Flutter bets on AI and automation to boost satisfaction and save millions a year

Flutter had a problem. It was struggling to connect with its customers. It had a low net promoter score (NPS) and a challenging customer contact center journey. The firm set out on a strategic mission to revamp the experience.  

So, in 2020, ‘Make Customers Love Us’ became more than a slogan. It marked a major shift in operations and the creation of an in-house delivered AI and automation program.   

As Oonagh Phelan, Head of Automation at Flutter, explained, trying to enhance its online chat facility through automation wasn’t without its problems. And it didn't immediately convince customers. 

“We faced a number of challenges when trying to integrate our natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) tools into the tech stack,” she said. “In year one, we only achieved 5% automation and a net promotor score of -10.”  

Flutter quickly realized it needed outside help. 

“Developing and deploying an AI-powered chatbot is a technically complex process. The right expertise is required. Also, acceptance by customers is not guaranteed, as we found out at the start of our journey,” Phelan said.  

AI-powered automation drives enhanced customer experience  

Getting closer to the customer would require a new integrated approach to automation. One that unified multiple systems effectively with natural language understanding while keeping human workers in the loop to ensure oversight. 

To make it happen, Flutter partnered with UiPath to automate backend processes with natural language understanding bridging the language barrier.  

That journey would begin with concierge bots, before adding more predictive capabilities to automate complex processes. Flutter wanted to automate 30% of all customer conversations by the end of 2022—hoping to drive up its net promotor score to +40. 

Improving the end-to-end experience meant using the right language, reducing data requests, and fully resolving customer issues.  

According to Phelan, simple low-code technology acted as the catalyst for transformation. 

We chose UiPath because of the ability to scale at pace. With three developers we were able to create three new automations every six weeks. Our customer service agents, conversation designer, conversational AI developers, and RPA developers were all critical to successfully automating customer journeys.

Oonagh Phelan, Head of Automation Strategy, Flutter UK & Ireland 

This new AI-powered customer experience has changed Flutter’s business landscape and saved millions in the process.  

Customers are happier and more engaged. Online activity and game-play is up 140%—without a corresponding increase in conversations into the contact center. And resourcing requirements have fallen by around 33%—saving Flutter more than £4 million and avoiding £12 million in cost increases.  

Happier customers and new commercial value 

This strategic step-change has also seen more than 70% of contacts fully automated in a single year. It’s a move that clearly resonates with customers. Flutter’s net promotor score jumped to +40.   

Using UiPath Action Center and Flutter’s new Escalation Virtual Assistant has done more than just enhance the customer experience—they’re delivering commercial value, too.  

Customer transfers to other teams are down from 20% to just 6%, while Flutter’s AI-powered Next Best Action tool makes it easy for agents to cross-sell at the end of each suitable contact.  

The success of this initiative has shown us the potential of AI-powered automation to transform our business. We are now able to provide our customers with a better experience, while also reducing our costs.

Oonagh Phelan, Head of Automation Strategy, Flutter UK & Ireland 

AI-powered automation has also helped Flutter solve problems with customer experience around its Know Your Customer (KYC) process.  

Frustration has turned into satisfaction, with response times slashed from 24 hours to just 15 minutes on average. Customers will soon be able to upload documents via messenger for instant verification. Next, Futter will rollout optical character recognition, allowing robots to automatically capture information. 

Phelan believes that generative AI will continue to enhance the customer experience and has ambitious plans for the future. 

We’ve hit 75% of all contacts fully automated for Paddy Power, and we can't wait for what's next. UiPath-powered natural language processing and natural language understanding have transformed our business model. We’re now excited to start to leverage large language models (LLM) using UiPath connections to multiple sources.

Oonagh Phelan, Head of Automation Strategy, Flutter UK & Ireland