Let’s get to know a student of a MGIMO Master program of the faculty of tourism and hospitality industry — Lukian Silagadze. He created an app «Навылет!» which helps users get all the information about their upcoming desirable trip. It’s time to find out how the app works and what’s under the hood!
1. When and under what circumstances did the idea for your startup come about? What motivated you to create your own startup?
The idea of the app «Навылет!» came to us when my team and I were working on the AI solutions for travel companies. We saw that everything in the travel industry is separated꞉ tours, hotels and cruises are on different platforms. We used a usual format of communication with AI assistants and generative models such as Chat GPT to shorten the “route” from requests to purchases. The user of the app sends their request, the assistant clarifies the details, then the user sees the best suggestions with detailed information about the desirable tour (Canvas). The payment is made via payment gateway. We do not hold the customer’s money, our commission is charged automatically ‐ the client’s path from requesting to purchasing takes few minutes.
2. Why did you choose to create an app specifically? Why did you decide to focus on the sphere of tourism?
I chose the app because people are used to solving problems by their phones and they appreciate a small dialogue instead of long conversations. I chose tourism because the market of this industry is highly fragmented. For example, the elements of the cruise industry is not situated in one place. Since 2023 our team AIMPACT has dealt with digitalization of tourism and implementation of AI. We have cases in different spheres, we often speak at international congresses, major forums and sessions of Chamber of commerce and industry and receive feedback from specialized governmental structures and top companies. Thanks to our experience, market analysis and feedback we understood that tourism needs a new GUI for improving customer experience.
3. How long did the process of launching your app on the market last? What did you have to go through?
At the moment «Навылет!» is a prototype for B2C. At the same time we have launched our multi‐agent AI system as B2B products, including꞉ an embedded AI search for travel agencies’ websites, corporate assistants, sales assistants and consultants for travel companies. Our pilot projects are based on these products and we work with leading market players. Having passed the Fast Track at “Skolkovo” we are now registering our residence there. It helps to test integration and the interface on real clients and then scale up the consumer product.
4. What are the distinctive features of your app «Навылет!»?
Our app stands out among others by having a single window of tours, hotels and cruises, showing 3‐5 best options instead of hundreds of them and dozens of filters, purchasing via a well‐known payment gateway which increases customer trust. The AI assistant is available for the client after the purchase and helps with visa intricacies, luggage, tourist attractions near the hotel which was selected via our app. Having a text mode and a voice mode the AI assistant chats like a real manager. The app has a lot of internal functions such as understanding the request, searching suggestions, ranking, price checking, deep link integration and consultations when choosing a trip or during a trip.
5. In your opinion, what qualities should an aspiring entrepreneur have? What advice or words of wisdom would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
I think that an aspiring entrepreneur should be pragmatic, disciplined instead of being prone to momentary motivation, honest with customers, able to say “no” to unnecessary features. It is essential to choose a free niche and be the first. «Навылет!» follows this way. Make products which save customer’s time꞉ in tourism it always pays off!
✍️ Written by Vasilisa Shevchenko (1-IITSD)