Singapore public agency VITAL offered corporate shared services including human resources (HR), payroll, and finance to agencies across the Singapore Public Service. Due to the nature of their jobs, VITAL officers handled a large volume of mundane administrative work. As automation was being increasingly adopted in the workplace, VITAL Chief Executive Dennis Lui decided that his staff should undergo training in areas such as data analytics, design thinking, and low-code/no-code tools to remain relevant. This would also enable them to move up the value chain and command better salaries. However, as in any change management exercise, VITAL's management faced several challenges as they put in place various new initiatives. Meanwhile, VITAL had also been tasked to be the robotics and automation lead for fellow public agencies in the area of corporate and administrative services, while still having to compete with private sector rivals for business as it did not enjoy a monopoly. As the world struggled to find its bearings amid wave upon wave of new developments in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Lui wondered how he could lead the agency to reach greater heights.
Launched in 2019 by Indian technology giant Infosys, Helix reduced administrative costs associated with insurance claims in the US healthcare industry. The vast US healthcare industry required a seamless insurance membership experience-one that comprised administrative functions that were easily disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digitising such functions saved insurers administrative costs, saw revenue growths, and helped during erratic surges in demand. Most insurers tried incremental upgrades to digitise ageing platforms that were at least 20 years old. However, by the time the upgrades were completed, the platform was considered outdated once again. As a solution, many technology companies offered either 'one-size-fits-all' or extremely niche solutions. Noting the gap in the market for adequate solutions, Helix developed an AI-driven, 'software-as-a-service' (SaaS), modular technology. With this, independently-functioning administrative processes could be integrated into ageing systems, one process at a time. Eventually, Helix aimed to replace the client's core administrative functions. Despite its capabilities, getting client's employees to implement the Helix software into their workflow was hard. Nevertheless, the company persevered, and by May 2023, 5,000 client employees were using Helix in their workflow. Now, Vadiraj Guttal, Infosys Healthcare's AVP and Head of Platforms wondered how his team could better convince potential clients that Helix was an invaluable aid, and a truly effective partner in the healthcare insurance ecosystem.
This case study is set in September 2016 to April 2021. It describes how Abhilash Murthy used the Digital Product Management (DPM) framework to create the Bus Uncle chatbot and subsequently, to pivot to a successful digital business. The DPM framework combines Design Thinking, Lean Start-up and Agile methodology. It can be used to develop digital products and solutions in the private and public sectors. There are four distinct stages that correspond to cases A, B, C and D respectively. And there are supporting videos for this case. Case A: How Abhilash created the Bus Uncle chatbot and then rapidly re-architected it to scale after the chatbot went viral. Case B: How Abhilash started monetising the Bus Uncle chatbot through conversational advertising. Case C: How Abhilash built a chatbot agency to develop and implement chatbots for other organisations. Case D: How Abhilash created a chatbots-as-a-service platform called BotDistrikt to scale the chatbot business further.