Manufacturing
R&D knowledge agent that prevents brain drain
An international company struggled with high staff turnover in their R&D department. We built a Copilot Studio agent that makes years of accumulated knowledge accessible to new employees.
Objective
Retain R&D knowledge despite staff turnover
An international company recently had staff turnover in their R&D department. Years of accumulated research and expertise threatened to disappear with every departure. New employees spent a lot of time searching through SharePoint documents to find answers that were obvious to experienced colleagues.
The knowledge was there, locked inside Office 365 documents and SharePoint. But nobody could find it quickly. Every departure meant starting over. Every new hire meant onboarding time all over again.
Our approach
Build an AI agent inside their existing environment
Map the knowledge landscape
We identified where the most critical R&D knowledge lived: SharePoint libraries and shared documents. We mapped the questions new employees typically ask, alongside the documents that answer them.
Build inside Office 365
The client already worked in an Office 365 environment with most R&D documents in SharePoint. We chose Copilot Studio. No new platforms to learn, no data migration needed. The agent lives where the team already works.
Configure and test with real questions
We configured the agent to search the relevant document libraries, answer questions in context and always cite sources. We tested with real questions from the R&D team to validate accuracy and usability.
Train the team
We trained the R&D team on using the agent, which types of questions work well and how to verify answers. Adoption is part of delivery, not an afterthought. The IT lead was also walked through the specific Azure environment.
The result
Institutional knowledge stays, even when people leave
New R&D employees now get answers in seconds instead of hours of searching. The agent points them to the exact documents and sections they need. Knowledge transfer happens automatically, not only when someone has time to explain something.
Ready to build your AI setup?
Let's discuss what an AI setup looks like for your sector.