Leonid, you joined DKV Mobility in March 2024 as Head of AI in CPS (Customer Product Services) Department to streamline and drive the integration of AI into the company products, services and processes. This is a super interesting task, so we are happy to have you here for this interview! Let´s start with the first question:

Why is AI relevant for DKV Mobility?

Leonid: The capabilities of AI have significantly developed in the recent decade, leading us to an era where AI helps intertwine human activities with technology. This suggests that AI will have major transformative impacts on many activities, including business and product development. Mustafa Suleyman, the Chief AI Officer of Microsoft had defined AI as the new digital species – a new companion for us in everything we do.

With this advancement, there are still significantly many questions that are not yet answered on how specifically AI will impact the different personal and business activities. However, it is critical to start thinking about those potential implications today. Waiting until the questions are answered by others, is risking being too late to react.

So, the answer to the question on why AI relevant to DKV Mobility has two sides to it: On the one hand, AI offers significant opportunities to enhance our personal productivity with tools like Microsoft Copilot. We as a employees must leverage this opportunity as we constantly strive to be more productive and perform better for our customers. On the other hand, AI has a significant potential to transform how we build products and services for our customers. We as a business must act now to understand how we can leverage AI to stay competitive and continue to offer great services and products to our customers.

To sum it up, I would like to share a quote from Scott Galloway that I really like, “AI won't take your job. Someone using AI will “– AI offers us limitless opportunities and we should act now to seize them!

So that means now it‘s on us to take these opportunities. Sound like your team has a bis task ahead of them?

Leonid: Yes, there is much to do and many exciting challenges to tackle! My strategy for the team is to help DKV Mobility become an AI driven company. My team will act as enabler for the company to adopt AI in the best possible way, having always our customers in mind. We will be “Empowering with AI, thinking customer first”

Can you give us a few insights into what you and your team will be tackling in the future?

Leonid: Sure! This year we are creating the foundation to drive AI within the organization. We are planning a further expansion of our Microsoft Copilot Awareness Program, during which we will establish a group of Ambassadors that will help drive the adoption of the Copilot in the company and help employees gain the most benefits out of AI in their daily work. We are also establishing an AI Codex for the company, as we think it is important to define those critical questions related to AI for us as organization and try to answer them together.

From the technical strategy perspective, we are setting up a Conversational AI Platform that will enable us to develop a powerful Digital Assistant strategy for both external (e.g. customer service) and internal (e.g. Employee Support) Digital Assistant (aka Chatbots). In parallel we’re running several other AI activities which are based on Machine Learning procedures, such as Smart Risk project that helps us reduce the risk of payment defaults.

Sounds like fun. You are currently hiring. Looks like potential applicants can really live it up in your team?

Being part of the team means taking part in creating something new for the company and having the opportunity to shape the future of AI within DKV Mobility. DKV Mobility is a front runner in adopting AI as a strategy and being part of the team means being at the forefront of the technology. We are helping the whole organization to implement and adopt AI, which means we always need to stay on the technological forefront of AI and understand how the latest technical advancements are working and the impact they might have on us a as a company as well as the value they will potentially bring.

Being part of CPS team, which the AI team is part of, is to be part of a team that is not afraid to take on a challenge and is striving to be at the lead of technology within our company. We do this by working together as a team and ensuring we also have fun as we go. We truly believe in what we’re doing!

Even though I have only recently joined the team myself, I have already experienced an amazing team spirit. If it is during team meetings about projects or during joint lunch breaks at the Canteen or coffees at our Barista Bar – we always enjoy each other`s company. Also, I am already looking forward to our next yearly summer event as I heard those events are legendary!