AI and Business Reflection
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Industrial Engineering
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Dec 6, 2023
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Reflection #5 – AI and Business
INNOVATE 1Z03
Professor Katie White
It can be frustrating for the customer when service disruptions occur, and for small
businesses, disruptions in supply chain or in the delivery of services can be detrimental to their
reputation.
With the presence of AI continuing to grow, I resonate and agree with Andrew Ng in
his claim that AI presents an exciting opportunity for businesses to maximize efficiency and
deliver excellent end to end customer service (Ng, 2022). To discuss more about why and how I
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think AI can empower small businesses, I’m going to use a local appliance repair business, The
Appliance Doctor, as an example.
The Appliance Doctor is located in Hamilton and has been operating for over 15 years. In the
initial years, the business was relatively successful for its size and received local customer
service accolades (2023). However, since then the business has failed to expand their regional
scope and recently has received poor reviews as a result of significant delays in reaching
customers and inability to repair appliances in a timely manner (2023). The core areas where The
Appliance Doctor is struggling is in efficiency of delivering services and failing to meet or
manage customer expectation. AI has the potential to help The Appliance Doctor in many ways
to remedy the areas they are challenged in. Below are two suggestions for how they might be
able to do so:
1.
Addressing Efficiency
Perhaps one of the reasons The Appliance Doctor is lacking in efficiency of services is their
ability to optimize their service routes. Using a predictive AI program, when appointments or
requests are booked, the algorithm could design the most efficient route for technicians so they
can avoid potentially heavy traffic areas and assign cases to technicians who are within a certain
geographical range of each other (Nunez, 2023).
Additionally, if a repair is taking too long at
one location, the technician can report the delay and their upcoming service jobs would be
reassigned to the nearest tech on duty. This could help alleviate the lag time caused by
technicians having to drive back and forth across town to handle appointments, and ensure
labour is dispersed in a way that makes sense for the technician and the customer.
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2.
Addressing Customer Service
One area of major concern for Appliance Doctor customers is the unreliability of their services
and wait time estimates. With a program integrated with the first suggestion, when a technician
reports they are experiencing delays, the wait times for customers could be updated in real time
to ensure their expectations are being managed pro-actively (2023). Communication is key in
customer service, so by utilizing AI to effectively communicate with customers when technicians
may not have the time to do so, The Appliance Doctor can reduce the communication gap with
those they aim to serve. Additionally, the program could track repeat customers and identify
reoccurring issues and the technicians that dealt with them. Using this data, The Appliance
Doctor, and other service businesses alike, could also address performance management
concerns that may be hindering the success of their business (Camacho, 2023).
In conclusion, AI is not just reserved for large scale business operations, it also has the
potential to be a valuable tool for smaller businesses looking to be more efficient and strategic
with their operations.
Works Cited
The appliance doctor - Hamilton, on
. Yelp. (n.d.). https://m.yelp.ca/biz/the-appliance-doctor-
hamilton
Camacho, J. (2023, April 24).
Enhancing service operations with AI: How To Leverage Artificial
Intelligence for Better & More Profitable Customer Service
. Aquant.
https://www.aquant.ai/blog/enhancing-service-operations-with-ai-how-to-leverage-artificial-
intelligence-for-better-more-profitable-customer-
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service/#:~:text=AI%20for%20Service%20Operations%20is,implementation%20of%20Service
%20Intelligence%20Platforms
Ng, A. (2022).
Andrew Ng: How ai could empower any business
. Andrew Ng: How AI could
empower any business | TED Talk.
https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_ng_how_ai_could_empower_any_business?autoplay=true&
muted=true&language=en
Nunez, A. (2023, July 20).
How to leverage AI to improve customer experience
. Podium.
https://www.podium.com/article/how-to-leverage-ai-to-improve-customer-experience/
Unknown. (2023, October 17).
Embracing AI for a competitive edge
. The Globe and Mail.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/adv/article-embracing-ai-for-a-competitive-
edge/?utm_source=google-
rsa&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=457305&utm_content=embracing_ai&gclid=CjwKCAi
A9dGqBhAqEiwAmRpTC68F7b7ro4to5QO_9weUKCCXLbjD_6jFm6KTJRcZYAMLjWLGCl
-G1RoCqwQQAvD_BwE