**Australia**: Student accommodation provider Scape adopts Salesforce’s Agentforce AI to handle over 70,000 enquiries, boosting efficiency and enabling 24/7 support for 18,000 residents. This digital labour solution enhances customer experiences and frees staff to focus on community and wellbeing amid rapid growth.
Australian student accommodation provider Scape has embraced advanced digital labour solutions to meet rising customer service demands amid rapid growth. Over the past decade, Scape has expanded into a network of 38 modern properties housing more than 18,000 domestic and international students pursuing university education in Australia.
Faced with an overwhelming volume of over 70,000 customer enquiries, ranging from practical questions about local laundromats and transport to affordable dining options, Scape recognised the strain such repetitive queries placed on its support teams. The challenge intensified as the company prepared for significant expansion and sought to provide 24/7 assistance to its primarily overseas-based residents during critical transition periods.
Mirko Gropp, Scape’s General Manager of Digital, Information and Technology, highlighted the need for greater integration across the company’s technology platforms to boost efficiency. “Scape was already a strong digital operator. However, a number of the platforms weren’t talking to each other, impacting potential efficiency gains. We needed digital assistance to handle 20,000 students, particularly as we expand into new market segments, such as residential services,” he explained.
To address these challenges, Scape consolidated its customer-facing systems onto Salesforce, which markedly improved its digital infrastructure. The pivotal advancement came with the implementation of Agentforce, Salesforce’s agentic artificial intelligence (AI) layer designed to support teams with autonomous AI agents within daily workflows. Powered by Salesforce’s Data Cloud—a hyperscale data engine that aggregates all enterprise data in one place—Agentforce enables rapid, accurate responses to student enquiries throughout the year, including peak move-in periods when thousands of students arrive simultaneously.
Gropp described the impact, stating, “It’s been a huge leap forward in a very short time. Our target is to resolve half of our enquiries via an AI agent, improving the resolution time of resident enquiries and, in turn, freeing up our teams to provide support where it counts – building community and supporting resident well-being.” He further emphasised the groundbreaking nature of the technology: “This is the first time in history that a piece of software has agency to think, reason, learn, and act. It’s helping employees find more satisfaction at work and support customers 24/7.”
The deployment of Agentforce not only enhances response efficiency but also caters to residents’ preferred communication channels, such as WhatsApp, reducing the need for traditional support methods like front desk visits or email correspondence. Scape anticipates that AI-driven support will halve the volume of support cases, allowing human teams to focus on complex interactions and community building.
Looking ahead, Gropp envisions broader uses for the AI agents. “Now that the technology is embedded, Agentforce will autonomously take action to enhance the customer experience and drive growth. For example, an AI agent will recommend the best accommodation for a customer based on their preferences and university location. The agent could then facilitate the booking from beginning to end. It’s a game-changer.”
The application of agentic AI is gaining traction across Australian businesses, with recent YouGov research indicating that 96 per cent of companies prioritise such AI capabilities within the next 12 months. Frank Fillmann, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Salesforce ANZ, commented on this trend: “Nearly all respondents said agentic AI was a priority for the success of their business in the next 12 months while bringing innovative customer or employee experiences to market and introducing more personalised customer experiences are top of the agenda for companies.”
Fillmann also acknowledged the broader market pressures prompting this shift, such as tight labour markets, stagnant productivity, and rising customer expectations. “This creates friction and a lot of these challenges are falling on employees. They’re trying to serve the needs of their customers, while also facing a range of inefficiencies that prevent them from getting work done productively. The pressure on front line employees particularly is immense,” he said.
Agentforce assists companies by expanding workforce capacity through digital labour—AI agents trained to learn from data, adjust to various tasks, and operate continuously. This approach promises to resolve productivity constraints while enhancing customer satisfaction. Fillmann noted, “No company is better positioned to help companies realise the promise of AI over the next decade than Salesforce. This is the first time that a piece of software has agency to think, reason, learn, and act. It’s helping employees find more satisfaction at work and support customers 24/7.”
The integration of Agentforce within Salesforce’s unified data platform ensures every customer interaction is accounted for, enabling AI agents to operate with a comprehensive understanding of business context. “Agentforce is boosting productivity and customer satisfaction to unprecedented levels, seamlessly integrating AI across every workflow, embedding itself into the heart of the customer journey,” Fillmann added.
As Australian businesses face a scarcity of resources and rising demand for personalised services, digital labour solutions like Agentforce offer a scalable route to bridging capacity gaps. Fillmann concluded, “Companies no longer need to choose between enhancing productivity and building better relationships with customers – opening the door to a workforce without limits.”
With plans to double growth in the next five years and expand into new market segments, Scape’s investment in agentic AI technology exemplifies how digital transformation can support service quality and operational scalability. Gropp summarised the company’s outlook: “Last year, there was a lot of hype around AI capabilities, but this new technology is now maturing in a way that enables anyone to drive productivity.”
By harnessing the power of AI agents integrated with existing data systems and business processes, Scape aims to elevate its resident experience while empowering staff to focus on value-added tasks, shaping the future of student accommodation services in Australia.
Source: Noah Wire Services
