Implementing Conversational AI: Institutional Logic, Responses, and Constraint Absorption
Kevin Schmitt, Ivo Blohm · Academy of Management Proceedings · 2024
Over the last few years, Conversational AI has become increasingly prevalent in service-oriented industries. This case study delves into the antecedents of why service-oriented industries implement Conversational AI in their customer service operations. Second, it elucidates the interplay of institutional logic and organizational responses in addressing resource constraints encountered during the technology’s implementation. We collaborated with six Swiss retail banks and insurance companies over a year to analyze their Conversational AI implementation practices. Our research identifies three organizational responses to absorb constraints: development of AI Business Unit Capabilities, formation of specialized AI Teams, and establishment of AI Value Streams. Furthermore, our research identified that a company’s institutional logic — from opportunistic and cautious to pragmatic AI utilization and innovative customer-centric — significantly molds its organizational response to accessing external resources needed during Conversational AI implementations. Additionally, these organizational responses exhibit varying degrees of external resource-accessing capabilities (i.e., full, partial, or minimal).