A Bangalore, India-based startup recently launched what they are calling an “AI-fueled smart-purchasing assistant” focused on simpflying the ordering process for products and services. The service, known as Niki, was launched at YourStory’s TechSparks 2015, a startup and entrepreneurial showcase held in Bengaluru, India.

Based on various information sources, here’s what I’ve pieced together about how the assistant works. The chatbot-styled service requires the user to install the Android app, currently available exclusively in India. The app supports text-input only and the communication style between the user and Niki works like a typical chat session.

At present Niki supports two ordering services: mobile recharge and booking a rideshare service. To take advantage of the mobile recharge, you tell Niki how much data you want to add to your plan and confirm your payment option. The assistant will leverage algorithms to suggest the best plan and make the purchase.

As mentioned on Niki.ai, the assistant will continue to work proactively to help you maintain the mobile data at the level you need. It can continually search out and recommend better deals, remind you of deadlines, and keep your data recharged automatically. This type of proactive consumer-advocacy service seems somewhat parallel to what the team at MyWave is offering with their Frank assistant.

Niki can also order you a car on either Uber or Ola, an Indian cab service. It uses your current location and preference information to find the best car. You don’t even need to have the Uber or Ola app installed.

According to the press release, the team will continually add new e-commerce skills to the assistant’s repertoire. They also indicate plans to voice-enable Niki and make it possible to access the assistant from mobile calls and within SMS sessions.

The Niki smart purchasing assistant is yet another indication that chat-based intelligent concierge-style services are the next generation of customer self-service.

Categories: Conversational Intelligence, Intelligent Assistants, Articles

Tags: Android, intelligent Assistants, Niki