Tag Archives: AI

IndiGo introduces AI chatbot ‘6Eskai’ to help customers with flight booking

IndiGo has started using an AI chatbot that is helping in reducing customer service agents’ workload and making booking process simpler with the use of natural language conversations.
“The AI bot boasts an impressive 1.7 trillion parameters, allowing it to answer a diverse range of commonly asked questions with ease,” the airline said.

In a release, the carrier also said its data scientists did research on Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) and programmed the bot using extensive prompt engineering to mimic human behaviour, respond to emotions and even infuse humour into interactions.

“Early results from the soft launch indicate a remarkable 75 per cent reduction in customer service agent workload, showcasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the bot.

“Furthermore, 6Eskai, makes the booking process extremely simple, using natural language conversations to guide our customers seamlessly through the end to end booking journey,” the release said.

Many airlines are using Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven solutions.

Air India deploys AI-powered agent ‘Maharaja’ to answer customer queries

Air India has become the world’s first airline to have successfully deployed a Generative AI virtual agent, called ‘Maharaja’, powered by Azure OpenAI service. It has successfully answered over half a million customer queries since its pilot launch in March 2023, and it today manages over 6,000 queries a day in four languages.

Air India’s Maharaja AI Agent manages an extensive spectrum of customer queries across 1,300 areas related to flight status, baggage allowances, packing restrictions, check-in, frequent flyer awards, airport lounge access, flight changes, refunds and more.

To meet the needs of guests around the world, Maharaja speaks four languages: Hindi, English, French, and German. Of the 6,000-plus questions received each day, over 80% are successfully answered in seconds. About 15% of customer queries today require additional assistance, and Maharaja recognises this automatically and orchestrates a seamless handoff to Air India’s contact centre agents.

Dr. Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Air India, said, “We are dedicated to providing the best possible service and experience to our valued guests across channels. We also want to be very responsive to their changing preferences. After the emergence of Large Language Model driven Generative AI capabilities, we are increasingly seeing a definitive shift in guest preferences to use chat interactions to get the information and support they need quickly and directly as compared to browsing several web pages.”

“We have used several patent-pending innovations in our AI agent Maharaja with a combination of traditional machine learning techniques and the latest in Generative AI to provide a pleasing and effective experience for our customers. Many more innovations are in the pipeline and will be made live in the months to come.”

“We are pleased to see Air India’s successful deployment of their AI-powered agent, Maharaja, and the use of Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to provide a personalized and relevant customer experience. We believe that this is the beginning of a new era of customer service, and we look forward to seeing more organizations use the power of Generative AI and our AI-optimised Azure cloud to provide a seamless and efficient customer experience,” said Marco Casalaina,
Vice President, AI Platform, Microsoft.

Leveraging the generative AI technology to the full extent, Air India uses ChatGPT to analyse even some complex questions it may not be able to immediately answer to improve customer experience in later interactions. This has allowed Air India’s newest customer service channel to progressively learn and improve, becoming more attuned to natural language. Air India has employed a strategy that involves blending of multiple traditional machine learning techniques alongside Generative AI to provide a compelling consumer-grade experience. Air India has also established safeguards to prevent biased or harmful language from infiltrating its conversational AI system.

Unlike rule-based or keyword-based chatbots, Generative AI solutions understand the intent and context of a user’s query and generate a natural and coherent reply. This enhances user experience and satisfaction, while reducing the need for human intervention. It also helps to automate repetitive and mundane tasks, such as booking, cancellation, confirmation, etc., and free up bandwidth for human agents to focus on more complex and value-adding interactions.

In the coming months, Air India plans to launch a host of sophisticated features, driven by patent-pending technologies. This includes a novel user experience that changes the way customers interact with AI agents with a combination of textual and graphical interactions that can potentially further speed up customer interactions. Some of these innovations have been incubated for more than 2 years. Air India also plans to enhance the current AI agent with data-driven deep-personalisation capabilities that will elevate the technology to that of a reliable personal assistant for all air travel needs. The capabilities of the AI agent will include travel inspiration and effortless booking experiences. Support for more Indian languages is also in the works.

EaseMyTrip partners with Cover Genius for Flexible Embedded Protection to Global Travelers

EaseMyTrip.com has entered into strategic partnership with Cover Genius, the insurtech for embedded protection. By integrating with XCover, Cover Genius’ award-winning global distribution platform, EaseMyTrip customers can add Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) travel protection along with the embedded comprehensive travel protection when they book their tickets.

Customers will benefit from XCover’s end-to-end customer experience that handles all of the customers’ needs – from the initial sale to administration and claims. Its award-winning service design has shown to reduce support tickets by 7x.

CFAR is becoming increasingly popular, with both consumers and online travel agencies (OTAs), because it provides a seamless experience that eliminates paperwork when making any refund request. Additionally, for OTAs, it removes the need for insurance licensing.

Speaking about the partnership, Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip, said, “With an increase in demand for domestic and international travel, Cover Genius has the global expertise we needed to curate tailor-made protection, backed by AI, that offers customers seamless experiences and flexibility. CFAR is a one-of-a-kind solution that will assure our customers in unforeseen circumstances.”

