Thryv: From Yellow Pages to AI-Powered Business Solutions

At a time when small businesses are increasingly turning to digital solutions, Thryv is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation. 

The company, which once built its reputation on print Yellow Pages, is now leveraging cutting-edge technologies to provide comprehensive business management solutions for small enterprises across multiple countries.

Jeremy Uniacke, Vice President of IT at Thryv, is spearheading this technological evolution. With responsibilities spanning back office development, infrastructure, security and internal IT audit, Jeremy is well-positioned to oversee the company's digital transformation.

From print to digital: Thryv's evolution

“Thryv is broken into three segments,” Jeremy explains. “We still print the Yellow Pages, we provide digital marketing services, but primarily what we're shifting all of our energy to is our do-it-all software platform for small businesses.” This platform, he notes, allows businesses to both run and grow their operations efficiently.

The platform's three core components are the command centre for centralised communication, the marketing centre for business growth and the business centre for day-to-day operations. 

By operating this three-tiered approach, Jeremy believes Thryv evidences its commitment to providing small businesses with tools that can level the playing field with larger competitors. 

He adds: “Being trustworthy is very important with small businesses, they have to trust you a lot,” he notes. This trust factor has been crucial as Thryv has expanded its operations globally, now serving customers in five countries.

The company's evolution has been significant since Jeremy joined. “When I originally joined Thryv, we were involved in print advertising, print media advertising and digital advertising, and we provided that to small businesses all over the US,” he recalls. 

“Since then, we've created this do-it-all software platform which serves both our existing and new customers. We have also expanded globally, primarily in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Embracing AI: Thryv's cross-functional approach

One of the key drivers of Thryv's transformation has been its embrace of artificial intelligence (AI). The company has taken a proactive approach, establishing cross-functional working groups to explore AI's potential across various business functions.

Jeremy personally sponsored the AI initiative over a year ago. “Many people were asking about AI's potential uses,” he says. “So the IT team and I sponsored the working group.”

This initiative has yielded more than 140 separate ideas about how AI could benefit the business. Rather than relying solely on IT to develop these ideas, Thryv has encouraged collaboration across different teams. 

“We've brought together people from across the organisation,” Jeremy explains. “For example, we might pair someone from sales with someone from customer service to develop an idea.”

The approach has been deliberately open-ended. Jeremy says: “We've encouraged everyone to share any AI-related idea, no matter how ambitious. Instead of saying 'That's impossible,' we've said, 'The sky's the limit. What do you think AI can do?'”

One of the most significant applications of AI at Thryv has been in handling customer calls. With approximately 10 million calls processed annually, including customer service, sales and call tracking for advertisements, AI has proven invaluable. 

Jeremy details the process: “We transcribe the calls and use an automated system for the teams. Surprisingly, it doesn't require much code. We apply different prompts to the transcription based on the call's country of origin.”

This AI-powered system can identify ‘calls of value’ — calls that are likely to result in business. 

The system boasts an impressive accuracy rate of more than 80% in identifying calls of value, compared to human performance. “We're achieving over 80% accuracy compared to human evaluation. For non-valuable calls, our accuracy is 97-98%,” Jeremy notes.

AI as a productivity booster: Cost savings and efficiency gains

The implementation of AI has led to significant cost savings for Thryv. Jeremy reveals that the company has saved countless funds using AI for customer templates. However, he's quick to point out that this doesn't mean replacing human employees.

“AI isn't replacing staff,” he clarifies. “It's making each person more productive.” 

This productivity boost extends to various aspects of Thryv's operations. For instance, employees creating social media posts or websites can now use AI-generated prompts to streamline their work. 

“We're using AI as a powerful assistant,” Jeremy says. “We're finding specific ways AI can boost individual productivity, tailoring it to each job.

“Take plumbers, for instance. We might need to list the top 10 things for plumbers. After doing this repeatedly, it becomes challenging. Now, we have a set of prompts to generate different ideas. It simplifies the job, helping generate fresh ideas and inspiring creativity.”

Thryv's AI initiatives aren't limited to external operations. The company has also developed an internal chatbot integrated with tools like SharePoint and Confluence. 

This chatbot has not only enhanced employee productivity and knowledge sharing but also helped clean up outdated information in the company's systems.

“It's improved information accessibility,” expands Jeremy. “People process information differently. This provides another way to find what they need.”

The chatbot has also reduced calls to the IT help desk, as employees can now find answers to their questions more easily. Jeremy adds: “We're receiving fewer calls because staff can find solutions independently, which they prefer.”

Navigating global expansion with AI

As Thryv expands internationally, it faces unique challenges in integrating critical business functions like HR, finance and billing across different markets. AI has played a crucial role in this integration process.

“Our legal teams have used AI to summarise the different laws and regulations across countries,” Jeremy explains, referring to the varying legal and privacy regulations they encounter.

The company has adopted a global standard for HR and finance, with exceptions made for country-specific requirements. 

However, Jeremy notes that they've been cautious about implementing AI in HR due to the complex and varying laws across different countries.

In terms of product development, Thryv is using AI to identify when to shift resources from older, declining products to new development projects. “We're using models to analyse churn rates,” Jeremy explains. “When we notice increased churn in a product we're not focusing on, we can usually correlate that accurately.”

This data-driven approach allows Thryv to make informed decisions about when to phase out older products and focus on new developments. 

Jeremy elaborates: “We have a clear goal. We're aiming to become a single SaaS platform for all our small business customers. As we evaluate our older products, we're using models to assess their churn rates.”

However, Jeremy emphasises the importance of maintaining existing systems while focusing on new development. “Our strategy has been to bring an old system to what I call a steady state,” he explains. “We assess the risks, understand the platform's lifespan and then halt further development.”

This approach allows Thryv to transition smoothly from its legacy products to new offerings. “We're figuring out how to migrate from our old product to a new one, while still serving the same customer base. Our focus remains on small businesses,” Jeremy says.

Partnerships and future outlook

To support its AI initiatives, Thryv has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has helped it create working models for its AI needs beyond mere proof of concept.  

Jeremy adds: “We lacked the in-house expertise, so I reached out to TCS about our needs. They've been able to deliver more than just proof of concept — they've built actual working models for us.”

In the future, Jeremy sees continued growth for Thryv's small business platform and a potential retirement of some of the company's older platforms as it moves away from the world of Yellow Pages. He remains, however, pragmatic about the role of AI in this transformation.

“AI isn't infallible,” Jeremy admits. “It's not truly thinking. You can train it to get close, but it's not perfect. Of course, humans aren't right 100% of the time either.”

This balanced perspective underscores Thryv's approach to AI: leveraging its potential while remaining aware of its limitations. 

Jeremy emphasises the importance of understanding AI's capabilities and limitations: “The interesting thing is, AI can't do everything. Sometimes, things are labelled as AI just because it's trendy. That's the real industry secret. AI is the current buzzword.”

He concludes: “AI is a useful tool, not a replacement for humans.” This perspective guides Thryv's approach to AI integration, ensuring that technology enhances rather than replaces human capabilities, ultimately providing better services to their small business clients.

​​​​​​​Make sure you check out the latest edition of Technology Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Tech & AI LIVE 2024

Technology Magazine is a BizClik brand