James is a digital butler created by Alan Hunter's team to personalize news delivery for their 463k subscribers. James curates content written by humans and distributes it using predictive models to recommend the best stories, formats, channels and timing for each reader based on their engagement data and section usage, with the goal of reducing churn. The initial phase focuses on personalized email delivery, with future expansion to additional channels like text, push notifications and social media.

1. James
Our digital butler
Alan Hunter
Head of Digital
March 7, 2018
@alanhhunter

2. The numbers
463k subscribers
220k digital only

3. A word on the personalisation of news...
Written by humans
Curated by humans
Distributed by robots

4. Our robot has a name –
James
His job is to deliver the
stories readers want,
in the format they want,
on the platform they want
and at the time they want

5. Engagement
index
Churn
propensity
James
Section usage data
Next Best Action model
Recommended content
Predictive timing
Predictive best format
Predictive best channel
Readers
(phase one: email only)
A simplified model...

6. Email
What it means
Channels as
yet unknown
TextPush
SocialWeb alert