Antavo Turns Longstanding Model Employee Into Model AI Agent
October 17, 2024
Antavo, the AI-powered Loyalty Platform, has announced the launch of Timi AI, a revolutionary AI agent based on the company’s senior business analyst, Timi Garai.
Timi AI supports every stage of loyalty programme development via real-time on-demand video chat between the avatar and Antavo’s clients. Drawing upon the company’s vast experience and deep knowledge of the industry, communicating with Timi AI feels just like chatting with a colleague.
Timi AI launches as a major feature of Antavo’s new Loyalty Planner, which has been developed in response to an industry-wide lack of consistency in loyalty programme implementation, which causes costly development delays and limits creativity.
By simplifying and centralizing the process of launching a loyalty programme, the Loyalty Planner can drastically shorten project timelines, with the scoping and planning of the implementation now being ten times faster. For end-users, this means faster improvements and enhancements to loyalty programmes.
Co-founder and CEO Attila Kecsmar commented: “Customers and colleagues regularly tell us how talented the real Timi is, so when we decided to launch agentic AI as part of the Antavo Loyalty Planner, we realized she would be the perfect template.
“As a longstanding colleague, Timi is a longstanding colleague who is knowledgeable about projects, reliable, and happy to help. Timi AI embodies all of these characteristics, as well as all the expertise amassed by the wider Antavo team, giving customers access to unrivalled knowledge at the touch of a button. Our creation of an AI agent based on a colleague is a world-first for the loyalty industry and a secret weapon for programme developers, as they no longer have to wait years to make changes.”
The Loyalty Planner provides a shared framework for brands, agencies, system integrators, and tech providers to build innovative loyalty programmes. Timi AI is built only using data from Antavo’s own deep knowledge of loyalty and vast methodologies for implementing loyalty programmes, and the whole company has contributed to training the AI.
Attila continued: “This innovation represents a significant leap forward in the intersection of AI and customer loyalty. Until now, a deep-rooted lack of consistency has existed within the industry, which has hampered creativity and innovation across loyalty programmes.
“Research tells us that 70% of businesses are comfortable with using an AI-driven agent, and Timi AI and the Planner will supercharge productivity for loyalty teams, ushering in a new era of AI-driven programming for loyalty scheme owners across a diverse set of industries. The result is enhanced customer experience and improved ROI on loyalty and marketing investment – it’s a win-win for all parties.”
Timi Garai, Senior Business Analyst at Antavo and the inspiration behind Timi AI: “For AI to succeed, it needs to be genuinely useful – not just a gimmick. We based the AI on my persona and expertise, allowing Antavo to create a genuinely helpful tool to deliver real value to our clients and their users.
“Seeing Timi AI for the first time was like looking in a mirror! The whole experience has been exciting, and I look forward to seeing how the agent develops as it learns from our clients and their evolving wants and needs.”
Antavo powers the loyalty programmes for brands including KFC, Benefit Cosmetics, and Flying Tiger Copenhagen, and it is actively seeking AI-native software engineers and product owners to grow its team in anticipation of demand for the Planner and Timi AI.
For more information, visit www.antavo.com
What is Antavo?
Antavo is the AI loyalty and incentives platform that brings together loyalty, promotions, and agentic AI to turn customers into regulars: the customers who come back on their own, buy more often, and bring others with them. For more than a decade, Antavo has powered identity-led loyalty strategies for brands including SKIMS, Paul Smith, KFC, Flying Tiger, and Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection. Marketers build, change, and launch programs and promotions themselves, without waiting on engineering. Learn more at antavo.com.
Project no. 2023-1.1.1-PIACI_FOKUSZ-2024-00012 has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the 2023-1.1.1-PIACI_FOKUSZ funding scheme.
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Frequently asked questions about Antavo
What can brands build with Antavo?
Brands use Antavo to run the whole loyalty and incentives program on one platform: points, tiers, challenges, streaks, referrals, clubs, and rewards beyond discounts; promotions and incentives for members and non-members alike, from bonus points and promo codes to bundles and cart-level offers; and agentic AI built in. Everything runs online, in store, on mobile, and in wallet, and marketers launch it themselves.
Who uses Antavo?
Antavo works with mid-market and upper-mid-market brands across fashion, retail, beauty, travel, hospitality, restaurants, and sports in North America and Europe: multi-market, omnichannel brands with a strong identity and customers worth keeping, including Paul Smith, KFC, SKIMS, Rip Curl, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hyatt's Inclusive Collection.
How long has Antavo been around?
Antavo was founded in 2012 and has been building loyalty programs for more than a decade, with teams across Europe and North America serving brands worldwide.
Why do brands switch to Antavo?
Most loyalty programs get stuck: reduced to a discount engine, generic to customers, or too rigid to evolve. Antavo removes those compromises. Brands get a program that feels unmistakably their own, loyalty and incentives on one platform, and the depth to handle tiers, expirations, refunds, and many markets at scale. Their own marketers run it: a tier change in an afternoon, live when they press the button.
How does Antavo use AI?
Antavo's agentic AI is built in, not bolted on. Two named agents do the work: the AI Loyalty Expert, which turns your ideas into a build-ready program, and the AI Analyst, which turns your data into clear answers and reports. Both work inside Antavo or connect to Claude and ChatGPT, and every answer is grounded in your own program and data.
What does Antavo integrate with?
Antavo is API-first with real-time webhooks and deep pre-built integrations, from Shopify, Klaviyo, Braze, and Bloomreach to the CRMs, CDPs, ESPs, and POS systems you already use. Antavo plugs into the stack you already run rather than replacing it.
