In a company as large as AT&T, most customers will only ever interact with field operations technicians. That means that creating a strong experience in the field is vital for both employees and customers. Jennifer Robertson, AT&T’s President of Field Operations, mixes technology with human decisions to create an efficient experience with a strong human touch.

AT&T has thousands of technicians in the field every day. Robertson and her team recently introduced the CODE initiative to help field employees make good judgements about customer care. CODE is an acronym for Care about the customer, Own the experience, Deliver, Exceed expectations. Instead of detailing how to handle every situation, AT&T provides its employees with the framework to make their own decisions to best serve the customer. The four driving principles allow technicians to do what they think is best for each customer. CODE has become a rallying cry for employees, who appreciate being empowered to meet each customer’s unique needs.

Empowering employees and building human interactions is powerful, but the field experience still needs to be efficient. AT&T’s daily field work is a feat of logistics. Customers want to know when technicians will arrive, and technicians need to maximize the number of customers they see every day while limiting drive time and gas consumption. Last year, AT&T launched its Dispatch Learning Engine, an AI-powered platform that considers real-time information like traffic, fuel, technician skills and customer history to identify the best routes and schedules for each technician each day. With all of the factors, Robertson says there are 2.3 trillion options for every 300 jobs to assign—no human could match the machine’s ability to create the best routes for employees, customers, the company and the environment. The Dispatch Learning Engine has earned rave reviews from technicians and dispatchers, and customers have shared positive experiences of knowing who will service their issue and when they will arrive. AT&T has also reduced its miles traveled by more than 20% and saved 51 million pounds of CO2 emissions by creating more efficient routes.

Field operations is a crucial part of customer experience. It’s where the rubber meets the road. By properly training employees and giving them freedom to use their best judgment, AT&T has built a global team of empowered technicians. Combined with innovative uses for AI, the company streamlines its operations to be as efficient and sustainable as possible.