AirAsia’s holding Capital A introduced its recent AI-powered concierge Ask Bo to answer complex, replacing AirAsia Virtual Allstar (AVA) which was launched in 2019.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — AirAsia’s parent company, Capital A Berhad, officially launched its recent AI-powered concierge Ask Bo at the press conference in Sepang, Malaysia (02/08). The brand-new AI chatbot aims to reiterate the company’s commitment to transparent communications and better customer experience for all guests.
This step is considered part of AirAsia’s vision to become the most communicative, responsive, and answerable brand in the region. Claimed to have enhanced AI and machine learning capabilities, Ask Bo replaced its predecessor’s duty, AirAsia Virtual Allstar (AVA), which has been the first port of call for guests’ queries and complaints since its debut in 2019.
“Our guests have spoken, and we are listening and learning. We felt their frustration towards our first AI chatbot – AVA which was always a work in progress. We recognize she fell short of people’s expectations and we want to do better. We thank AVA for her achievements in handling more than 113 million guests since 2019, and handling over 43 million queries in 2020 at the peak of Covid,” said CEO of Capital A Tony Fernandes sourced from his written statement.
Further, Tony delivered that humans alone cannot cope with thousands of refunds and flight change requests given the size of the airline that AirAsia is, driving the use of technology including AI and machine learning. Through AVA, his team learned how to harness AI to answer complex and sizable queries better and faster.
“Over the last eight months, the customer experience team has zeroed in on what our guests need and want, what their top complaints are, and today we are happy to introduce Ask Bo, named after our airline Group CEO Bo Lingam. He has been at my side for the past 21 years and is the go-to person with all answers to our Group’s airline questions,” explained Tony.
Providing live updates on flight status and boarding information
Meanwhile, Group CEO of AirAsia Bo Lingam conveyed that the recent AI chatbot will be more proactive and attentive, making the customer journey easier, simpler, and more informative.
“I am happy to put my name and my face for this new and enhanced version of our customer concierge service, which promises to be more proactive and attentive. Lower fares do not mean lower service quality and it is very important to us that our guests feel cared for when they choose to fly with us, for the best fares and the best customer experience. The buck stops with me. Ask Bo will make the customer journey easier, simpler, and more informative,” said Bo.
In addition, Chief Airport and Customer Experience Officer of AirAsia Aviation Group Kesavan Sivanandam uttered that several exciting features have been embedded into Ask Bo. The features will provide live updates on flight status, including delays and departures, as well as changes and boarding information, in more languages, spanning English, Chinese, Bahasa (Bahasa Melayu and Indonesia), Thai, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
Ask Bo can send push notifications on any last-minute changes on the day of operations as well as give baggage information spanning tracking, arrival belt, and mishandled baggage reports. Besides, the recent Airasia’s AI chatbot is also able to report real-time automatic updates of departure timings into the electronic boarding pass for guests’ peace of mind.
“Our guests will have more autonomy– they will be able to change flights, request refunds, and choose Service recovery options. By March, our guests will also be able to talk live to our human agents, during the Ask Bo interaction. We will continue to innovate to ensure the highest standards of customer care in all that we do to best meet our guests’ requirements,” concluded Kesavan.
