Two tech startups, TalkVia AI and a2b Transformation have joined forces to tackle Australia’s job shortage with Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT)-powered digital workers for customer service roles.
Queensland-based TalkVia AI streamlines customer service conversations using artificial intelligence and helps businesses engage with customers on a larger scale.
Victorian tech co a2b Transformation provides businesses with digital technology and solutions using automation, AI, and robotics.
The pair have partnered to build an army of generative artificial intelligence-based digital workers as an all-in-one solution for businesses struggling in the current economic slump.
GPT is the AI tech behind OpenAI’s instant hit, ChatGPT, which people are using to write everything from business pitches to song lyrics and homework.
TalkVia AI founder Ray Guy said the skills shortage had particularly hit the customer service sector.
“People cannot get enough staff, so we’re trying to ease the burden on contact centres by utilising AI online and over the phone,” he said.
“The upcoming release of GPT-4 is set to revolutionise how businesses operate, streamlining processes and driving efficiency to new heights.”
TalkVia AI has been working with large language models since 2019.
Guy said the A2B Transformation partnership was critical for proper technology setup and integration in different business models.
“Traditionally, an issue has been that management says, ‘let’s just get AI’,” he said.
Guy believes it is imperative to implement a strategy that helps existing staff adapt to a hybrid workforce.
“A2B Transformation are specialists in that area, so it made perfect business sense to join forces,” he said.
TalkVia AI is now pivoting with a new partnership, rebranding by adding AI to its name and launching a new website.
“We wanted to make sure that when we’re delivering solutions, somebody there can look at it from the particular business’ operational perspective,” Guy said.
A2B Transformation Managing Director Liam Kelly said workforce pressures triggered by Covid-19 had increased the appetite for AI technologies.
“It’s almost like a perfect storm for the onset of hyper-automation,” he said.
Kelly said there was a huge opportunity for businesses to embrace AI as customers became increasingly fed up with long wait times and poor service. His CEO Anthony Giannoccaro agrees.
“This is more about adoption and AI becoming the new normal by offering robots as a service,” he said.
TalkVia AI is competing against big names like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, using its technology made over the last five years.
Guy believes his team had developed the world’s best conversational AI platform by focusing on two things: building one piece of technology that can be deployed on any device and quality customer interaction.
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