KLU students harnessing the power of AI
In a world grappling with the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, KLU’s first year Bachelor of Business Administration Class students were recently tasked with something, in theory at least, relatively straightforward. In small teams, they had to develop a chatbot for B2B customer communication at A+J Holzzentrum, Hamburg’s largest timber trader, in relation to the firm’s door products.
The fruits of the students’ endeavors, which were overseen by Professor of Computer Science in Logistics, André Ludwig, as part of their Introduction to Digital Management course, were then presented in groups to the CEO of A+J, Hubertus Rump, Christian Gebhard of IBM, whose company provided the technology for the projects, and their peers at the beginning of March.
“What was expected of the students was quite vast, because it’s their first semester and the task was quite challenging, but I loved seeing the results,” remarked Rump at the end of the presentations. “At the beginning, I thought they might have only focus on the technical part of creating a new chatbot, but they covered both the technical and business sides of the task and that was great to see.”
CREATIVE REAL-TIME SOLUTIONS
With a number of the chatbots given playful names and icons, there was also plenty of creativity on display during the six 20-minute-long presentations, which covered topics such as the project’s vision, customer expectations, challenges developing the AI tool, and chatbot implementation at A+J.
Each presentation ended with a Q&A session, which also saw “Holzi”, “Birdy” – cleverly designed to incorporate an “A” and “J” in the shape of a bird’s head – and the other chatbots also put through their paces, generating real-time answers for random queries about door products from the audience.
“Creating the chatbot it was a really new challenge, because not all of us are obviously in touch with the programming, so we weren't really the best at it, but I think we grew with it, that was the nice part,” said 21-year-old bachelor student Marlene Hast, whose team’s colorful chatbot was called “Woody”.
Project teammate Bea Kolb, 20, joked that while she couldn’t imagine a career in programming, she was proud of her team and what they had produced. “I also learned that I like the presentation part of the project, selling myself, and making people like our product,” she added.
DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN OPERATIONS MINDSET
Prof. Ludwig noted the project had once again been handled with great commitment by the students, producing a number of smart solutions. “We also think it is special because it consistently combines theory and practice over its entire duration and produces suitable practical solutions in a triangular constellation of entrepreneur-case provider, technology partner, and students with their professor,” he added. “All in all, this is a great KLU example of the development and implementation of ‘Operations Mindset’, in and out of the study program.”
“I enjoyed very much how we got integrated with great companies like IBM and A+J,” said 18-year-old Diana Yanovska after giving her presentation. “It’s so exciting getting to work with a real client in a consultant type of experience during your first year. It’s a real challenge and a great preparation for what can be waiting for you when you start working, and the tools that you could use for the tasks. Tools that you come up with yourselves, and, of course, it wasn't smooth all the time, but that's why we're here and why we're learning.”
TOOLS FOR THE FUTURE
As well as providing the technology to develop the chatbots, IBM trained and supported the students to use it. “In all the years we’ve worked on projects with KLU students, this is the first time we challenged the students to do hands-on coding and explored next-generation technologies like GenAI. In the past, we focused more on Business IT and Low Code approaches, which were also valuable learning experiences, so this shift was an exciting and innovative challenge.” noted IBM customer success manager Gebhard. “The results were outstanding, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. It’s fantastic to see the students engage with cutting-edge technologies, and I’m proud that they used IBM’s tools. For us, it’s an investment in the students, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge of state-of-the-art technology, helping them become familiar with tools they may use later in their careers.”
Before heading off to join the students on a boat cruise on the River Elbe, Rump was asked if he could imagine implementing some of the students’ ideas at A+J. “For sure,” he replied. “We will look at the presentations little bit deeper. After all, this task was not just a random question, it is definitely a tool we want to create within our company, so there might be something great coming up in the future.”
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