Artificial Intelligence

In recent years, the Poste Italiane Group has embarked on a path of profound technological and digital transformation by investing heavily in technological intensity, i.e. the ability to adopt exponential technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), in its infrastructure and organisation as quickly as possible.

The transformation started with data through the creation of an advanced data ecosystem, capable of supporting strategic decisions, optimising daily operations and improving the customer experience. Thanks to a data-driven approach, data is no longer regarded as a mere analysis tool, but as a strategic asset that drives every corporate action.

The introduction of a next-generation distributed data architecture (data mesh) was a turning point and Poste Italiane adopted this decentralised approach, which allows data management by domains, overcoming the concept of “centralised certification”; information is made directly available to business structures, allowing them to work faster and more autonomously, accessing  data in real time.

The data mesh infrastructure is the basis of AI applications, as it ensures that information is accessible, contextualised and high-quality, which are key elements for training and using AI models more effectively.

Poste Italiane has begun to embrace Artificial Intelligence, recognising its potential and taking advantage of it in compliance with the principles that have been a hallmark of its history for over 160 years such as: transparency, integrity, inclusiveness with particular attention to the respect for and valuing of people. In particular, through innovation, the Company aims to simplify the activities of its employees and meet the needs of its customers more effectively by making the enormous potential and benefits of artificial intelligence available to them.

Thanks to the significant technological investments made over the years (e.g.: Cloud and Edge Computing), to date the Group has the largest technology infrastructure in Italy distributed throughout the country. This infrastructure is the basis for the huge omnichannel service and relationship platform that has enabled 25 million daily customer interactions through physical channels (Post Offices, postmen, third-party physical networks) or digital channels (apps and web) and, by leveraging its extensive coverage throughout the country, aims to make artificial intelligence inclusive by ensuring it reaches its people, its customers, and the country system.

With reference to the areas of application within the Group, the decision was taken to apply AI with a transformative logic by rethinking entire business domains, selecting the areas that can generate the most value for the Company and its customers. As an example, in the area of customer service, an evolved digital assistant is available for employees for use in real time during customer interaction, which, thanks to a solution based on generative AI, provides timely answers to employees much faster.

Another area of application the Company is working on is advanced voice interaction enabled by generative AI; in order to ensure maximum accessibility and inclusiveness for all customers, an AI-supported telephone booking service was created that allows anyone (even older people or those less familiar with technology) to have a conversation in a natural way and easily make an appointment. The aim is to extend this technological asset to other areas to process requests such as tracking a parcel or requesting the blocking of a payment card.

Finally, in marketing, the use of AI aims to ensure the best customer experience based on the individual’s characteristics and context, both reactively (e.g. assistance) and proactively (e.g. application of behavioural triggers) and, in this context, generative AI algorithms are being integrated to hyper-personalise the experience on the new Poste Italiane single app.