Customer-facing IPsoft Amelia implementation at SEB wins AI innovation award

NEW YORK, October 27, 2017 — Nicolas Moch, Head of Information, Architecture and Strategy for SEB, the leading Nordic corporate bank, is the winner of this year’s Supernova Award from Constellation Research in the category of Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Humanity. Moch was recognized for spearheading projects with IPsoft’s Amelia to enhance bank operations and customer service. The award was presented to Moch at this year’s Constellation Research Supernova Gala, held on the last night of the analyst firm’s Connected Enterprise Summit at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

The annual Supernova Awards were created to recognize the trailblazing exploits of individuals who have decided to introduce disruptive technology into their organizations. The awards are judged by a select group of thought-leaders, analysts and journalists who evaluate whether a finalist has skillfully deployed an emerging technology within their company’s business environment. Moch was among four finalists in his category, which covered progressive and innovative use of AI technologies for demonstrable company benefits.

Moch has successfully introduced Amelia, IPsoft’s market-leading cognitive virtual agent, into SEB’s internal service desk and customer-facing operations, and is working on implementing Amelia into other business areas as well. Amelia handles external customer service requests for more than a million customers, with the goal to deliver the best-possible service experience. Currently, Amelia handles customer queries like password resets, step-by-step assistance with credit and debit cards, and banking location services. Amelia’s abilities are expanding to more complex tasks like ID verification, which takes place after an account-sensitive question is asked.

In her customer-facing role, Amelia has reached a 90% accuracy rate in understanding and completing tasks as well as correctly handing off queries to her human co-workers when necessary. Amelia has improved SEB’s service consistency through her 24/7 availability and multi-channel delivery, and overall has improved internal employee satisfaction as agents can now focus on more complicated, higher value tasks.

“It’s important to think of the implementation process of cutting-edge technology as a learning journey first. Start with small, targeted use cases and generate some quick wins to begin garnering the support of your organization as a whole,” Moch said. “Our main objective with Amelia was to create a brand new channel where customers could have their inquiries resolved as quickly and effectively as possible on their own time.”

Edwin van Bommel, Chief Cognitive Officer at IPsoft, said, “SEB is one of our pioneering clients, and Nicolas championed the use of Amelia in his organization. His leadership skills and intimate knowledge of SEB’s business operations were crucial in leading this AI project through to successful completion, with fantastic business results and improved service for SEB’s customers. We congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition of his AI leadership at SEB.”