This document discusses the growing popularity and potential of messaging platforms and conversational agents. It notes that messaging is a more comfortable experience for users than traditional apps. Major tech companies are investing heavily in messaging and bots are seen as a way to provide helpful services to users through natural conversations. The future of digital assistance may involve hierarchical bots with different levels of training and capabilities to meet a range of user needs.

1. A little more conversation…
…a little less action

6. Powering the travel internet

7. • Over 700 global partners
• Dedicated product, engineering, sales and
account management teams
• Strong set of data and analytical products,
including API and White Label

8. Our
ultimate
goal:
to
make
travel
booking
as
easy
as
it
is
today
to
buy
a
book
online

9. Amazon
made
online
book-­‐buying
mainstream
Never
complacent
about
new
tech
and
its
benefits
When
technology
allowed,
they
made
Kindle
popular

10. Paperback
Hardback
Audiobook
Kindle
Still
largely
the
same
static
product
Direct
sale
or
Marketplace

11. Compare that to air travel
700
airlines
14,000
airports
1000
providers
Near-­‐infinite
route-­‐date
combinations
26
seat
classes
Taxes
Fees

13. As
early
entrants
to
the
‘app
economy’
we
racked
up
downloads
and
stars.

14. Three
Million
Apps

15. On average, how many new apps do most
users download per month?

16. None

17. 8+
5-­‐7
4+
3+
2+
1+
None
%
of
smartphone
users,
United
States
only,
comScore 3
month
average
Q4
2014
Average
number
of
monthly
app
downloads

18. 66% 50% -­‐77% -­‐95%
Download
no
new
apps
Drop
off
during
first
use
Average
user
loss
within
3
days
Average
user
loss
within
90
days
Apps
are
hard

19. 60%
Frequent
travellershave
not
downloaded
travel
apps
of
any
kind
Apps
are
hard

20. Apps
force
you
into
public
customer
service
-­‐ dealing
with
mostly
anonymous
feedback

21. Introducing the messaging revolution

22. Comfort, not convenience,
is the most important thing
in software - and text is an
incredibly comfortable
medium”
Jonathan Libov
Analyst, Union Square Ventures
“

23. “Get
me
a
BA
flight
from
Sofia
to
Amsterdam
leaving
tomorrow
morning
for
less
than
€100”
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
7
9

24. “Get me a BA flight
from Sofia to Edinburgh
leaving tomorrow morning
for less than €100”

25. I always like to rewind to what
people did before technology.
Before the web era, we just had
conversations.
David Marcus
Head of Facebook Messenger
“

27. SMS
-­‐ not
dead
yet!

28. Old: all software expands
until it includes messaging
New: all messaging expands
until it includes software”
Benedict Evans
Analyst, Andreessen Horowitz
“

29. Microsoft
Made some huge announcements in ‘messaging’ recently

30. Facebook Messenger Platform
Around 900 million MAU and now open for business

31. 650
30%
Million
registered
users
Are
registered
for
payments

32. And
already,
most
of
the
top
apps
in
the
stores
are
messaging
apps
-­‐
whether
measured
by
downloads or
sessions.
Source:
Mary
Meeker,
KPCB
Internet
Trends,
2015

33. Think about the convergence of
comfort and convenience:
apps you already use, improving
services you already use?

34. If apps were in the business of
selling us distraction, bots will
be in the business of buying us
time.”
Suman Deb Roy
Data Scientist, Betaworks
“

35. What
is
a
bot and
when
does
it
become
an
agent?
Just
how
long
is
a
conversation?

36. An example of using an ‘operator’

37. Personality
Memory
Emotion
Social
Learning
Topics
Transactions
What
you
end
up
with
is
a
‘hierarchy
of
messaging
needs’
and
how
they
can
be
serviced:
Trained
intelligence
Algorithms

38. How
did
we
build
for
Amazon
Alexa?

41. Ask Skyscanner for a flight
Sure, where are you flying from?
London
Great, where are you flying to?
Seattle
Thanks, when are you leaving?
Friday
And finally, when do you return?
November 13th
Great, finding prices…

42. Ask Skyscanner for a flight
Sure, where are you flying from?
Ask Skyscanner for a flight please
Sorry, I don’t understand…

44. Feedback: @skyscannertools
Thank you - questions welcome