Helport CEO Li Guanghai
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes even more popular, companies around the world are exploring its implementation in the various aspects of business operations. For Singapore-based Helport, customer service is the area that they are looking at.
In 2018, the company said that Singapore reported four per cent growth in the contact centre outsourcing market, a number that is expected to cross US$77.7 million by 2025. Helport aims to tap into this opportunity by providing AI solutions that can reduce customer-related error rates by 60 per cent and cost efficiencies of up to 17.5 per cent for their clients.
Helport’s main offerings include the AI-Assist, which aims to improve service quality while reducing training and onboarding time. Its Helphub platform utilises AI to help manage customer relationships, business, data, and outbound calls to enable companies to scale globally.
Established in 2020, with a team of over 100 staff globally, the company has a presence in Singapore, the US, the Philippines, and China. This year, Helport has a major plan to expand in the US while maintaining its leading position in Southeast Asia (SEA).
In this interview with Helport CEO Li Guanghai, we find out more about the expansion plan and other details about the company. The following is an edited excerpt of the interview with e27:
How does your company aim to make a difference with your solutions? Why is it better than existing solutions?
Helport distinguishes itself with a three-fold approach:
Empowering Human Talent: Unlike solutions aimed at replacing humans, Helport’s AI contact centre solution focuses on improving the productivity and efficiency of customer representatives by reducing their workload and boosting their sales.
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Unique Technological Advantage: Helport’s technology is rooted in over a decade of direct contact centre operational experience and continuous self-improvement in AI and big data applications. This has resulted in a unique blend of over 100 business scenario knowledge bases, algorithm models, and training tools that combine business expertise and scenario know-how with advanced operations research and AI for powerful application outcomes.
This approach significantly surpasses emerging AI tech companies’ stability, applicability, and domain knowledge.
Market-Validated Products and Business Model: Helport is less than three years old but has already achieved continuous profitability and market validation. Its AI assistant product is SaaS-based, allowing for rapid and flexible deployment across various contact centres, typically going live within one to four weeks and showing performance improvements within two to three months.
Currently, nearly ten thousand contact centre agents use Helport’s AI assistant, with rapidly growing user numbers, in contrast to many AI peers still in the investment stage with unproven business models and products.
Can you tell us about your product development process?
Our technology and products originated from the founding team’s decade-plus experience in operating contact centres and their best practices, as well as the accumulation of both hardware and software capabilities development through continuous digital upgrading and exploration of AI and big data applications. After three years of refining and iterating in real customer application scenarios, we have now developed a standardised SaaS product.
Currently, our R&D efforts are driven by two main factors: customer and market needs feedback, and technological advancement. We closely monitor the latest developments in artificial intelligence, communication technology, big data technology, and operations research, invest in related R&D, and integrate these advancements into our products.
What notable milestones have you made recently? What lessons have you got from this?
Recently, we have made significant strides in enhancing our AI software capabilities, particularly in AI speech and real-time monitoring. These advancements have improved service efficiency and reduced the time and resources required for agent training.
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One key lesson we have learned is the importance of continuous improvement and adaptation to meet evolving market needs and technological advancements.
What do you think will be key to a successful AI implementation across industries in SEA?
Helport firmly believes that, especially in the B2B domain, artificial intelligence technology must be combined with industry experience, domain knowledge, and best business practices to unleash its immense commercial value and truly solve complex business problems. With its large population, diverse scenarios, and varied customer needs, SEA presents unique challenges.
The key to successful AI implementation across SEA industries is customisation and understanding local market nuances. This involves tailoring AI solutions to meet each industry’s specific needs and challenges, taking into account cultural, linguistic, and regulatory differences, and integrating this with global and local business experts. Additionally, building robust partnerships and collaborating with local entities will be crucial for gaining market acceptance and ensuring the practical applicability of AI solutions.
Can you tell us about your expansion plan to the US? How do you plan to achieve this? Any specific strategy to acquire users?
North America is the largest market for contact centre services, and it is also our target market. We have already opened our office in San Diego, California. We will accelerate our market expansion in North America through direct market development, strategic cooperation, and mergers and acquisitions. Currently, all of these are actively progressing.
What is your big plan for 2024?
In 2024, we will accelerate our development in the global market. Our business in mainland China is experiencing rapid growth in scale, and we anticipate fast development in both North America and Southeast Asia.
At the same time, as an AI technology company, we will continue to invest in technology research and development this year. We aim to optimise product features and enhance product competitiveness. Our core R&D directions include knowledge base construction technology, AI speech technology, advanced operations research algorithms, multi-channel communication, AI knowledge base production and training technology based on large language models (LLM), and so on.
One of our key R&D areas is the application of general AI. Over the past few years, the Helport team has closely followed the progress of LLM technology and was among the earliest to apply it in our R&D. We have currently made significant strides in knowledge extraction and knowledge base construction with the LLM.
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Image Credit: Helport
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