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The company’s co-founder and CEO, Zayd Enam, said the goal is not to replace workers, but to improve their performance. He said Cresta’s proposal was made possible thanks to recent advances in the power and speed of its AI software, which he describes as “game-changing.”
Cresta has 200 employees, has raised more than $150 million in venture funding, and has several dozen corporate clients, including Verizon, Cox Communications, and Porsche.
CarMax, the nation’s largest used-car retailer, began testing Cresta software in December. Jim Lyski, vice president of strategy, marketing and products, said the AI experiment follows years of investment in changing the company’s computing operations to run on more flexible, cloud-based systems.
Customer inquiries to CarMax’s contact centers often take a long time. Used cars come in different years, models, features and driving histories, and financing plans vary for what a major purchase is. Mr. Lyski said the range of questions is unlimited so fully automated communication is not an option.
However, a computer assistant that could help unravel all automotive complexity, offering real-time recommendations and information, was appealing. Cresta first trained on CarMax contact center data and the experiment started with live chat agents making text conversations with customers.
Mr. Lyski said the experience was encouraging. There was a nearly 10 percent improvement in response time, conversion to sales, and reduced session time. And the system keeps learning and getting better. The company started a pilot project with agents making voice calls, bringing the total number of agents using AI technology to 200.
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