Australian tech companies build GPT-powered digital AI workers to solve jobs crisis

Conversational AI platform TalkVia AI has partnered with A2B Transformation to provide an all-in-one solution for businesses struggling under the current economic headwinds.

TalkVia AI founder Ray Guy said the skills shortage had hit the customer service sector particularly hard.

“People cannot get enough staff, so we’re trying to ease the burden on contact centres, by utilising AI both online and over the phone,” he said.

“The release of ChatGPT late last year brought AI into the public awareness as a powerful tool for natural language processing.

“We have been working with large language models since 2019, and the upcoming release of GPT-4 is set to revolutionise the way businesses operate, streamlining processes and driving efficiency to new heights.”

Mr Guy said the A2B Transformation partnership was integral to ensuring the technology was properly set up and integrated into different business models.

“Traditionally an issue has been that management says ‘let’s just get AI’,” he said.

“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.”

The partnership is a pivot for TalkVia AI - whose clients include The Lott and Southern Cross Austereo - which had previously used an in-house sales team.

The company has undergone a rebrand to reflect its new direction, adding AI to its name and launching a new website.

“We wanted to make sure that when we’re delivering solutions there’s somebody there that can look at it from the particular business’ operational perspective,” Mr 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.

Mr Kelly said there was a huge opportunity for businesses to embrace AI, as customers became more and more fed up with long wait times and poor service.

“It has evolved well beyond the days of the chat bot,” he said.

A2B Transformation CEO Anthony Giannoccaro agreed.

“This is more about adoption and AI becoming the new normal, by offering robots as a service,” he said.

A2B Transformation’s ‘total turnkey’ approach means businesses can focus on their growth and worry less about customer service and productivity issues. 

TalkVia AI is taking on the likes of Google, Amazon and Microsoft with its technology, which has been developed over the past five years.

Mr Guy said he believed his team had developed the world’s best conversational AI platform by focussing on two things: building one piece of technology that can be deployed on any device, and quality customer interaction.

“We have carefully considered elements such as sentiment analysis to identify when users may become frustrated," he stated.

"At the same time, we have taken a lot of care to make sure people are having the best possible experience.”

Mr Guy originally started TalkVia AI to help people who are blind or have a visual impairment.

As the technology has evolved, it is now being applied at an enterprise level, enabling the company to address current resourcing challenges head on.

ENDS