Automating customer service across 170 countries with HBX Group

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Kane Simms

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About this episode

HBX Group sits in the middle of one of the most complex customer service chains in travel. A single issue can span a traveller, a travel agent, a global booking platform and a hotel on the other side of the world.

In this episode, we explore how HBX Group is leveraging artificial intelligence to transform its global customer service operations with Xavier Godoy Moya, Customer Experience & Automation Director, and Adam Tinsley, Global Customer Service Director.

We break down how HBX uses AI-driven classification to triage hundreds of thousands of monthly cases across voice, chat, email and ticketing systems. The team explains how generative models replaced traditional intent-matching systems, enabling accurate routing across more than 70 case types while supporting deterministic safeguards required at operational scale.

Adam and Xavier share results across several key use cases, including an AI classification system that accurately categorises customer inquiries into 70 different intents, automated handling of common requests such as booking confirmations and cancellations, and an innovative workflow that can automatically communicate with hotels on behalf of agents. Their real-time translation solution has enabled 24/7 service across 13 languages, dramatically expanding their global support capabilities.

We also discuss their approach to agent training, which includes an AI simulation system that lets new staff practice handling customer conversations at varying levels of difficulty before taking real calls.

The episode closes with measured business outcomes, including faster case resolution, growing automation rates, operational insights unlocked through AI-native reporting and the next wave of experimentation around sentiment-aware routing and more adaptive voice experiences.

Show notes

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Kane Simms

A strategic AI advisor who, for the past decade, has helped business leaders and product owners transform customer experience using conversational and generative AI.

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