DTEK’s YASNO boosts customer service with Microsoft Azure OpenAI, reducing inquiry handling time by 22%

In the heart of Ukraine lies DTEK, the country's largest private investor in the energy sector. DTEK runs solar, wind, and thermal power plants, extracting coal and natural gas. Since its founding, DTEK has been driven by a clear mission: to bring light and warmth, fostering progress and prosperity. A rapidly evolving company, it is committed to innovation, efficiency, and leadership in the European energy market. 

YASNO is the brand under which DTEK provides retail electricity and gas supply services. Over the years, DTEK’s YASNO has established itself as a major player in the energy market, tirelessly serving 3.5 million Ukrainian individuals and businesses.

Catching up with customer growth

YASNO's contact center specialists handle more than 300 customer inquiries daily for DTEK’s subsidiary. They were taking a lot of time processing each request, which not only slowed down operations, but also impacted efficiency and customer satisfaction. As the company continues to grow and serve millions of consumers, streamlining customer interactions had become a priority. The IT division of DTEK, MODUS X, came in to support this endeavor. “We realized that solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI) could accelerate response times, automate routine tasks, and assist agents in resolving issues more efficiently,” shares Alex Vygodski, Head of Enterprise Applications and Technologies at MODUS X.

DTEK and YASNO turned to Microsoft for its reliable, cloud-based, and ready-to-use solutions, which would make implementation faster and more efficient. What’s more, the company was already familiar with the Microsoft environment, having used the Microsoft Power Platform to improve debt management through data analytics, automation, and collaboration tools. This existing experience and user familiarity would make adoption smoother. 

Embracing artificial intelligence

The main goal of creating the AI assistant was to increase contact center efficiency and reallocate existing specialists to handle more complex customer inquiries in the back office. For that, YASNO has embraced Microsoft’s AI-powered solutions to enhance customer service. The company developed a visual interface within its Cisco contact center solution. This system integrates Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search to provide real-time AI-generated recommendations to contact center specialists, helping them respond to customer inquiries more quickly and effectively. 

The AI-tool retrieves information from billing and accounting systems, knowledge bases, and other master data sources. "With Azure OpenAI Service, we analyze dozens of dialogues in real time to provide comprehensive answers and resolve clients’ inquiries faster, increasing the return on investment (ROI) of customer success services,” shares Oleksii.

Empowered staff, happier customers

The response from employees has been overwhelmingly positive, with AI-driven tools making daily tasks smoother and more efficient. “We are thrilled with the impact AI has had on our contact center,” shares Mykhailo Samokhvalov, Head of Information Technologies at YASNO. “The average handling time for customer inquiries has dropped from 4.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes, allowing us to serve customers faster and better.” 

This innovation has not only streamlined our operations but also enhanced the overall customer experience. “AI solutions have significantly improved our customer service by providing quick and accurate responses, freeing up our agents to handle more complex issues. This has not only enhanced our efficiency but also elevated the overall customer experience,” shares Sergii Kovalenko, Chief Executive Officer at YASNO.

Moving forward, the company is considering launching a customer-facing AI assistant, which is expected to resolve 80% of customer inquiries automatically. Following the successful pilot and official launch of the solution in the contact center, it is also pursuing a strategy to integrate AI-based solutions into its processes. It plans to utilize AI for real-time analysis of customer voice calls, as well as for analyzing large volumes of calls to identify patterns and trends. Mykhailo concludes, “We look forward to expanding our AI capabilities and driving greater success in the future.”

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