Imagine the perfect colleague. One who embodies your company’s culture and values, understands your business inside and out, is always available to help and—almost never—talks back. This was our vision when we set out to build SOFI, SoftServe’s new assistant, powered by artificial intelligence.
At SoftServe, we thrive on innovation, and our HR team is no exception. We saw an opportunity to reimagine how employees interact with HR: How they get the information they need, how they navigate complex processes and how they receive support.
Instead of just creating another chatbot, we built something bigger: A digital colleague designed to integrate seamlessly into our workplace, mirroring our company’s values while unlocking a new level of efficiency and employee experience.
Why build an AI colleague?
We live in an era where AI is reshaping the workplace, but we wanted to go beyond automation. We wanted to create a digital entity that not only answered employees’ questions but also became an extension of the HR function—proactive, insightful and deeply aligned with our organizational culture.
SOFI was designed to be:
- A cultural ambassador: SOFI’s tone and responses reflect SoftServe’s core values, ensuring a consistent and engaging employee experience.
- A single source of truth: Instead of employees searching across multiple platforms for policies, procedures or contacts, SOFI provides immediate, reliable answers. Our employees now spend 66.7 percent less time searching for information, freeing time for high-value work.
- An on-demand HR partner: Available 24/7, SOFI ensures support is never more than a message away. It gained 2,000 unique users in the first two weeks and has handled over 20,000 queries so far.
- A constantly learning system: With every interaction, SOFI improves, adapting to user needs and refining responses over time.
How we built SOFI
Creating an AI-powered digital colleague requires more than technical expertise; it demands understanding of human interaction, business needs and cultural alignment. Here’s how we made it happen:
- Understanding our people’s needs. Before writing a single line of code, we conducted deep-dive research into how employees interact with HR and our corporate knowledge database. Our study revealed that 80 percent of corporate knowledge was unstructured, making traditional search tools ineffective. We also identified pain points—long response times, scattered information and inconsistent guidance—and set out to solve them.
- Designing for culture and personality. We strongly believe AI should reflect the personality of the organization. SOFI was trained on SoftServe’s communication style, ensuring a warm, approachable and supportive tone. It understands context, humor and even company-specific nuances.
- Seamless integration with existing systems. To make SOFI truly valuable, we integrated it with our SharePoint intranet, Workday, internal knowledge bases, Udemy Business, PowerBI and other HR tools. This allows employees to get answers about everything from benefits to career development without leaving their workflow.
- Ensuring trust and data security. With great AI power comes great responsibility. SOFI was built with strict data security protocols to ensure employee information is handled responsibly and confidentially.
- Continuous improvement and adaptation. As AI is never static, we implemented machine learning mechanisms to ensure SOFI evolves based on real interactions. The more employees engage with it, the smarter and more efficient it becomes.
What we’ve learned
Building SOFI was not without its challenges. We learned that launching an AI assistant requires more than just technology—it requires a thoughtful change management approach. Adoption was not automatic; employees needed to trust SOFI and see its value. Clear communication and internal marketing were essential in driving usage and engagement.
We also discovered that AI must be continuously refined. Initial gaps in SOFI’s knowledge were quickly identified and addressed through iterative improvements. Feedback loops with employees ensured the assistant evolved alongside the organization’s needs.
Most importantly, we realized that AI is only as strong as the ecosystem it operates within. Integrating SOFI into existing workflows and ensuring seamless connectivity with other HR and IT systems was crucial to making it a true digital colleague rather than just another chatbot.
What’s next?
We believe SOFI is just the beginning. As AI continues to evolve, digital colleagues will become an integral part of the workplace, not just answering questions but proactively solving problems, providing insights, and even fostering engagement.
For other organizations looking to embark on a similar journey, our advice is simple: Think beyond automation and build a colleague. Align AI with your culture, empower it with knowledge and let it become a trusted part of your workforce.
At SoftServe, we didn’t just implement AI; we welcomed a new member to our team. And in doing so, we redefined what’s possible for the future of work.
