Ana is a brand new groundbreaking tool that looks to harness the power of AI to support the new mobility industry. Developed by Irish shared mobility solutions provider Anadue, this innovative tool is able to perform a variety of tasks such as collate data, summarise the news and provide best available routes at rapid speeds.
Designed to be used by people at all levels of a micromobility operation, Ana can be granted access to internal company data which employees can then access by asking her a question.
To learn more about this potentially game changing tool, Zag had a 1:1 with Ana while Anadue CEO Mike Manchip was on hand to explain how she thinks.
*Note: City names and figures have been changed to protect sensitive data from being disclosed.
Zag Daily: Who are you?
Ana: “Hello! I’m Ana, your friendly data analyst specialising in micromobility services like scooter and bike rentals. I’m here to help you with data analysis, generate insights, create reports, and make recommendations to make your scooter and bike rental business more profitable. I also enjoy hiking, biking, and scooting in my off time. How can I assist you today?”
Manchip: “Ana is definitely a little bit quirky and will give slightly different answers based on the day. She is very creative and generative, which you can see with her interest in outdoor activities and sustainable mobility.”
Zag Daily: What can you do?
Ana: “Here’s a list of things I can help you with:
- Trip data analysis: Analysing rental trip data, generating insights on trip durations, distances and customer ratings, and identifying trends and patterns in usage.
- Customer feedback analysis: Summarising customer sentiment based on feedback and ratings and identifying common issues or areas for improvement.
- Vehicle status and usage: Providing status of vehicles in a specific city, analysing usage and revenue and identifying underperforming or malfunctioning vehicles.
- Revenue and profitability: Calculating revenue per vehicle and providing revenue trend insights.
- Route optimisation: Creating shortest route maps for vehicle collection or redistribution.
- Reporting and recommendations: Generating reports on metrics and providing actionable recommendations to improve operations.
- Email communication: Send emails to specific recipients with customised messages.”
Manchip: “Ana learns to add additional context to answers when she understands what the questioner is interested in. She’s continually improving and learning how to answer questions better as more are asked.”
Zag Daily: How many trips per vehicle per day were there last week in the cities that you cover?
Ana: “The average number of trips per vehicle per day for all cities last week was approximately 1.17.”
Zag Daily: What’s the average revenue per vehicle per day per city for the month of May?
Ana: “The average revenue per vehicle per day for each city for the month of May ranges from €0.80 to €13.50 across 14 cities I analysed.”
Zag Daily: A question for you from the operations team. Give me the shortest route to replace the batteries of the five closest vehicles with low battery status to my location?
Ana:
Manchip: “Ana has access to GPS so a user will be able to have this sort of question answered immediately. A driver could then use Google Maps to give them the fastest route so they can perform the battery swaps as efficiently as possible.”
Zag Daily: Analyse the impact on revenue of moving 500 vehicles from Crete to Bruges?
Ana: “By moving 500 vehicles from Crete to Bruges, the potential increase in revenue for the month of May 2024 would be approximately €4,900. This is based on the higher average journeys per vehicle per day and the higher total revenue observed in Bruges compared to Crete.
“Recommendations:
- Consider any additional operational costs associated with moving and maintaining the vehicles in Bruge.
- Ensure that the demand in Bruges can sustain the additional 500 vehicles without significantly reducing the average journeys per vehicle.
- Take into account any seasonal variations that might affect demand in both cities.”
Manchip: “This answer can have amazing applications at the executive level. Ana is able to analyse ridership and revenue figures from both locations and then use that data to make recommendations with maximising profit in mind.”
Zag Daily: Can you predict what revenue will be across all cities in July?
Ana: “The predicted revenue for all cities in July 2024 is approximately €800,000. This prediction is based on the historical growth trend and the expected seasonal increase in demand.”
Manchip: “Ana has looked at the growth rate from prior months in order to forecast into the future. By giving her access to more data, this can also be incorporated into the calculation and then she can give an even more accurate response.”
Zag Daily: Summarise customer sentiment in Crete for the last week
Ana: “The customer sentiment in Crete for the last week is mixed, with a notable number of users facing issues related to parking and technical reliability. Addressing these concerns could significantly improve the overall customer experience.”
Manchip: “This answer is useful at all levels of an operator’s business. For executives, they can assess feedback and implement wider strategies to make improvements, while people in operations can drill-down into what vehicle failures are most common and reach out to users that made negative reviews in order to show the company is looking to improve.”
Zag Daily: How can we improve customer sentiment in Crete based on feedback from the past week?
Ana: “Based on the feedback from the last week, here are some actionable recommendations to improve customer sentiment for the scooter rental service in Crete:
- Address parking issues: Expand the number of designated parking zones to make it easier for users to find a spot to park the scooters, install clear and visible signs indicating parking zones to reduce confusion and frustration, and update the app to provide real-time information on nearby parking zones and guide users to the nearest available spot.
- Enhance technical reliability: Implement a more rigorous maintenance schedule to ensure that all scooters are in good working condition, ensure that scooters are fully charged and that battery levels are accurately displayed in the app, and address any app glitches and improve the overall user experience by regularly updating the app and fixing bugs.
- Improve service reliability: Provide real-time customer support through the app to assist users who encounter issues, establish clear protocols for handling situations where scooters stop working suddenly, including quick response teams to assist users.
