Articles
Guides, case studies, and deep dives on AI transformation for consumer-facing businesses.
This is a selection of our publicly available articles. Free and paid subscribers get access to a broader library of guides, case studies, and deep dives inside the app.
How Octopus Energy Used AI to Free Customer Service Agents From the Work Nobody Wanted
Octopus Energy's AI tool Magic Ink drafts over a third of customer service emails and outscores human-only emails on customer satisfaction. CEO Greg Jackson said in 2023 that it was doing the work of around 250 people. Despite the productivity gain, the company hasn't made a single redundancy. Agents moved to phone support and complex cases instead.
Read article
What Happened When Klarna Replaced 700 Customer Service Agents With AI
Klarna deployed an AI chatbot that handled two-thirds of customer service chats and projected $40 million in savings. Fourteen months later, the CEO admitted they'd gone too far. The company started rehiring humans, repositioning human support as a premium differentiator, not a cost line.
How Walmart Is Turning Cashiers Into Drone Technicians While Keeping 2.1 Million Jobs
Walmart deployed autonomous forklifts, AI-powered fulfilment centres, and generative AI tools across its operations, cutting delivery costs by 40%. Rather than reducing its 2.1 million workforce, the company invested nearly $1 billion in reskilling programmes, converting frontline workers into drone technicians, robot supervisors, and HVAC specialists earning up to $45 per hour.
How IKEA Turned 8,500 Call Centre Workers Into Interior Design Advisors Using AI
IKEA deployed an AI chatbot that handled 47% of customer queries. Instead of cutting the workforce, they analysed what the chatbot could not do, discovered latent demand for design services, and retrained call centre staff as interior design advisors. The remote design channel now generates EUR 1.3 billion annually.
How to Set Up and Run an AI Hackathon
A practical guide to planning, running, and following through on an AI hackathon that produces real business outcomes, not just excitement.
How to Run Your First AI Leadership Conversation
Most leadership teams need to have an honest conversation about AI before they can make any useful decisions about it. Here is how to run one that actually works.
AI Agents: What They Actually Are and What They Can Do for Your Business
Everyone is talking about AI agents. Most of what you hear is vendor marketing. This guide explains what agents actually are, what works today in consumer-facing businesses, what does not, and how to think about them for your programme.
How a Dutch Sports Retailer Cut Overstock by 47% with AI Forecasting
Daka, an 18-store sports retailer in the Netherlands, replaced manual replenishment with an AI forecasting tool. Forecast accuracy went from 49% to 96% and overstock nearly halved. Here is what they did.
How One Restaurant Cut Food Waste by 33% in a Month with an AI Camera
Sydney Opera Bar installed a single AI-powered device above their kitchen bin. Within weeks, food waste per cover dropped by a third. A look at what happened and why it matters for your programme.
The LLM Landscape: A Practical Guide to Choosing the Right Model
There are now dozens of large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral, and others. This guide cuts through the noise and explains what each does well, what it costs, and how to choose.
What Is RAG and Why Should You Care?
Retrieval-Augmented Generation explained in plain English. What it is, how it works, where it adds value in consumer-facing businesses, and the tools that make it possible.