlighted the deployment of AI-based cyber threat prevention capabilities that identify and thwart cyber threats in real-time. He emphasized that all operational and commercial decisions are backed by technologies leveraging data, mathematical models, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
