My First Week at RoboRana: An Engaging Onboarding Experience

My first week at RoboRana was anything but a boring onboarding. I dove straight into a workshop/hackathon with one of our clients, Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen (KatOVla). The aim was clear: develop an AI-driven chatbot that meets KatOVla’s needs.

Week Objectives

We set out to:

• Understand KatOVla’s expectations for the chatbot and their vision for its implementation.
• Develop a detailed action plan with a Kanban board for task management.
• Explore and test technologies like Azure AI and Copilot Studio to verify they fit the project’s needs.
• Prepare and deliver demos to showcase the chatbot’s functionalities and gather stakeholder feedback.
• Collaborate with various teams to guarantee a smooth, efficient development process.

The workshop was designed to build a solid project foundation, ensuring everyone knew the goals, tasks, and technologies involved.

Exploring Azure AI and REST APIs

My first task was to dive into Azure AI and REST APIs. I received numerous links and videos on Azure AI Foundry, which explained how to set up the architecture for KatOVla’s requirements. This exploration was fascinating and helped me understand how the technology would integrate into our project.

Hands-On with Copilot Studio

The next morning, I started testing the Copilot Studio environment. I prepared a demo for KatOVla’s IT team, which included:

• Spending the afternoon testing Copilot.
• Creating a chatbot within Teams for RoboRana.
• Exploring additional ways to add value for KatOVla using Copilot Studio.

It was exciting to see how quickly a functional chatbot could be set up, confirming that our chosen technologies were on track.

Wednesday: Demo Day for Functional Analysts

Wednesday was dedicated to a demo for the functional analysts, Greet and Magda. I:

• Put the finishing touches on the chatbot.
• Expanded its functionalities using Generative AI.
• Received positive feedback that boosted team morale.

Testers then evaluated the chatbot. I compared its responses with the desired answers from the analysis team, using the Ragas library to process about 100 questions and answers. Despite being a new tool for me, I managed to quickly understand how to calculate relevance and similarities.

Tackling Challenges with Ragas

Thursday started with a productive morning meeting where everyone knew their tasks. While continuing work with Ragas, I encountered some obstacles. After trial and error and some help from colleagues, we realized more data was needed. My new task was to:

• Test the chatbot manually by entering questions.
• Transfer the answers to Excel for further analysis.

Even though this task was simple, it highlighted the importance of teamwork and persistence in overcoming challenges.

Wrapping Up the Week

Friday focused on finalizing our work. I:

• Continued refining the list of questions and answers.
• Prepared for an important demo for the executives.
• Participated in a reflection meeting to discuss progress and areas for improvement.

The feedback we received was invaluable for guiding the next steps of the project. At the end of the week, I documented everything in a comprehensive weekly report and bid farewell to colleagues I had grown close to over the past few days.

Final Thoughts

My first week at RoboRana exceeded my expectations. The support from my colleagues and mentor made me feel like an integral part of the team from day one. Contributing to a client-organized hackathon allowed us to create something that truly added value. I’m excited for the challenges that lie ahead.

Special Thanks

• IT Team at Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen: Reg, Magda, Greet, Jesse, Matthias
• Colleagues at RoboRana: Maximilien, Arne, Lander
• Mentor: Maarten

On to the next step!

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