SMU alumnus Abhilash Murthy, who completed his degree in information systems management in 2010, developed a chatbot – Bus Uncle – to help commuters to easily check the arrival timings of buses. To start using it, users have to log onto Facebook, like the Bus Uncle page and start messaging it to ask for bus arrival timings. Bus Uncle then finds the area the user is in and searches for all nearby bus stops. As a frequent traveller on buses, Mr Murthy was inspired to give it a similar avatar and voice to bus drivers he had met during these journeys so that users of Bus Uncle can relate to a familiar personality. “Sometimes they are friendly and sometimes they are kiasu and grumpy, and they’ll get up and shout, ‘Move to the back, move to the back’, when the bus is crowded,” said Mr Murthy.

Today, there are 40,000 people using the chatbot, and it receives 30,000 to 50,000 messages a day. Leveraging on Bus Uncle’s followers and traffic, the start-up helps brands and organisations by raising awareness of their products and services through Bus Uncle’s voice.