How can your organization use AI most effectively, providing added value for your customers? Many organizations are currently pondering such questions. Agoria, an advocate for Belgian technology companies, jumped on the bandwagon early on. Now, there are two AI assistants in use. With Codit’s help, the implementation of both projects went smoothly, and Agoria is reaping the benefits just a few months in.
Agoria is a Belgian federation for the technology industry, representing more than 2,200 Belgian companies. It’s mission is to play a pioneering role in the digital world: “In 2022, we developed a new roadmap for our digital transformation,” says CIO Bart Van Nynatten. “Our ambition is to become a truly data-driven organization. We’re focusing on four strategic pillars: first, member centricity through a range of digital services; second, data and AI to deliver hyper-personalized services; third, a hybrid workplace that equips employees with the right tools to excel; and finally, the smart digitization of internal processes.”
ADA: A virtual assistant for members
A first step in the further digitization of services for members is the virtual assistant ADA (Agoria Digital Assistant). Since January, members are invited to enter questions into the federation’s website and receive an immediate response. Van Nynatten: “We experience a lot of first-line questions from our members: about subsidies, training, or the number of hours a student worker is allowed to work, for example. We have mapped out these frequently asked questions and built an AI application around them. It works like a chatbot, allowing members to visit our website 24/7 with their questions. The answer is immediate. Our employees are freed up to work on more specific or complex situations.”
NEO: Practical support for employees
Agoria also developed NEO, an internal AI assistant designed to support employees in their daily work. “NEO has several practical applications,” says the CIO. “It can translate texts, PowerPoint presentations, or Excel files. It can compare documents and highlight differences, or generate summaries.”
NEO has quickly become an essential tool. “Seventy percent of our employees use it daily. It’s been very well received because it’s accessible and user-friendly—even for those with limited technical experience. The assistant also tailors its responses based on the user’s role and expertise, ensuring relevant and contextual answers.”
Both AI assistants are built using Microsoft technology—a natural choice for Agoria. “The organization works with the Microsoft ecosystem. Therefore, the new applications use the Azure cloud and OpenAI. The advantage is that we can use data from other applications, because it is already stored in the cloud. To access the data, we use building blocks and APIs that were developed together with our IT partner, Codit.” Both tools use Foundry, a catalog of easy-to-implement generative AI models. Standard AI tools like ChatGPT offer less flexibility in this regard.
A partner from brainstorm to implementation
External support enabled Agoria to move quickly. “We were looking for a partner who had the necessary expertise and could guide us through our entire AI journey: from brainstorming and designing the concept to building and implementing it. We had worked with Codit before. And in talking to them it quickly became clear that they were the right partner for this project,“ says Bart Van Nynatten.” Convenienty, Codit is part of the Proximus Group, with whom we also have other partnerships. That made collaboration even smoother.”
Following a successful launch, Agoria is already planning to expand its AI capabilities. “We’re very pleased with the results we’ve achieved with Codit. The enthusiasm from our employees motivates us to keep going. We will systematically add new functionality to our internal app NEO. For ADA, the digital assistant for members, we aim to introduce interactive capabilities by the end of this year, to respond to inquiries even better,” concludes Van Nynatten. A future migration to Copilot is considered since this AI assistant is integrated into Sharepoint.
A word from the client
“We’re very pleased with the results we’ve achieved with Codit. The enthusiasm from our employees motivates us to keep going.”
Bart Van Nynatten CIO at Agoria
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