We use three examples to make a larger point about the human component of innovation:

Design thinking workshop: When we say we “reimagined the process of imagination itself,” we are referring to our design thinking workshop approach to generating ideas. Immersing a cross-functional team of people in a challenge helps everyone understand it in a different way, generating ideas for process redesign, digital experiences, and entirely new opportunities.

Interactive chatbot for the TCS New York City Marathon: The AI-based Pacey Miles was designed to answer questions from runners and fans during race week at the New York Marathon. It required loads of technology innovations, but it was Miles’s “human” personality that made her a success.

The onboarding process: Our third innovation story was for an internal project: onboarding new employees. Again, it was a design thinking approach, coupled with digital technology, that transformed a bureaucratic procedure into an engaging experience.

For the TCS New York City Marathon chatbot: We deployed the Pacey Miles chatbot as an Apple tvOS app using Unity (which enables porting of the app to multiple architectures) and built her using several tools, including iClone Pipeline (for 3D animations) and DAZ studio, for customizing the character. The underlying chatbot was built using the Microsoft Bot framework (including Microsoft LUIS, for intent parsing) as well as AWS Polly, an Amazon Web Services text-to-speech engine. Pacey Miles was deployed and worked well at the 2017 Marathon.

For the onboarding application, after the design thinking workshop was completed, a prototype was developed using UXPin and Adobe Creative Cloud for design. The app also features technologies like augmented reality and conversational agents, applied in new ways, to enhance the onboarding experience for new hires. This prototype application is currently being used for a pilot project with a major airline.

At TCS Interactive, we’ve made design thinking the centerpiece of the way we approach customers and business transformation – it’s the best tool for creativity and filling the idea funnel. Design thinking is “low-tech” – the most advanced technology we use is Post-it notes – but it leads to real breakthrough ideas.

The Pacey Miles chatbot was a hit at the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon, and we’re discussing with the client what we will do for an extension of the idea of a virtual presence for next year’s race. The technology is scalable and can be deployed through multiple channels.

The onboarding digital experience was designed to demonstrate proof of concept of a radical new approach to an employee joining a firm, and it is jump-starting ideas with other clients.

Both projects have ample relevance to many other applications, companies, and industries. Neither involved any outside investment.