Written by Kevin Chan, Chief Partner Officer, Microsoft Singapore
AI’s inflection point as the defining mainstream technology of our time is a reality today, and its presence has been felt through its infusion into both our lives and our work.
Today, our customers, partners and communities use a range of AI tools to make their lives better and easier, whether it’s using Bing, our AI-powered search engine to write better, starting up our Edge browser to generate images with AI, summarizing meeting actions with Teams Premium, or even using our range of Microsoft Copilots for Microsoft 365, Dynamics, Security, GitHub, and Power Platform.
But what really excites me beyond our innovation is what our partners are building in Singapore for the world, as they responsibly apply AI to innovation and open limitless opportunities to solve new problems everywhere in the world.
Amidst the momentum, two Singaporean start-ups Babbobox and Wiz.AI, have been building new AI innovation on the Microsoft Cloud. What’s so exciting about their innovation? Very simply, thanks to AI, they’ve created new ways for us to make video and audio work harder than ever with data-driven insights, analytics, and capabilities. They’ve also created a new way for us to speak with those around us in their own languages and dialects.
I’m excited to tell you more about how their breakthroughs with AI are taking Singapore Forward into the future.
Unlocking the potential of video search and live transcription
Babbobox has tackled the challenge of video search with AI, where less than 1% of video content is searchable despite accounting for 80% of Internet traffic.
Recognized as one of the top start-ups for the Future of Enterprise AI by Enterprise Singapore, Babbobox has developed Videospace, an advanced AI-infused Video Search Engine. Videospace can search and index various data elements within videos, including speech, objects, text, faces, and emotions.
Babbobox’s unique value proposition lies in Deep Video Search, which offers organisations novel ways to generate value from media. Videospace enables the extraction of data and intelligence from videos, unlocking analytical value and benefits from assets, at speed and scale. It provides instant access to “what people say,” reducing the need for manual scrolling through large volumes of video and audio.
For example, in the enterprise, AI is used to help brands better understand customer opinions about their brand reputation and products on a global scale in multiple languages. In education, learners can quickly search lecture videos and relevant content accelerates the learning process.
Babbobox’s technology has had a significant impact on the legal industry. It helped Epiq Global, a worldwide provider of legal and business services to law firms, corporations, financial institutions, and government agencies to launch EpiqFAST, a groundbreaking “courtroom of the future” solution. Built on Microsoft Azure, EpiqFAST utilizes AI to improve the justice system through real-time transcription, speaker separation and identification, and audio search capabilities. This integration of AI facilitates quick data extraction and analysis, delivering integrated outcomes that improve access to justice and alleviate labor constraints. Recognizing the importance of using AI within the legal industry, a judiciary system in Singapore awarded a tender to Babbobox for its Azure Speech services, further validating its potential in the legal domain.
“We’re witnessing AI’s potential through the emergence of ‘paperless, people-less’ courts allowing documents to be accessed anytime, anywhere. As we adapt to this new frontier, we are partnering with Babbobox in our commitment to making justice more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective for all,” said Lilian Goh, Regional Director of Epiq.
Powering customer engagement through AI (WIZ.AI)
WIZ.AI is one of our partners that is leading in the field of AI-driven omnichannel customer engagement. Their proprietary enterprise Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming how businesses communicate with customers.
At the heart of their offerings is the Talkbot, an AI-powered conversational agent leveraging advanced natural language processing and machine learning techniques. It delivers hundreds of millions of personalized, localised and superior customer engagements every hour, across a variety of channels such as telephony, chat, messaging, and email. Talkbots can listen, understand, and speak like locals in over 17 languages such as English, Bahasa Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, Urdu and even colloquial versions such as Singlish (Singaporean English) and Taglish (Tagalog and English).
WIZ.AI received accreditation from Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for compliance with industry standards. Their omni-channel and intelligent agent solutions have improved customer service capabilities, enhanced customer engagement, increased operational efficiency, and facilitated data-driven decision-making.
WIZ.AI’s Talkbots are deployed across multiple industries including telecommunication, banking, finance, insurance, healthcare, ecommerce and more. For example, in the insurance industry, Talkbots provide warm, and hyper-personalized experiences to customers. New customers receive welcome and onboarding calls instead of just receiving brochures and flyers. These interactive Talkbots also remind them to pay their premiums promptly to ensure policies remain active. Furthermore, these interactive calls also help with compliance and enable customers to have two-way conversations, addressing their queries and tier one issues like answering common frequently asked questions frequently.
“The best thing about our experience is that WIZ.AI CX Designers are always helping us refine our strategy. There’s excellent two-way communication between us and the WIZ team. WIZ continually suggests how to improve the performance of the Talkbots and implementing the suggestions improves our results,” said Ibu Fitriah Betan, Head of Customer Experience, JAGADIRI.
After the successful implementation of automated premium reminders, JAGADIRI, an Indonesian insurance company, now plans to develop and deploy debt collection reminders for due and overdue accounts and have plans to employ Talkbots for Welcome Calls to new customers.
By harnessing these powerful technologies, WIZ.AI helps businesses provide exceptional customer experiences, foster stronger relationships, and gain a competitive edge in the digital landscape.
AI and its transformational impact on our future
AI holds tremendous potential and its transformative impact on society and our economy is undeniable. It has the potential to solve some of humanity’s biggest problems and empower people to become more creative and productive. With advancing AI technologies, the possibilities for revolutionizing various industries and fields is limitless.
As we embrace the use of AI, it is crucial to ensure ethical, transparent, and proper control over its deployment. Microsoft is committed to developing and deploying AI in a safe and responsible way. We are doing this through our Responsible AI standards, and principles such as fairness, reliability, safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability, that put people first.
These principles are put into practice through responsible innovation, empowering others and fostering a positive impact on our community. However, we also acknowledge that establishing guardrails for AI requires a shared sense of responsibility across society and should not be solely entrusted to technology companies.
In this era of technological innovation, Microsoft remains dedicated to promoting responsible AI practices that prioritize the welfare of individuals and society as a whole. We firmly believe that AI can be a force for good and are unwavering in our efforts to ensure its ethical and responsible use.
You can find out more about Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence solutions and guidelines here.
