AI Adoption Case Study: Kraken's generative AI tool for customer service helping Octopus Energy
techUK’s AI adoption collection of case studies showcases examples of how organisations are Putting AI into Action, either through the adoption of AI models within their organisations, or by developing AI tools that can be leveraged by others.
By shining a light on these use cases, techUK hopes to demonstrate examples of best practice from across sectors and from organisations of all sizes.
Kraken is the technology platform behind Octopus Energy, contracted to serve 54 million customer accounts across the globe through licensees.
1. Challenge:
Going through a customer's account history and drafting an appropriate response can be time consuming. With diverse requests spanning from billing issues to technical support, responding effectively is resource-intensive and can lead to delays.
2. Solution:
Magic Ink is Kraken's generative AI tool for customer service. Built on GPT-like models, customer service staff can use the tool to summarise all interactions with a customer, generate automated responses, and suggest actions, such as requesting a meter reading.
Magic Ink is fed continuous context around customer history and product specifications to enable customer service staff to efficiently deliver world-class service to customers. Magic Ink is integrated into the foundation of the Kraken platform, which is optimally placed to deploy AI:
Magic Ink has the maximum context available natively, with data from the entire customer lifecycle hosted on Kraken. Large language models (LLMs) make use of these large data pools.
Customer service staff are empowered to use Kraken to solve any customer issue. LLMs turn from toys to tools when they can actually take action to solve problems.
Kraken has been iterated and validated at scale — it's easy to make cool demos with AI, but the difference between demo and product in the AI sphere is huge. Our close relationship with Octopus Energy means that we understand the industry extremely well and the Kraken platform is tried and tested.
Magic Ink uses natural language processing to draft responses to diverse inquiries, as if written by the user. By reducing the burden on human agents, Magic Ink enables them to focus on more complex issues and answering phone calls, while providing swift and accurate assistance to customers.
3. Barriers:
Hallucinations — To address this we have focused on a verification system which annotates verified facts with their source and highlights text which couldn’t be verified. Team members are also trained to review everything written by Magic Ink with a fine-tooth comb. Around a third of messages generated by Magic Ink require zero to minimal changes before they are sent
Training — We use AI as a tool to enhance individuals productivity, not replace individuals. As we’ve matured, we’ve learnt a lot about how best to onboard users and make sure they understand the ins-and-outs of the tool.
Legal — Clients are understandably cautious about adopting it, so we test it extensively with our own teams and customers.
4. Impact:
Assisted by Magic Ink, our team has been able to deliver improved service and quicker customer response times. Around 35% of customer emails are currently written with the assistance of this tool, receiving higher customer satisfaction ratings (around 70%) than those without. This also drives employee satisfaction by automating routine tasks and freeing up teams’ time to address more complex queries.
To date, Magic Ink has summarised 6,239,087 calls – the equivalent of 695,379 hours of talking time – and has generated a further 9,415,901 messages. In all cases, the system keeps human operators in the loop.
One user said: “It’s been super easy to get to grips with and it’s very clever how it adapts to your personal tone so quickly”. Another shared: “I’ve been really impressed with Magic Ink’s ability to create personable responses to our customers. It’s a great tool for responding to short, snappy emails or a great starter for longer, more complex ones.”
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
He leads techUK’s AI Adoption programme, supporting members of all sizes and sectors in adopting AI at scale. His work involves identifying barriers to adoption, exploring solutions, and helping to unlock AI’s transformative potential, particularly its benefits for people, the economy, society, and the planet. He is also committed to advancing the UK’s AI sector and ensuring the UK remains a global leader in AI by working closely with techUK members, the UK Government, regulators, and devolved and local authorities.
Since joining techUK, Usman has delivered a regular drumbeat of activity to engage members and advance techUK's AI programme. This has included two campaign weeks, the creation of the AI Adoption Hub (now the AI Hub), the AI Leader's Event Series, the Putting AI into Action webinar series and the Industrial AI sprint campaign.
Before joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, regulatory and government/public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales, marketing, and FinTech.
Usman holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a GDL and LLB from BPP Law School, and a BA from Queen Mary University of London.
When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.
The UK is a global leader in AI innovation, development and adoption.
AI has the potential to boost UK GDP by £550 billion by 2035, making adoption an urgent economic priority. techUK and our members are committed to working with the Government to turn the AI Opportunities Action Plan into reality. Together we can ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by AI technology and continues to be a world leader in AI development.
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Contact the team
Kir Nuthi
Head of AI and Data, techUK
Kir Nuthi
Head of AI and Data, techUK
Kir Nuthi is the Head of AI and Data at techUK.
She holds over seven years of Government Affairs and Tech Policy experience in the US and UK. Kir previously headed up the regulatory portfolio at a UK advocacy group for tech startups and held various public affairs in US tech policy. All involved policy research and campaigns on competition, artificial intelligence, access to data, and pro-innovation regulation.
Kir has an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London and a BA in both Political Science (International Relations) and Economics from the University of California San Diego.
Outside of techUK, you are likely to find her attempting studies at art galleries, attempting an elusive headstand at yoga, mending and binding books, or chasing her dog Maya around South London's many parks.
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
He leads techUK’s AI Adoption programme, supporting members of all sizes and sectors in adopting AI at scale. His work involves identifying barriers to adoption, exploring solutions, and helping to unlock AI’s transformative potential, particularly its benefits for people, the economy, society, and the planet. He is also committed to advancing the UK’s AI sector and ensuring the UK remains a global leader in AI by working closely with techUK members, the UK Government, regulators, and devolved and local authorities.
Since joining techUK, Usman has delivered a regular drumbeat of activity to engage members and advance techUK's AI programme. This has included two campaign weeks, the creation of the AI Adoption Hub (now the AI Hub), the AI Leader's Event Series, the Putting AI into Action webinar series and the Industrial AI sprint campaign.
Before joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, regulatory and government/public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales, marketing, and FinTech.
Usman holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a GDL and LLB from BPP Law School, and a BA from Queen Mary University of London.
When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.
This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy.
In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List.
She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.
A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK, Sue was co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum until July 2024. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
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