Customer service is about more than providing quick answers. Whether someone is managing a membership, asking about healthcare cover, searching for information or trying to understand their energy usage, they want accurate information and a straightforward way to resolve their query.
Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities for organisations to improve these experiences, helping teams access information faster, identify customer needs and deliver more personalised support.
The Best Application of AI in Consumer and Customer Service award Sponsored by Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet recognises four organisations putting these ideas into practice: Headon Boxing Academy, Laya Healthcare, Ministry Brands Ireland and SSE Airtricity.
Their shortlisted projects demonstrate how AI can support customer engagement, improve access to information and help organisations deliver more responsive services.
Meet the Finalists
Headon Boxing Academy’s Pulse uses AI to identify changes in member behaviour that may signal cancellation risk. Combining predictive analysis with staff-led outreach, it helps teams prioritise timely interventions and learn from outcomes to support member retention.
Laya Healthcare’s Knowledge Hub helps customer service advisers find consistent, policy-specific answers through a single interface. It combines approved information with relevant member context, providing supporting references and confidence indicators to assist human judgement and customer conversations.
Ministry Brands Ireland’s Amplify Intelligence enables churches and non-profits to explore information across systems using natural language. Governed access and approval controls support useful insights while protecting sensitive data, helping teams focus more time on their communities.
SSE Airtricity’s Enhanced Smart Insights Energy Advisor uses generative AI and smart-meter information to provide personalised energy guidance. Its evaluation-led approach checks accuracy, tone and relevance, helping customers understand their consumption and make more informed energy decisions.
What These Projects Tell Us About the Future of Customer Service
Although the four finalists operate in very different sectors, their applications highlight several important developments in how organisations are approaching AI.
1. Customer service is becoming more proactive
Traditionally, customer service begins when someone contacts an organisation with a question or problem.
AI creates opportunities to identify potential issues earlier. Predictive tools, such as the approach developed by Headon Boxing Academy, can help teams recognise patterns and respond before a customer disengages.
The challenge is ensuring that any intervention is timely, relevant and genuinely useful.
2. AI is supporting employees, not just automating conversations
Customer service AI is often associated with chatbots, but its applications extend well beyond automated responses.
Laya Healthcare’s Knowledge Hub demonstrates how AI can support employees by making complex information easier to find and interpret.
Giving advisers better access to reliable information can improve the quality of customer interactions while allowing employees to focus on situations requiring personal judgement.
3. Access to information is becoming simpler
Customers and employees shouldn’t need to understand how an organisation stores its information to find an answer.
Natural-language interfaces, such as Ministry Brands Ireland’s Amplify Intelligence, offer a more intuitive way to interact with organisational systems.
However, convenience must be balanced with appropriate data permissions, security and the ability to verify information.
4. Personalisation needs to deliver practical value
AI can help organisations move beyond generic information towards guidance based on individual circumstances.
SSE Airtricity’s application illustrates how customer data can be used to provide more relevant recommendations.
The real measure of success is whether customers understand that guidance and can use it to make better decisions.
Measuring What Matters in Customer Service
As more organisations introduce AI into customer-facing operations, measuring success becomes increasingly important.
Faster response times and reduced workloads are useful indicators, but they don’t necessarily mean the customer experience has improved.
Organisations should also consider:
Customer resolution: Are problems being resolved effectively, without unnecessary follow-up?
Accuracy and reliability: Can customers and employees trust the information provided?
Customer effort: Is the technology making interactions simpler and reducing frustration?
Human support: Can customers easily reach an employee when their needs are more complex?
Measurable impact: Is the application improving retention, satisfaction, service quality or another meaningful business outcome?
These measures should be considered alongside customer feedback, privacy requirements and the experience of employees using the technology.
AI works best when it addresses a clearly defined problem rather than introducing automation for its own sake.
Celebrating Innovation in Customer Service
The four finalists demonstrate the breadth of AI innovation taking place across Ireland, from smaller businesses using predictive insights to established organisations improving information access and customer guidance.
While their approaches differ, they share a common objective: using technology to make services more useful, accessible and responsive to the people who rely on them.
The Best Application of AI in Consumer and Customer Service award recognises the organisations exploring these opportunities and contributing to the future of customer experience.
Join us at the Irish AI Awards 2026
Join us on Tuesday, 17 November 2026, at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin, as we celebrate Ireland’s AI community’s outstanding achievements and reveal this year’s winners.
Tickets are available now. Secure your place and join us for an event celebrating the people, organisations and innovations shaping the future of artificial intelligence in Ireland.
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