The interview
Before Elmtrail, how did you feel about bringing AI into your team’s work?
I was excited but at the same time concerned. How will the AI respond to how I would? Would it have a human empathy element or sound like a robot? So, all these concerns first popped into my head, but I knew it was the future, and it would help me to manage a lot of work so that I can free up my time.
What was the moment you realised it was actually working?
This was when we fully took it off the leash. Gwendolyn could hear my nerves in my voice about letting it start auto sending, but within 2 days I had no more concerns. It was working before, but my eyes were fully behind the screen reading, approving, editing or declining the messages.
Until the point we reached a high confidence level I was convinced to let it go fully automated, and this was a very successful moment. We now sit at around 65% confidence and it covers a particular inbox that would take up my entire day. It is also helpful when the answers are better than mine!
How does a typical day look different now?
Before it would be all day in 5 inboxes, searching, typing, repeating a lot of the same answers. Now I can fully focus on my personal inbox and one other highly important inbox. This inbox runs efficiently enough for me to look back now and again, and it answers over the weekend: I no longer have to spend two days catching up from the weekend. We’re now working on the other inboxes, and then I can really start to spread my time better, helping and supporting the company in other ways.
What has Elmtrail made possible that wasn’t possible before?
Time! My busiest inbox is now covered fully. I can spend one afternoon every two days to fully make sure everything is now up to date and answer any emails that need a human agent to fix or resolve. Now I am able to spread my time across multiple areas to help the B2C and B2B parts of the company.
What would you say to a team on the fence?
Give it a go, trust me you will be pleasantly surprised how quickly your doubts go. Of course it will take time to get it to the level you want, but that is down to your dedication. I’m still learning and improving our responses and increasing its knowledge, but I can go away for a week and not be concerned with this busy inbox.
