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idealog/TECH FUTURES LAB
Idealog.co.nz | The Transformation Issue
At Tech Futures Lab, we often
talk about finding purpose or
your ‘why?’ For Ellen Yan, it
was to reach new heights
in her role as Business
Development Manager for
leading media giant Stuff.
“My why, was to elevate myself
within my workplace.”
And elevate she did.
Having seen first-hand how
quickly the customer service
landscape was changing, she
decided to develop a chatbot to
improve and future-proof Stuff’s
customer experience.
“Stuff currently employs a team
of nine customer service staff. On a
pro-rata basis, the business would
need to have a team of 47 customer
service staff to service 50,000
customers. For business operations,
the use of a chatbot would help
optimize customer service efficiencies
to manage customer needs as well
as mitigate the potential need for
significant added headcount.
“Essentially, this is about
preparing for the future in order to
continue customer support as the
company scales up. In addition,
adding value to the customerTAKING HER CAREER TO NEW HEIGHTS
(//(1<$1%86,1(66'(9(/230(170$1$*(5678))‘what if’ and be exposed to all these
new ideas, you realised you had this
chance to create a brand new future.”
Through his Master’s, Seamus
created a project management
platform that allows consumers
to manage their small land
holdings remotely.
“My Master’s project was
inspired by a block of land we own
on Waiheke Island. I was getting local
trades to go and have a look at a job
and I wouldn’t be there to hand it
over to them. We were getting lost
in translation on the phone, and I
couldn’t monitor the property when
I wasn’t there. We’d have a big storm
come through and I’d have to get on
a ferry. So I wanted to see how I could
put that all that onto a dashboard. If
there was a fence broken, I wanted to
be able to take a photo of the fence,
geotag it, explain what I wanted, send
it off to a custom trade, get them to
go straight to that geotag location
and then for me to be able to live
track that they’re actually on the job
when they say they are, for them to
photograph it, send it back, close it
out and then put in an invoice without
me having to go back to follow it up.”
He got it through to the
prototype stage and now it’s waiting
to be developed. Waiting, because
Seamus is flat out. Since finishing
his Master’s, his business Fr@nk has
doubled in size.
“I’ve now got my certification in
running design thinking workshops,
got Scrum certified, got Agile certified
and become an Agile instructor. And
I’m almost about to become DevOps
certified. It’s opened a floodgate really.
It’s also made a huge difference to
how I spend my free time. I got rid
of all social media and I must have
read or listened to 150 books since
I left the course.”
Seamus says the Master of
Technological Futures is an absolute
no brainer.
I didn’t know how insular
I’d become. I think for males in
particular, you reach your mid 40s
and you get a bit time warped. I’d got
to this really comfortable place and
thought yeah I’ve cracked it but then
I realised no, I haven’t cracked it at all,
start again. Once those blinkers come
off and you start seeing all these new
opportunities, it’s very exciting.”
experience to increase customer
loyalty. Strategically it can be treated
as a testing ground for a potential
rollout to other Stuff business entities,
ultimately adding substantial value to
the entire Stuff portfolio.”
The iteration, testing and
development of a chatbot has not only
provided untold benefits for Stuff; for
Ellen The Master of Technological
Futures has instilled a new sense of
purpose. “It’s given me confidence
and open-mindedness in emergent,
disruptive technology space, but also
enabled me to explore an area outside
my skill set and allowed me to move
within the chatbot space. It’s given
me a boost in confidence and work
have seen that, and I have been given
a promotion!”
Ellen had been contemplating
a MBA, but was converted by
the practicality of the Master of
Technological Futures: one year study
as opposed to three and the applied
elements versus 100% theory.
She was also drawn to Tech
Futures’ unique learning environment.
“I was impressed from the very
first time I walked into the Lab. I
resonated with both current students
and advisors, engaging in very easy,intelligent conversations.”
Other highlights included
exposure to industry experts at the
forefront of new and emergent global
trends and the opportunity to apply
a real-life business project within her
company that extended beyond her
normal scope of work.
“I was very fortunate to be
supported by Stuff, not only for the
time off during the initial immersion
phase. They continued their support
by allowing me to perform my current
role over four days, and spend the
fifth day on my project. It was a
no brainer.”
And Ellen’s message to others
is to urge their employers to support
them too. “You have to be brave. Talk
to your current employer. A lot of
employers don’t have time to explore
the emerging and disruptive space, so
it’s a win win for the employer, to have
someone to dive into that space so
they’re not left behind.
“I look forward to my project
going live. I can proudly say I played a
significant part in bringing the project
to life for Stuff Fibre. It’s a great
feeling of achievement.
“I’ve carved another option in
terms of my career.” ■I look forward to my
project going live. I can
proudly say I played
a significant part in
bringing the project
to life for Stuff Fibre.
It’s a great feeling
of achievement.ELLEN YAN