Barney Pierce, SVP, Strategic Partnerships, APAC, Cover Genius, said, “Travel protection is no longer an after-thought but a must-have, and not only that, it must now be fit-for-purpose, ready to serve and encourage travelers with protection that covers all manner of uncertainties and ‘what-ifs’. We are excited to partner with EaseMyTrip and offer its customers innovative and bespoke products that are dynamically priced and easily accessible.”

 

EaseMyTrip launches self-booking tool for corporates

EaseMyTrip.com has launched a self-booking tool for corporates. With this tool, business travellers and corporates can book their travel with ease as it simplifies their entire booking experience. The tool uses technologies such as AI, Machine Learning and Data Mining to become efficient and resourceful.
With the help of SBT (Self-Booking-Tool), corporates will enjoy a seamless and a hassle-free booking experience by making reservations by themselves without involving a travel agency or a third-party. The tool becomes instrumental in managing the employee booking, travel itinerary, payments and the complexities involved making their entire process automated.

Corporates can use the tool as a single window for all their worldwide travel needs, their GST reconciliation and travel spends with approval matrix. Additionally, they will get access to 1 million hotel’s inventories globally, real-time bookings of domestic and international flights, experienced MICE team to cater to all corporate events, centralised corporate relations team available for 24*7, special fares and complementary meals, free modifications and cancellations with partner airlines to name a few. Companies can register them self by this link: corporates.easemytrip.com
The manage-all-booking-from-one-place tool will also help EaseMyTrip to address, simplify and centralise their corporate bookings and manage their extensive partners listings allowing them to use their resources efficiently and enhance their corporate portfolio.

Commenting on the launch, Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip, ‘’It is a one-of-a-kind initiative for EaseMyTrip that constantly strive for endeavours to serve our clients better and make their booking process simpler. As we witness the business travel going up, we bring out our best solutions to make travel bookings for our clients easier. We are hopeful, with this launch, our clients will be able to make larger bookings in one go and enjoy the benefits that comes along with it.’’

The ability to use the interface, customise or edit the booking engine, integrated and a secure payment gateways, etc. makes this tool an ideal choice for corporates, said the company in a release.

Cleartrip appoints Joy Banerjee as Senior Director – Product Design

In the latest move to strengthen its leadership, Cleartrip, one of India’s fastest-growing online travel companies, has appointed Joy Banerjee as Senior Director – Product Design. He will be instrumental in elevating the design orientation of Cleartrip’s products and platforms to fortify its user experience and eventually the business outcome.

Banerjee is a seasoned design leader with over 2 decades of design experience including classical, computational and design strategy. He has spearheaded design innovations in enterprise applications, and consumer products across travel, education, insurance, healthcare and IT sectors. Joy’s cross-industry expertise will be integral in shaping Cleartrip’s user experience to bring greater simplicity, accessibility and seamlessness to its UI/UX.

Speaking on the appointment, Mrugendra Shintre, CTPO, Cleartrip, said, “Customer experience is the centre of all our endeavours and ‘design’ is integral to moulding this experience. We are pleased to bring aboard, Joy Banerjee, who is an industry veteran and strongly imbibes Cleatrip’s creative vision and customer obsession.”

Commenting on his appointment, Joy Banerjee, said, “Cleartrip has always been known for its design – its products are simple, easy to understand and provide an uncluttered experience. I am excited to lead the product design charter at Cleartrip, especially in the post-pandemic world where there is a greater need for human-centric design. We need to build greater trust, flexibility and overall simplicity into our platforms. Cleartrip 2.0 is truly at an inflexion point. And I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey.”

During his career, Banerjee has worked extensively in the online travel and insurance domains, having designed products for companies like ebookers plc (now part of Expedia Inc), First Europa (pan-European insurance aggregator) and Isango! (global aggregator of online tours & activities, acquired by TUI Travel plc). Apart from leading Woodapple, the digital design agency he co-founded, Joy has been on the founding teams of several global startups, the latest being Sherlock AI – a US-based, conversational AI coaching platform. Joy is also an alumni of IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay.

 

Ahmedabad Airport unveils home grown AI based surveillance system to assist flyers

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) in Ahmedabad has introduced an indigenously developed artificial intelligence (AI) based surveillance service, Desk of Goodness, to help flyers through smart detection techniques. Desk of Goodness aims to serve passengers like senior citizens, women with infants, and passengers in need of a wheelchair. The system also detects incidents such as a fall or abnormal passenger behaviour. This desk is manned by goodness champions equipped with smart tabs, which keep them updated on possible sites where passengers need support.

“Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport continues to improve infrastructure and services to enhance the passenger experience,” said Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Airport Holdings. “AI-based video content analytics plays a crucial role in reaching out to flyers in emergencies. Analytics-based learnings will allow us to set new benchmarks in operational intelligence and increasing situational awareness, thereby improving safety, security and efficiency.”

In the AI-based system, surveillance cameras raise alerts on detecting anomalies in flyer behaviour by utilising special algorithms. The goodness champions receive alerts on their tabs and rush to assist the passenger. The team is trained to respond to alerts in less than 45 seconds. Currently, the departure area at Terminal 1 (T1), covering six lanes of the departure and arrival areas, and pre-and-post security areas are covered under this system.