As we support our customers to navigate the artificial intelligence (AI) digital shift, we have also embraced AI internally. Whether to share knowledge, drive productivity or foster innovation, we’ve introduced OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise to help our teams do their best work for our customers. From automating expense reporting to developing proposal tools, each team has found unique ways to leverage this technology.
Beginning with a pilot that evolved into a phased rollout, our departments, from finance to legal, are now equipped with the skills to use this generative AI tool and build their own custom solutions tailored to their unique needs. With each phase of the rollout, we’re not only improving productivity and efficiency, but sharpening our expertise so we can guide clients as they embrace AI in their own organisations.
Here, Maria Gomez, Global VP of Operations, shares how this technology is shaping Endava’s future, some innovative use cases and what we’ve learned during implementation – insights that will help us drive even greater success for our customers as they adopt AI.
Pilot scheme to popular tool
We began with a pilot scheme over a year ago, issuing ChatGPT Enterprise to around 150 people in the company. We involved several different departments in this initial stage, meaning people could try out the tool for their various types of work.
Then, we evolved into a phased approach, deploying it first to people across internal functions and slowly rolling it out until we introduced it to teams who could use it to help support our clients.
This approach was very intentional so we could gather feedback as we went, learn from each phase and improve. And it has worked well – the adoption rate of those who have received the license is over 80%. When they understand how much they can do with this tool, they are very eager to explore its full potential.
Empowering teams with tailored solutions
As our teams become more familiar with the tool, they’ve started to work with custom GPTs for tasks specific to their roles. These GPTs are personalised versions of OpenAI’s language model that users can tailor to automate particular tasks, access organisation-specific information and adapt responses to meet their unique needs, all without requiring coding expertise.
This is particularly exciting, as we are empowering all our employees – both those from a software delivery background and does that do not have that experience – to build tailored AI solutions. The results have been inspiring, with GPTs tackling tasks such as:
- Expense reporting
The finance department held a mini-hackathon-style event, during which time they were able to build a GPT that handles repetitive expense reporting tasks, so they can focus on those that require their focused attention.
- Knowledge management
Connected to our various knowledge bases, this GPT allows anyone in the company to easily search for, access and create executive summaries of stored documents and information.
- Client prospecting
Our commercial team is working on a GPT that will support their preparation of proposals so we can provide the best information for our potential clients.
- Content editing
Our marketing department has created a GPT that checks written pieces against our brand style and tone guide, offering advice on improving content so our communications remain aligned with our brand voice.
We also have several other GPTs in the build and testing phases, including one to streamline IT support and another to help employees better access learning materials.
As teams embrace these solutions, we’ve also encouraged individuals to build GPTs specific to their roles. Creating these GPTs is intuitive, requiring no coding skills, but we have been offering some training sessions to help people understand the process and get started. People are often surprised with themselves at being capable of creating these, and we’re really pleased to be able to empower our people in this way.
Training and champions for shared success
From the beginning, we built a champions group with a dedicated communications channel. This group supports employees in learning and maximising AI tools, addressing technical questions and building confidence. We’ve seen cross-department collaboration within the channel, with people answering questions or providing helpful use cases.
In addition, we have rolled out structured training that has proven really helpful. The first helps us deliver on our commitment to responsible AI use, as we ensure every employee goes through Endava-wide training on data handling, client consent and IP considerations. Completing this training is a prerequisite to being granted a license, ensuring responsible, ethical use of the tool.
Another example of training has included specific sessions exploring themes such as how to use the tool effectively, how to build custom GPTs and how to prompt based on different prompt principles such as reflection as an example. We’ve been holding these with individual departments, tailoring them to what people do in their day-to-day jobs to help them gain efficiency in repetitive tasks.
Leveraging AI expertise for our clients
While our employees are seeing huge benefits, the impact also reaches our clients. First and foremost, we now have experience implementing OpenAI tools across our own company. Having successfully implemented this internally, we can help clients who are looking to follow a similar path.
We’ve learned a lot through each phase of our rollout, and that insight is something we can now offer to clients – from setting up the initial pilot to managing licenses, identifying the best use cases, integrating the platform inside your enterprise structures and providing ongoing training. Our phased approach ensured we could gather proper feedback and improve as we expanded, and we can share this strategy with clients to help them succeed with generative AI.
It’s also helping to empower our engineers, supporting them to work faster and more efficiently. This means we can deliver more effectively for our customers and focus our efforts on tasks that bring further value to our clients.
Taking the next step in AI
We’re only at the start of our journey with OpenAI. This platform will continue to foster significant innovation, productivity and collaboration within our organisation. As we progress, we strive to empower our teams and lead the way with AI adoption.
With the deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise we are aiming to drive significant efficiency gains that allow our teams to reinvest in strategic, high-value projects, enabling stronger client impact and accelerating our roadmap for growth.
This is very much about enabling people, allowing them to do things that are more interesting or concentrate on tasks that bring more value to the company and our clients. But this also extends beyond efficiency gains; it’s about building a culture of innovation, empowering teams to create and positioning Endava as a leader in AI-enabled services. We’ll continue our work with OpenAI and we are excited to see how these tools push the boundaries of what we can achieve. By freeing up time for creative and strategic work, ChatGPT Enterprise empowers us to reimagine productivity and deepen our impact on both employees and clients. At Endava, AI is not just a tool; it’s a catalyst for empowering our people, enhancing our services and fostering the next level of innovation for our customers.
As we learn how to integrate AI into our everyday workflows, we're also gaining insights to guide clients through their own AI transformations, helping them harness technology to can streamline operations and unlock new growth.
Are you interested in seeing how ChatGPT could impact your own organisation? Connect with us to explore what an OpenAI engagement could mean for you.