Highlights From TCN’s Recent Glasgow UK Tech Meetup

TCN’s UK team held its first Tech Meetup event last month and is looking forward to making it an annual event. It was a resounding success with invaluable insights shared and plans to become an annual event for industry professionals to look forward to.

Held in Glasgow, Scotland, TCN was delighted to host professionals from all over the country and offer the chance to discuss the latest industry trends and hot topics affecting the contact centre such as techniques around proper agent outsourcing, process integration and leveraging the newest AI advancements.

The hype surrounding AI

During the first keynote speaker’s session, Chris Warburton, founder of RO-AR.com, provided practical insights into the current collection landscape, the hype surrounding AI, and how to make it a reality in the credit and collections industry.

Key takeaways included:

• AI has hit everyone’s attention — it is still developing but at a fast pace
• The industry is close to using a lot of AI techniques on a day-to-day basis
• AI brings new mathematics techniques, more processing speed, more power, more data and storage
• Organisations are accruing data at a rate we have never seen before and a lot of it is going to be predictive
• In the UK, the use of AI has been driven by regulation that has come in over the last 5 years due to consumer duty/customer detriment.

When looking at collections processes, the sheer volume of tech can be confusing for many. Industry experts recommend looking for options with a good process design that allows users to gather more data with digital processes and have greater segmentation. 

Chris also shared that increasing data will be the fastest area of development with AI in the industry, enabling greater automation. As more information on customers is captured, there will also be a greater degree of segmentation, enabling businesses to personalise journeys and create new methods of doing things.

Additionally, emerging risks include privacy as the ‘contract’ of the internet is being broken because everything sits within gtp models and data is going to train other models. If not used properly, it could lead to false negatives when it comes to identifying potential issues, such as vulnerable customers.

Demystifying AI in credit and collections

In the panelist discussion, industry experts shared that businesses shouldn’t place too much emphasis on technology if it isn’t needed. Instead, businesses should look to answer the questions they have today, such as how to reduce costs, how to increase revenue and how to stay compliant. 

It is also essential that any AI used has the correct controls in place, guided by the information given. AI could never replace all agents in this sector, as many controls would need to remain in place. 

AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon

Kerry Sherman, VP at TCN, closed the event and shared that he uses AI every day and predicts the tool will change rapidly over the next 5-10 years. He pointed out that AI is used throughout the TCN product and that having better tech helps you build even better tech.

As an industry, TCN believes in providing only the best solutions to its clients and will continue to be at the forefront of evolving technology. TCN is also set on hosting and participating in more events like the Glasgow Tech Meetup — not only to help educate but also to keep the dialogue moving because we all want to keep learning and keep the industry moving.

Another event is already being planned for next year, so stay tuned!