A Conceptual Model for Assistant Platforms

Abstract

Assistant platforms are becoming a key element for the business model of many companies. They have evolved from assistance systems that provide support when using information (or other) systems to platforms in their own. Alexa, Cortana or Siri may be used with literally thousands of services. From this background, this paper develops the notion of assistant platforms and elaborates a conceptual model that supports businesses in developing appropriate strategies. The model consists of three main building blocks, an architecture that depicts the components as well as the possible layers of an assistant platform, the mechanism that determines the value creation on assistant platforms, and the ecosystem with its network effects, which emerge from the multi-sided nature of assistant platforms. The model has been derived from a litera-ture review and is illustrated with examples of existing assistant platforms. Its main purpose is to advance the understanding of assistant platforms and to trigger future research.