EZee Assist

The AI-Powered Evolution in Franchising

 

The holistic approach to support and integrations that is revitalizing knowledge management and self-serve in franchising

Success in the franchising business model, particularly when working with franchisees, is rooted in one thing primarily: a deep understanding of the audience being served.

To support franchisees, you have to understand their problems, however, to innovate you have to anticipate future problems as well.

That is exactly what’s happening with an emerging technology company called EZee Assist that is leveraging the productive power of generative AI to drastically improve franchisor support. . Founded in 2023, the company has since grown exponentially.

At its core, EZee Assist enables franchisee support through an AI-enabled virtual agent and support ticketing platform  that is purpose-built for the unique needs of both franchisors and franchisees.

To break-through the status quo of applying file management systems and people to solve the problem of providing continuous support to franchisees, EZee Assist worked closely with leading franchise brands to build an innovative solution They also continuously refine and iterate with their customers to deliver cutting-edge AI solution is the simplest yet most impactful ways, to ensure that franchisees adopt and engage..

Whether franchisees have simple day-to-day questions or complex situation questions,, EZee Assist’s versatile virtual agent is able to deliver responses and support using all of the knowledge franchisors have put together across their technology platform within seconds..

At its current growth rate and adoption, the company is quickly being recognized as an indispensable partner in the growth and success of the franchisees it serves, known for its ability to deliver both visionary insights and practical solutions that drive sustainable growth.

A New Era of Support

In franchising, technology has become an indispensable part of the value chain, transforming the way businesses operate, and by integrating advanced AI solutions, EZee Assist is not only simplifying support systems but also creating a universal interface for self-serve that is set to redefine the franchise landscape.

The company’s primary focus is providing robust support through an AI-driven conversational bot, tailored to the audience it supports.

“We’ve built an AI Support Assistant that’s purpose-built for the franchising business model. We exclusively focus on the franchising space, but serve all industries that employ the franchising business model,” explains Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Raphael Rajan.

This bot is not just another tool; it’s a comprehensive solution that excels in handling support-level inquiries that have a solid knowledge base behind them.

“It’s a conversational bot for franchisees that exists on all of the channels that they’re used to. So if they’re used to sending a text, email, WhatsApp, Slack, etc., they can now message it with any questions and, within 15 seconds… it summarizes a succinct response with the right links, the right images, the right videos, etc, and sends it back to them,” Rajan says.

Additionally, if the bot can’t generate a response, it immediately loops in the right support person, alerting them that the franchisee needs support.

Raphael and his team recognized that support in franchising isn’t one-dimensional. There are two key aspects: knowledge-based support and service-based support.

While the bot handles the former with ease, the latter often involves more complex tasks, such as IT provisioning, procurement, and accounts management, which typically require human intervention.

This realization led to a significant breakthrough. The EZee Assist team is now expanding its AI solution to cover both knowledge-based and service-based support queries.

The upcoming feature, expected to roll out in Q4, will allow the bot to discern between these two types of inquiries, routing service-based questions to the appropriate personnel while efficiently managing knowledge-based queries.

What the EZee Assist team has found to be equally important is for the bot to be proactive and capable of sending “smart” information to the franchisee before they realize that they’ll need it.

The bot’s ability to efficiently address these queries has made it an invaluable resource for franchisees. It also resolves the problem of having too many resources across too many platforms by centralizing data without the need to migrate to a new platform.

“We did not want to turn ourselves into another file management system… where we have to tell a franchise system to migrate all of their content across all of their platforms… we think of ourselves as a connector of all the existing platforms,” explains Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer Shray Mehra.

Representing Advancements in Franchising Technology

EZee Assists’s  AI-driven smart triage system has been a game-changer in the platform’s development. By qualifying whether an inquiry requires a ticket or can be resolved through existing knowledge, the system will drastically reduce the number of tickets generated.

More importantly, the AI learns from every resolution.

