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FranConnect launches AI suite for Australian franchises

Yesterday

FranConnect, a leading provider of sales, operations, and marketing solutions for franchise and multi-location businesses, has announced the launch of Frannie AI in the Australian market.

The AI-powered suite is embedded within FranConnect's platform and leverages multiple generative large language models to provide insights, content generation, and automation tailored to franchise operations.

Frannie AI is designed to assist teams across sales, operations, finance, and training, with three primary AI agents:

  • Analyser: Surfaces personalised insights based on user roles and recommends additional prompts to enhance business decision-making.
  • Builder: Autonomously generates content such as tailored emails, targeted campaigns, workflows, and detailed visit summaries.
  • Automator: Suggests prescriptive actions to optimise business performance, including engagement strategies for new franchisees, recommended site visits, and custom coaching plans.

Gabby Wong, CEO of FranConnect, highlighted the impact generative AI can have in addressing the complexities of running multi-location businesses.

"Franchises and multi-location businesses manage hundreds of variables across development, operations, and complex ownership structures, that have consequential outcomes. Generative AI comes at a critical time for our customers who must navigate ever-changing markets and competing constraints while delivering growth to shareholders and exceptional products to consumers," Wong said.

FranConnect has spent the past two years developing its AI capabilities to simplify business management by identifying key priorities and autonomously recommending actions.

"Frannie AI simplifies the complexity of running a multi-location business by surfacing what truly matters—whether it's pinpointing your next high-performing location or identifying unit-level challenges before they impact revenue and autonomously recommending actions that will improve business results," Wong added.

The company has dedicated a specialised team of analysts, engineers, and AI specialists to AI innovation. Wong noted that the launch of Frannie AI is a key outcome of these efforts.

"We are lucky to have some of the best minds in the industry focused on AI. Last year, we carved out a team of analysts, engineers, and AI specialists to focus on innovating with AI, both for our internal operations and for our end-market."

"Frannie AI is one of the successful projects arising out of this initiative and we are thrilled to announce its launch."

Jaffrey Ali, Chief Product Officer and Head of Innovation at FranConnect, emphasised that Frannie AI is built on a proprietary franchise data model that has been refined through years of industry expertise.

"General purpose generative AI models by themselves cannot replicate what FranConnect delivers," Ali said. "Frannie AI is architected on a proprietary franchise data model refined through years of deep domain training and based on the breadth of our reach in the market. This enables a level of system-wide intelligence that we are uniquely positioned to provide."

Looking ahead, FranConnect envisions Frannie AI evolving into a fully autonomous set of AI agents capable of analysing, building, and executing key business actions to drive productivity and scalability for multi-location businesses.

The introduction of Frannie AI into the Australian market follows the company's strongest-ever global sales performance, having expanded partnerships with over 150 brands and gained 105 new customers.

FranConnect currently supports nearly 1,500 brands and over 1.3 million locations worldwide, positioning itself as a leading technology provider for franchise and multi-location businesses.

"Over the past year, we made a concerted effort to advance our products in the areas of operations, analytics, and AI to solve the hardest problems faced by franchise and multi-location businesses," Wong said. "As the leading and pioneering technology provider supporting franchise and multi-location businesses, we are doubling down on innovation to cement our market leadership position further."

The company remains committed to long-term investment in its products, market presence, and personnel.

"We are excited about the market opportunities ahead and are dedicated to continuously investing in our market, products, and people. Our commitment to innovation will further propel growth and operational excellence for years to come," Wong added.

Frannie AI is now available as a subscription for Australian FranConnect customers.

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