Transforming Industry

10 11 GOVERNMENT AI agility for Chile Chile’s Solidarity and Social Investment Fund (FOSIS) has benefited from a virtual assistant that takes advantage of Microsoft Azure AI technologies. Launched in 1990 under the Ministry of Social Development and Family, FOSIS oversees social programs, public investments, and other social measures. Thanks to the new virtual assistant, FOSIS can now easily address frequently asked questions from its more than 120,000 beneficiaries regarding the application process for business funds. FOSIS has 16 regional offices and 20 provincial offices throughout Chile and its activities include providing citizens with access to social assistance through applications for benefits. “Our mission is to help the most vulnerable families in the country overcome poverty, and we do this mainly through programs that support employment and entrepreneurship,” says Felipe Bettancourt, Executive Director at FOSIS. Together with EY Chile, FOSIS redesigned its customer service with a project based on agile methodology. “The 2020 context has prompted us to accelerate our digital transformation to remotely respond to the applications that people file each year,” says Bettancourt. The main goal of the initiative was to offer users a single source of clear information with an immediately available communication channel. FOSIS implemented Microsoft Azure AI technologies to address frequent questions related to the services the institution provides to its users. A virtual assistant, based on Azure AI and Cognitive Services, answers questions regarding the application process for the agency’s social programs. Cristian Arnolds, Head of Digital Transformation Department, at FOSIS, explains: “We trained the virtual assistant with frequent questions asked by our users. Our goal was to ensure the bot recognizes as many questions as possible, and provides correct answers.” At first, FOSIS focused on developing the virtual assistant for its Yo Emprendo Semilla program, an initiative that allows citizens to apply for funding and benefits to support their business ventures and drive income. Feedback from users indicated that ” Our goal was to ensure the bot recognizes as many questions as possible” some felt unsure about the application process for funds. The organization decided to use disruptive technologies to address the issue of accessibility. The Azure-based specialized services chosen work seamlessly with other Microsoft solutions, such as Power BI, which shows the status of applications through information dashboards. Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services allow FOSIS to address questions from a greater number of applicants in real time. More specifically, FOSIS implemented a Microsoft service called Language Understanding (LUIS), which applies machine learning intelligence to a conversation. LUIS allows users to create their own language models in a natural way, so that bots, applications, devices, or even websites can understand commands and perform certain actions. The use of technologies and specialized services based on Azure (such as the Text Analytics service, which performs in-depth analysis of users’ communications) allows FOSIS to effectively process applications that are filed directly by citizens. More than 270,000 users have engaged with the virtual assistant and up to 127,000 users access the tool in a single day. Satisfaction surveys show that 83 percent of users feel comfortable using the virtual assistant. Read the full case study >