Planning a customer-facing AI push? Start with getting employees up to speed

As companies integrate AI, there are two perspectives to consider: the employee and the customer. 

Each group has different risks associated with it, especially in industries that handle sensitive information. But through experimentation and education, companies can get their employees comfortable with it to better develop tools, said Mike Urban, chief technology operations officer at Delaware-based fintech company Best Egg, during a panel at the 1682 conference in Philly last week. 

Best Egg’s strategy for implementing AI was to start internally, before going to the customer. That’s why the company launched an AI council made up of senior employees at the company to learn more about what tools are out there and how they could be used.

“The way that we’re thinking about it is, it doesn’t have to be direct to consumer right away, Urban said. “Think about arming your agents with the power of AI and generative AI to do things that allow them to have more conversation with the customer.” 

This is true across other highly regulated industries, too, like insurance. The industry has to work out ways to integrate AI tools without compromising personal health information, Nate Gach, director of innovation at health insurance giant Independence Blue Cross (IBX), said on the panel. 

IBX, and other local companies like SEI and Qlik, also used council or governing board models to learn about the technology. 

Sometimes businesses also look to external sources to learn what’s out there. Best Egg and IBX invited consulting companies in for an education session. Teaching employees about how AI tools work, where the data goes and what security measures are in place helps mitigate fear. 

“People are often the problem,” Gach said. “That fear that it’s going to take a job is a real fear that you have to be able to overcome.” 

Company leadership also gets feedback from employees about how they use AI to improve those education efforts. Best Egg sent a form to employees asking them to share examples of how they’re using widely available AI tools like ChatGPT, Urban said. 

Make sure implementation is airtight before customer rollout 

If a company’s AI tool provides inaccurate information or isn’t in compliance with regulations, businesses can lose customer trust. 

So, when it comes to developing customer-facing AI tools, there has to be some level of human fact-checking and making sure that customers are receiving accurate information, Urban said. 

It helps if regulators are up to speed on current AI innovations, too. As they’re making sure 

companies aren’t violating privacy laws, it’s a balance to make sure innovation can still happen, Urban said. That way, customers get up-to-date tech without infringing on their rights. 

With all of these considerations in mind, then companies can look at how to apply the tech to customer experiences. For example, in the insurance industry, AI can translate benefits packets into people’s native language and simplify the wording so it’s easier to understand, Gach said. 

“As long as there is consistency and accuracy and inequity in those responses,” Gach said. “Then you’re getting an answer back to the consumer, the patient, the doctor faster.”