Leading Digital Business Transformation 50th Edition

Leading Digital Business Transformation

The business case for a virtual assistant for retail staff Porsche and its dealership network have amassed a robust volume of customer data, which Ullrich saw as an opportunity to create better customer experiences by harnessing data to inform the customer experience. This motivated him to explore solutions that would enable Porsche’s sales force to access this information effectively. “We have access to a CRM database, and we have data produced by our vehicles but hardly data from our global staff to identify their actual needs to provide this expected customer experience, and I knew that if we could match this information, we could use it to create a great customer experience.” It was clear to Ullrich that building blocks were there, but he was grappling with how to get the information to retail staff as they need it in a seamless way. He said that he saw the opportunity to use virtual assistant technology to do this because he felt that this solution would be ideal in a retail environment. “I needed to figure out what kind of sensor or virtual assistant we could find to provide this service,” he explained. It became apparent though that the sensors needed to access and make sense of Porsche’s data and its dealership data do not exist currently, especially within the context of a legal framework around customer data protection. But the business case was compelling. Ullrich chose to focus his final diploma paper on solving the challenge he faced.

“At that time, I only had an idea,” he recalled. “I was not an expert in machine learning, but going through the course I could start to grapple with a range of possibilities.” When reflecting on what he learned, Ullrich said that his goal was not to be a great data scientist; rather it was for him to have the ability to see the bigger picture and drill back down. He was able to understand better what data is needed, how to access it, and, importantly, how to determine what kind of systems to use. After completing his Digital Excellence Diploma, Ullrich has since had the opportunity to present the business case for data-driven decision making at Porsche. He is now working on sensor prototypes to enable this.

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