Building AI Support So Good, You’ll Wonder: "Is This Even AI?" (Ft. Steve Hind, CEO Lorikeet)

Episode Summary

In this episode of "In the Blink of AI," host Georgie Healy interviews Steve Hind, co-founder of Lorikeet, a leading AI customer support platform tailored for complex industries like FinTech and health tech. Steve discusses the evolving landscape of AI, addressing common misconceptions about its capabilities and the importance of prioritising customer experience. He emphasises that delivering effective support, whether through humans or AI, hinges on the intent and goals of the business.

Steve elaborates on the uniqueness of Lorikeet's platform, which enables companies to train AI agents to handle intricate support queries, and highlights the significance of understanding the diverse needs of customers across various sectors. The conversation also touches upon the recent $14 million funding round for Lorikeet and the impact of AI technologies like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in enhancing customer support.

Throughout the discussion, Steve shares insights on the importance of empathy in AI interactions, the role of customisation in chatbot personalities, and the necessity for businesses to adapt to the fast-paced AI advancements. He concludes with a reminder to approach AI with a mindset focused on improving customer experiences, urging listeners to be kind to AI as it continues to evolve.

Time Stamps

00:00 – Why AI customer support gets a bad reputation

01:52 – What makes Lorikeet different from other AI support tools

02:49 – Why banks and healthcare companies need AI-driven customer support

09:00 – What is RAG, and why does it matter for AI-powered customer service?

14:09 – The biggest mistake AI chatbots make in customer support

16:26 – What does "agentic reasoning" really mean?

19:12 – The cost of running AI models and why RAG reduces compute power

27:46 – AI tools Steve uses every day (and his take on Perplexity and Replit)

30:36 – How to stand out when applying for an AI job

39:18 – What people get wrong about AGI and AI scaling laws

Resources Mentioned

Lorikeet – AI-powered customer support for FinTechs and health techs (https://www.lorikeetcx.ai/)

Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, Skip Capital – Major investors in Lorikeet

Replit & Cursor – AI-powered developer tools for software engineering

Perplexity AI – AI search and research assistant

Superhuman AI – AI-powered email client with automated responses

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Rocking Horse - November 2024