By December 2018, Evie the digital personal assistant (PA) had gained quite a following from prominent clients such as Unilever and Airbus. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Evie was so good that clients believed 'she' was human, expecting to greet 'her' in the flesh at meetings. Jin Hian Lee, Evie.ai's co-founder, understood that gaining such high praise from clients was not enough. More needed to be done to jumpstart the fledgling start-up's growth to the next level. But where should his focus be? There were signs that Evie could perhaps benefit from specialising in specific domains or be bolder and venture beyond the shores of Singapore, where the start-up was based since it began in 2014. How should Lee chart the 'career path' of Evie? What should he do? Unbeknownst to him, Lee would face a similar dilemma in 2020 when the global COVID-19 pandemic plagued the world. How could he cope with the challenges awaiting Evie.ai?

This case recounts the journey of Evie.ai, a Singapore-based tech startup. Specifically, the case examines how founder Lee Jin Hian and his team developed and implemented Evie, an artificial intelligence (AI) personal assistant. There are very few teaching cases on AI and its impact on work and employment. Commercial applications of AI may promise substantial potential gains to individual and organizational productivity, but we need to be aware of their limits as well. This case introduces students to AI and how this technology can be informed by data analytics and applied to various tasks. It also offers lessons on the realities of running a startup: students will gain a deeper understanding of tech entrepreneurship (or "technopreneurship") from analysing the challenges and opportunities that confronted Evie.ai, and in navigating the decisions the startup needed to make in the face of mounting competition and rapid technological shifts.

Industry note for case NTU226