If a franchise business coach or support team member resolves an issue, the AI can be trained on this information, ensuring that similar questions in the future are handled without human intervention unless necessary.

Fortunately, the platform’s adaptive aspect applies to the development team as well, as several of EZee Assist’s functions came about as a result of observing user behaviors.

“As we notice people using the virtual agent in certain ways, we continually learn and improve the machine learning models that deliver the question and answer experience. So, there’s a back and forth… of course, now and then, the ML mightmiss a query but we quickly figure out why it happened at the meta-level and improve it,” says Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Gabe Cadamuro.

While support remains at the core of EZee Assist’s vision, it’s become clear that an omni-channel experience matters to users.

So, EZee Assist now has an even more ambitious goal: to become the universal interface for the entire tech stack within franchising and multi-location businesses.

The company doesn’t aim to replace existing systems like FMS, POS, ERP, or CRM but to make accessing and using these systems as seamless as possible.

Imagine a world where a franchisee can perform complex tasks across different platforms simply by interacting with an AI-driven interface through WhatsApp, text, or email.

This vision isn’t far off. EZee Assist is already working on making it a reality, and the potential impact on franchising is immense.

By unlocking valuable content and streamlining access to various systems, the company is poised to significantly enhance operational efficiency across the board.

The EZee Assist platform has become similar to that of an Android operating system where the different apps each represent a crucial aspect of a franchise’s tech stack, allowing it all to coexist and function harmoniously.

This approach not only optimizes the use of existing technologies but also creates a network effect. As the AI integrates with various systems, it begins to recognize patterns and correlations that individual systems might miss.

For example, the AI might identify best practices in documentation that could enhance CRM usage, leading to a multiplicative effect that boosts overall business efficiency.

 

The Next Frontier Partnerships and Proactive Information Delivery

While the current AI-driven solutions are largely retrieval-based, the future lies in proactive information delivery.

Imagine a franchisee needing to complete a compliance report every Friday. Instead of merely sending a reminder, the AI could initiate the process by asking the relevant questions based on the user’s schedule, making the entire task as simple as responding to a text.

This level of personalization and automation represents the next evolution of productivity, where business operations become almost effortless.

“The future where all you need to do is talk to a system, text it, etc., and the work gets done, that’s the real version of productivity in our mind,” Mehra states, describing a scenario where franchisees can communicate with the system in plain language.

This vision, where learning a new tool or system becomes unnecessary, represents the true essence of AI-driven productivity.

In addition to their technological innovations, EZee Assist has forged strategic partnerships that further enhance their impact in the franchising world.

To highlight a few key partners, there is Angela Cote, Inc. (AC Inc.), an advisory firm specializing in field coaching. Through this partnership, the company has integrated its AI into AC Inc.’s Academy for field support teams, enabling them to access crucial knowledge at their fingertips through ACai Bot..

Franchise Supplier Network (FSN) is another vital partner, helping EZee Assist amplify its story and establish itself as a leader in deploying AI within franchising.

Similarly, WSI, a global network of digital consulting franchises, not only uses EZee Assist’s tools but also has the potential to sell these solutions to its customers, further extending the AI’s reach.

Finally, the company recently partnered with EmmerScale, an advisory firm focused on emerging brands. This partnership allows EZee Assist to support brands at a critical stage of their growth, ensuring they are equipped with the right tools to scale effectively.

As EZee Assist continues to innovate and expand, its AI-driven solutions are set to redefine the franchising landscape.  By addressing both knowledge-based and service-based support needs, creating a universal interface for tech stacks, and forging strategic partnerships, they are not just keeping pace with the industry’s evolution—they are leading it.

The future of franchising is here, and it’s powered by AI.

AT A GLANCE

EZee Assist

What: An emerging company revolutionizing the franchising industry with its AI-powered solutions designed to enhance franchisor and franchisee support.

Where: Toronto, CA — Operating Globally

Website: www.ezeeassist.com