Calling the transition a key achievement, Superloop chief executive Paul Tyler revealed the transition during the company’s half-year results presentation last week, adding that the increased reliance on AI in customer service roles had benefited both shareholders and customers.
“Customer satisfaction directly impacts our growth and profitability. Our investments in automation and AI have been paying dividends, with demonstrable improvements in both customer experience and cost-to-serve,” Tyler said.
“We are increasingly embedding AI and workflow automation across support and operations, and we’re now seeing tangible benefits.”
The two agentic AI bots that Superloop uses for its customers, Teddy and Mo, provide customer service operations.
The company also has Refreshify and X-Ray, which allow customers to fix their own internet connections and troubleshoot issues without the need for customer support, which, when combined with Teddy and Mo, Tyler said, decreased the number of support calls to Superloop by 30 per cent over 18 months.
While there has been no mention of job cuts as the company increasingly focuses on AI, the move to AI in customer service and other roles seems to be a trend among Australian and international businesses.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Australian software and logistics firm WiseTech announced that it was to cut roughly 2,000 jobs over the next 24 months, over half its workforce, citing AI as the key driver behind the decision.
“Software development has experienced its most significant shift in decades,” WiseTech CEO Zubin Appoo said on the back of the company releasing its half-yearly financial results.
“I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over.
“AI amplifies the productivity of our expertise in logistics and trade, the rich datasets that WiseTech holds, and the network advantage that we have built over 30 years. And it allows us to move faster from ideas to real customer value through the efficiencies it brings in software development and product creation.”
Similarly, Australia’s largest telco, Telstra, announced that in its joint AI venture with Accenture, it would cut 209 jobs.
The joint venture was launched in January last year and will last seven years, with the intention of building AI tools, uplifting skill sets, and helping Telstra modernise its AI and data platforms.
At the time, Telstra told its internal “core data and AI” staffers that they could be moved to the joint venture when it formed, but said that over time, it would “become more efficient and streamlined as the acceleration of Telstra’s data and AI roadmap is delivered”.
Earlier this month, speaking with iTnews, a spokesperson for the joint venture confirmed that a proposal for workforce changes had been issued to the joint venture team.
“We spoke with the data and AI joint venture (JV) team about proposed changes to our workforce, including reducing roles where work is no longer needed, and moving some work to the JV team in India,” the spokesperson told iTnews.
“These changes would see the JV use Accenture’s global capabilities, advanced AI expertise and specialist hub in India to deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap more quickly.
“We anticipate that over time this would result in improved cost efficiencies and bring an enhanced experience to Telstra’s customers.”
Daniel Croft