AI impersonal? Joost proves otherwise

Absoluta is a B2B platform for every food moment at work. Through one point of entry, organisations arrange fruit, cakes, lunches, meeting catering, drinks and late-working meals. Absoluta works with local suppliers to do that, and focuses in particular on organisations with many different locations.

Personal service, made to measure

"How do we keep growing and at the same time give customers the personal service they are used to from us?" That was the challenge Absoluta brought to Indicia, says co-owner Sonja van den Beemt. The first idea was a smart chatbot on top of the existing application. But during development it turned out that much more was possible. Together, Absoluta and Indicia built Joost: an AI assistant that does not only inform, but also advises, analyses and, in the end, even acts.

Anyone who arranges catering at Absoluta's level knows there are far more questions behind an order than what people want to eat. "Say you want to organise farewell drinks for a colleague in the office garden. We think beyond a few snacks and drinks: what if it rains, do you need a marquee or a cloakroom, and how do we get the logistics right down to the last detail?" That is how Absoluta maps out what a client needs and arrives at a fitting proposal. It was exactly that personal service Absoluta wanted to keep as the company grew. At the same time, it saw opportunities to help customers even faster and more easily with AI. "Not by replacing the contact we already have, but by adding another option alongside it."

How far can you go with AI?

Absoluta already worked with Indicia on building and maintaining their application, so when the company wanted to add AI to that environment the choice was quickly made. "Indicia is the team we can think out loud with: what is actually possible? And how far can we take it without losing the personal contact?"

From bot to assistant

Absoluta initially had a smart chatbot in mind, one that could ask and answer questions. From its own AI expertise, Indicia could see there was much more to get out of it. Why only give information when Joost could also advise on what a customer needs? Why only use general knowledge when he could analyse customer data as well? And why stop at an answer when an AI agent can then carry out an action in the application? That last point surprised Absoluta most. Sonja: "We thought it would be nice if he could ask questions or hold a conversation. What we never imagined was that he would then go and actually do it." So the first idea grew into four roles for Joost: informing, advising, analysing and acting.

More sources, better support

To help at that level, Joost needs more than a list of standard questions and answers. So the solution brings different knowledge and data sources together. Absoluta's internal knowledge sits in a knowledge base, and earlier conversations from the existing chat environment have been added too. On top of that, Joost can be connected to data from the application, including customer, menu and supplier information.

That lets Joost take the user's situation into account. He knows which organisation someone works for, for example, and which information that person is allowed to see given their role.

Service that gets to know you

Absoluta sees ways to make digital service more personal: "Say you arrange late-working meals every Wednesday and you have ordered pizza three times already. Joost can say: shall we try something different this time?" Earlier experiences can be factored in as well. If there was a complaint about a previous order, Joost can use that when he next gives advice.

For customers, that mostly means convenience: being helped straight away, in a way that suits them. And anyone who would rather speak to a person can carry on doing exactly that.

Secure access to customer data

Sonja: "Once you give AI access to your database and let it run analyses, you end up at customer data. And then you have to be certain that data is safe. That is why Joost runs in a protected environment." In that respect too, the solution goes further than a standalone chatbot.

To make Joost a genuine part of the service, AI, the application, various data sources, roles and permissions and information security all had to come together. "Indicia designed the technical environment in which those parts work together safely. Joost only gets access to the information that is needed and permitted, while we keep control of the customer data."

"It is a ten out of ten, and then some"

For Absoluta it was obvious to bring this AI question to Indicia too. "Indicia thinks along with us and steers; they do not just do what we ask. You put your problems on the table and they turn them into a solution that really fits. Indicia's people even used their own development hours to dig further into questions within the project. We have so many suppliers, but we do not see this kind of commitment anywhere else," Sonja says. "It is a ten out of ten, and then some."