Empowering EDF employees through AI integration

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The digital transformation of a low-carbon leader

EDF is one of the world's largest electricity producers, with 167,000 employees serving nearly 40 million customers.

As a world leader in low-carbon energy, the Group has embarked on a vast digital transformation program to improve its economic performance, while making progress on its sustainable development goals.

At the heart of this strategy, EDF's IT teams have been undergoing a profound change in their delivery model for the past two years to optimise their productivity. Nearly 120,000 employees throughout France benefit from its IT services and dedicated support via a team of operators based in Roanne, Central France.

EDF wanted to deploy an innovative system that would unlock the potential of its IT support team and improve the quality of its service. The solution: AMY.

Faster, more responsive, 24/7 IT support

EDF's IT teams were looking for a solution that would speed up the handling of common IT incidents, without incurring significant long-term investments.

Sopra Steria is a long-standing partner of EDF, so it was a natural choice for the two organisations to work together on this project, which required pragmatism, speed of execution and capacity for innovation.

The IT support team handles approximately 25,000 requests per month; from installing printers and customising settings to resetting passwords, which alone accounts for nearly 23% of all calls.

As the calls were not evenly distributed throughout the day, the support was under high pressure at certain times.

The challenge was to free the support team from time-consuming and repetitive requests, while improving the user experience to achieve optimal quality of service.

Innovating to better support employees

Sopra Steria worked hand-in-hand with EDF's IT teams from analysis of needs to the deployment of the solution, including its ideation and design.

This solution, called AMY, is a Voicebot equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and using Natural Language Processing to respond to users in an appropriate way and guide them through all the steps of solving their computer problems.

AMY integrates seamlessly with the existing IT support architecture, providing users with a seamless journey and 24/7 service.

With the help of complex algorithms, the Voicebot is able to ensure fluid conversations with its users, while respecting the GDPR standards governing the use of personal data.

No data, other than voice, is collected or stored, which limits the bot's customisation capabilities without harming its learning capabilities. The AI capacity allows it to analyse the conversations made and enables it to learn to solve problems encountered in similar situations on its own.

AMY has demonstrated its effectiveness and we’re delighted with its results. We have made the work of operators smoother while offering users 24/7 support. Thibaud Brisson Operations Manager - DSIT EDF

New features and new perspectives

In June 2022, after a 5-month pilot phase, AMY was rolled out to all users and its results exceeded expectations.

AMY now handles a quarter of all requests, 50% of which are completed, without any human intervention. And 70% of these queries are resolved on the first contact.

The solution improved the productivity of the IT support team, reducing their call volume and freeing them up from repetitive incidents with low added value. This allows the team to spend more time solving more complex or critical IT problems.

The Voicebot also offers EDF employees the opportunity to be more autonomous in resolving recurring problems or incidents requiring an immediate response. With strong buy-in from launch, it significantly improves the user experience by eliminating waiting times and the inconvenience inherent in maintenance services.

Based on this first version, the evolution of AMY offers infinite potential: support enriched with new features to address a wide range of issues and soon, a multilingual version for reduced development costs.

This project was a real partnership: we worked closely with EDF in the co-development and implementation of the Voicebot, while complying with the requirements of the GDPR. Fabrice Normand Director of Innovation and Transformation - Sopra Steria

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