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Village Entertainment is one of Australia's most recognisable names in leisure and entertainment. With a portfolio spanning cinema, theme parks, and beyond, the group has built its reputation on bringing Australians together for the moments that matter, the big screen, the family day out, and shared experiences that stay with you long after you've left.

Village Cinemas, its flagship cinema brand, operates in 58 locations across Australia and serves over 12 million guests each year.

Going to the movies has always been an experience built on anticipation, but for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, anticipation doesn't come with patience attached. This generation has grown up with answers in their pocket. They search, scroll, and decide in seconds. If a website can't give them what they need instantly, they don't wait, they move on to a competitor who can.

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The Challenge: Legacy Support in a Real-Time World

Before implementing AI, Village Cinemas relied entirely on asynchronous, email-based customer support.

• Queries submitted via web forms or email
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• Response times ranging from 24 to 48 hours
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• Manual triaging by guest services teams

While functional, this model created friction, especially for time-sensitive queries like bookings, session times, and account issues.

And it wasn't just the wait. 

The guest services team, skilled and capable, was spending a significant portion of their day answering the same routine questions, time that could have gone to the complex, higher value tasks. 

The Turning Point: Rethinking AI Strategy

Krishna Soni the General Manager of Technology stated that Village Cinemas didn’t adopt AI reactively; they approached it as part of a broader tech- strategy.

Their goal was clear:

Explore AI use cases across customer-facing, internal, and operational functions while validating ROI early.

After initial attempts to build internally, the team encountered technical limitations. Rather than over-investing in a complex build, they made a deliberate shift:

       👉  Partner instead of build.

This partnership model aligns with broader industry findings. Based on 300+ enterprise AI deployments, the MIT report (2025) identifies a stark divide between organisations that extract real value from AI and those that don't. 

• 95% of AI pilots deliver no measurable business return
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• AI projects are 2× more likely to succeed with an external partner compared to building in-house
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• 66% of externally partnered AI projects reach full deployment, vs. 33% for internal builds

These numbers tell a clear story, and Village Cinemas lived it firsthand. After an internal build stalled, they turned to the market and partnered with Clevertar.

"We don't want to go down the vendor path. We want partners, someone who has the same success definition as us and works jointly toward that business outcome."
                                                                                                                           Krishna Soni, GM of Technology, Village Entertainment
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That partnership mindset proved decisive. 

When Village needed a working proof of concept with just three days to go before a final decision, Clevertar came to the table, prototype in hand, built as an investment, on nothing more than a verbal commitment from Village. It was the kind of move that separates a partner from a vendor, and it set the tone for everything that followed.

Why Clevertar

During evaluation, Village Cinemas identified a key distinction in the market:

• Many solutions were traditional chatbots with AI layered on top
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• Clevertar’s  AI assistant was built from the ground up using Generative AI and transparent with its approach.

This transparency mattered. Village's technology team could see exactly how the solution worked, what guardrails were in place, and how the system would handle queries outside its scope. It was the kind of visibility that builds genuine confidence, not just in the product, but in the partnership.

The Solution: Always-On, AI-Powered Customer Support

Village Cinemas implemented Conversational AI as a 24/7 AI assistant to handle customer queries across their website.

The impact was immediate:

• Instant responses to common queries
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• around-the-clock availability
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• Reduced reliance on manual triaging

In the first 6 months:

• 31,000+ conversations handled
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• ~65% of queries related to booking, ticketing, and account information
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• <3% escalation rate to human agents 
  

“The value is clear, our teams are now focused on the work that actually matters.”  
                                                                                                                              Krishna Soni, GM of Technology, Village Entertainment

Conclusion: The 5% who get it right

MIT's research found that only 5% of organisations deploying generative AI see real, measurable returns. Village Cinemas is in that 5% and the reasons why are not hard to identify.

Success isn’t just about implementing AI fast, it’s about:

• Choosing the right use case (clear problem, worth solving)
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• Partnering with the right expertise over a generic tool
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• Designing around real customer behaviour

Across Australia's entertainment industry, expectations are shifting fast. Newer generations don't distinguish between a great experience and a seamless digital one, to them, they're the same thing.

Businesses that can meet customers in the moment, on the channel they prefer, with answers that actually help, will earn their loyalty. Those that can't will lose them in seconds.

Village Cinemas chose to be ready. 
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