Reimagining Learning: How Guide AI, Microlearning & Gamification Elevated the New Hire Experience for a Global Airline at WNS

WNS delivers an entire spectrum of BPM solutions including industry-specific offerings, customer experience services, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics to re-imagine the digital future of businesses.

Briefly describe the nominated organization: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

WNS is a digital-led business transformation and services partner, supporting several global airline brands. Our Training Team plays a crucial role in preparing frontline customer service professionals to perform in a fast-changing and highly regulated industry.

In 2024, as the aviation sector accelerated, a WNS airline client wanted to upskill new and existing frontline staff, while dealing with shifting customer expectations, evolving compliance needs, and the operational demands of a busy contact center.

Under Sunil Joshi and Katrina Mae Quicho's leadership, WNS redesigned the new hire learning experience using a blend of Guide AI, microlearning, and gamification to drive measurable gains in agent performance, confidence, and customer outcomes.

Outline the organization's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

Training Vision & Innovation

We set out to build a high-impact, scalable, and agile learning model aligned with the realities of airline customer service. Our goals were clear: build early engagement and confidence, reduce certification drop-offs, accelerate new-hire proficiency, and create a future-ready, AI-enabled frontline workforce. To achieve this, we blended traditional facilitation with AI-powered simulations, targeted microlearning, and structured gamification, ensuring consistency across geographies and time zones.

Guide AI: Intelligent Simulation for Real-World Readiness

Guide AI is an NLP-driven simulation platform that generates real-time customer scenarios with instant, criteria-based feedback. It assesses tone, empathy, clarity, and compliance, giving new hires a safe space to practice challenging interactions before taking live calls.

How We Integrated Guide AI

Trainers collaborated with the platform team to train the AI on airline-specific processes and terminology. High-impact scenarios were transformed into guided dialogue flows, and AI-generated reports revealed behavioral patterns that helped trainers tailor coaching. Learners repeated simulations until they demonstrated consistency and readiness, resulting in significantly more hands-on practice than traditional methods.

AI Scenario Development Process

We reviewed mock call results to identify training gaps, selected frequently occurring customer cases, and defined behavioral and compliance expectations. From there, we built realistic branching conversations, embedded tone and empathy markers, validated against service policies, added decision points, piloted with trainers, and refined using field feedback. This produced a scalable, repeatable framework for future scenario creation.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

We redesigned passive reinforcement sessions into gamified experiences that strengthened recall, confidence, and practical application. Each activity was tied directly to Guide AI insights. Game challenges focused on common error patterns flagged by the AI, leaderboards followed AI scoring criteria, and activities reused scenarios learners had already practiced in the simulation environment. Timed challenges mirrored the pace of real airline operations, creating consistency across learning modes and helping skills stick more naturally.

Engagement increased significantly as learners moved through AI-driven simulations, gamified challenges, and targeted microlearning nudges. This layered experience helped new hires build confidence earlier and stay motivated throughout the program. With higher engagement came stronger throughput, improving from 73% in 2024 to 85% in 2025 YTD-a meaningful drop in early attrition and an important driver of floor staffing stability.

Final Outcomes: A Cohesive, AI-Enabled Learning Ecosystem

WNS built a scalable, consistent learning model that aligns training, coaching, and operational transition. Certification failures fell from 14% to 3%, throughput rose from 73% to 85%, and SQEs improved from 41% to 31%. Learners entered production with higher confidence, better preparedness, and more consistent performance across global locations. Overall, the program demonstrates how WNS created a future-ready, AI-powered training ecosystem that strengthens customer experience, improves operational stability, and elevates frontline capability.