Innovation at Manchester Airport Group (MAG)

Summary

1. Introduction to Innovation

   • Digital transformation has gone through three phases: digitizing processes, leveraging data for smarter decisions, and innovating to drive efficiency and customer value.
   • Innovation is challenging due to resistance to change, the experimental nature of innovation, and the stigma around failure.
   • Successful innovation programs focus on the right business stakeholders, solving customer problems, and defining business value upfront.

2. Manchester Airport Group (MAG) Overview

   • MAG is the UK's largest airport operator, comprising three airports: Manchester, East Midlands, and London Stansted.
   • MAG's mission is to provide great airport experiences and innovative travel solutions for passengers and airlines.
   • Passenger demographics include a large percentage of international travelers, with over 40 languages spoken.
   • The challenge is to better understand and serve these diverse customers with limited customer service resources.

3. Addressing the Customer Challenge

   • MAG partnered with AWS to prototype a solution using generative AI (Amazon Bedrock) to create an interactive conversational chatbot.
   • The key requirements were to provide multilingual support, fast response times, and the ability to handle a variety of queries about the airport, flights, and more.
   • The prototyping process involved a workshop to understand the current challenges, architecture design, and a rapid build phase using AWS services such as Amazon Cognito, API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, Kendra, and Bedrock.

4. Lessons Learned and Insights

   • Prototyping with generative AI requires a "bias for action" and experimental mindset to quickly learn and iterate.
   • Handling multiple languages and prompt engineering were key challenges that the team had to overcome.
   • Moving the prototype to production required addressing risks around hallucinations and overconfidence, as well as engaging broader stakeholders to build confidence in the solution.

5. Impact and Next Steps

   • The virtual assistant, named "Val," has been launched at London Stansted airport and is already seeing positive customer feedback and impact.
   • Key benefits include 24/7 multilingual support, freeing up human staff for more complex queries, and providing valuable customer insights.
   • MAG is now exploring ways to further integrate the virtual assistant into the passenger journey, including mobile accessibility and personalization opportunities.

Overall, the MAG story demonstrates how a customer-centric approach to innovation, coupled with rapid experimentation and a focus on business value, can lead to the successful deployment of transformative solutions that enhance the passenger experience.