- Address cost concerns: Ensure that pricing is transparent and clearly communicated to users before they start their ride, and offer occasional promotions or discounts to make the service more affordable.
- Collect and act on feedback: Create a feedback loop where users can easily provide feedback after their ride and ensure that this feedback is reviewed and acted upon promptly, and conduct regular user surveys to gather more detailed insights into customer preferences and areas for improvement.
- Enhance user experience: Provide tutorials or guides on how to use the scooters and the app effectively, especially for new users, and add features such as route suggestions, safety tips and local attractions to enhance the overall user experience.”
“Implementation plan:
- Short-term actions: Improve signage and update the app with real-time parking information, conduct a thorough maintenance check on all scooters, and address any immediate app glitches and bugs.
- Medium-term actions: Expand the number of parking zones in high-demand areas, implement a more rigorous maintenance schedule, and launch a customer support feature within the app.
- Long-term actions: Regularly review and update pricing strategies, conduct user surveys and implement feedback-driven improvements, and develop and launch new in-app features to enhance the user experience.”
Manchip: “Again this can have huge implications at executive level. By summarising the key areas for improvement, leaders can be more direct in problem solving and quicker to react when something isn’t working as it should. The implementation plan then offers a great jumping off point for those tasked with finding ways to solve the issues listed, which are fairly common across the sector.”
Zag Daily: What have Voi, Ryde, Lime, Bolt and Dott been saying in the news, social media and blogs about improving profitability in shared scooters?
Ana:
“Voi
- Fundraising and Investment: Voi has been focusing on fresh fundraising to reach profitability. They plan to invest in their kick scooters and expand their services.
- Partnerships: Voi is working in partnership with cities and local communities to enhance their service offerings and improve profitability.
- Operational efficiency: They are looking forward to improving operational efficiency to drive profitability.
Ryde
- Revenue growth: Ryde has reported significant revenue growth, with figures showing €28.35M in revenue.
- Market expansion: They are expanding their operations in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, which is expected to contribute to profitability.
- User engagement: Ryde emphasises the social and enjoyable aspects of using their scooters, which helps in increasing user engagement and revenue.
Lime
- Profitability milestones: Lime has achieved full-year profitability on both an adjusted and unadjusted EBITDA basis.
- Financial performance: They reported gross bookings of $250 million in the first half of 2022, a 45% increase over the same period the previous year.
- CEO insights: Lime’s CEO, Wayne Ting, has shared insights on defying the odds in the scooter rental market and achieving profitability.
Bolt
- Revenue growth: Bolt reported a significant increase in turnover, with a 152% rise to €1.26 billion in 2022.
- Operational challenges: Despite the revenue growth, Bolt still operated at a loss, indicating ongoing challenges in achieving profitability.
- Market strategy: Bolt is focusing on expanding its scooter services and improving operational efficiency to drive profitability.
Dott
- Merger with Tier: Dott has announced a merger with Tier, which is expected to create a stronger entity capable of achieving profitability.
- Market exit: Dott has pulled out of the London e-scooter market, which may be a strategic move to focus on more profitable regions.
- Shared vision: The merger with Tier is based on shared values and objectives, aiming for market dominance and collaborative profitability.”
Manchip: “As Ana has an interest in the shared mobility space, she is keeping track of what is happening. The data pool that she draws from includes things like academic papers on shared mobility, blogs we’ve written, Google, it is even pulling information from articles written on Zag Daily.”
Zag Daily: Summarise what Fredrik Hjelm has been saying recently in the news.
Ana: “Frederik Hjelm, the co-founder and CEO of Voi Technology, has been active in the news recently with several key points.
- Regulatory advice: Hjelm has been urging governments to create a level playing field for e-scooters and e-bikes. He emphasises the need for fair regulations to ensure the sustainable growth of micromobility services.
- Partnerships and pilot projects: Voi Technology has partnered with Dublin Bus to launch an innovative pilot project. This collaboration aims to integrate e-scooters into the public transportation system, enhancing urban mobility.
- Expansion and vision: Hjelm continues to advocate for the expansion of Voi’s operations into new areas. He remains committed to his vision of improving urban mobility through the deployment of electric scooters.
- Environmental and urban impact: He has reiterated Voi’s mission to reduce congestion in urban centres and provide an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional transportation methods.”
Manchip: “Again, Ana is able to keep abreast of all the news and posts relating to certain individuals and then summarise that information. For busy executives, this can prove a real game changer for staying on top of everything that is going on in the industry.”
The next generation of analytics?
What particularly struck me about this experience was not only the range of questions that Ana was able to answer, but how she could generate new insights on the fly. Having quick answers to quick questions, that may only ever be asked once, will likely boost productivity levels and help operations teams more confidently grow their networks.
Anadue is selling the Ana concept as a ‘virtual team member’, someone to answer questions, and have a conversation with. Unlike a human analyst, Ana can be “virtually” in multiple teams.
“Data analytics is a pretty tough pill to swallow for many people, with walls of charts and spreadsheets obscuring the real insights and value of the data,” says Manchip.
“Ana and her future siblings and children, will present data in the form of insightful comments and recommendations, creating a new way of co-operating with the data itself as a personality. AI assistants are revolutionising the workplace, and Anadue and Ana are leading the way in shared mobility. This is the next generation of analytics and automation.”
