Internal AI Assistant for Employees
An internal AI assistant answers employees' questions about policies, procedures, IT and HR from your own documents, shows the source and respects who may see what. Remolda puts one into production in six weeks for $9,800 CAD + HST.
In short
- Price: $9,800 CAD + HST for the six-week AI Pilot Sprint: one assistant on one knowledge domain, such as HR, IT or operations.
- Answers come from your SharePoint, intranet, wiki or drive, and each answer cites the document it used.
- Permissions follow your existing access rights, so staff see only what they already may open.
- Runs in Microsoft Teams or your intranet; built with Microsoft Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI or another stack that fits your licences.
- Unanswered questions are logged and routed to the owner of the content, so gaps get fixed.
Your situation
An internal assistant pays off where staff spend time hunting for answers that already exist in writing. Typical cases:
- HR answers the same questions weekly. Leave, benefits, expenses, remote work rules.
- IT tickets for how-to questions. Password resets, VPN setup, printer instructions.
- New hires ask their neighbour. Procedures live across SharePoint sites, PDFs and old emails.
- Staff paste internal documents into public chatbots. Leadership wants an approved tool with the right data.
What the assistant does
| Capability | How it works | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Answers from your content | Searches indexed policies, procedures and FAQs | Cites the source document |
| Respects permissions | Uses the employee's existing access rights | Restricted folders stay restricted |
| Handles follow-ups | Keeps the thread in context | Session logs retained per your policy |
| Knows its limits | Says when it has no source, routes to a contact | Gaps logged for the content owner |
| Works in English and French | Replies in the employee's language | Terms checked by your team |
The retrieval layer (indexing, chunking, access filters) is built as a data pipeline. For public-facing answers, see the customer service chatbot.
What the AI Pilot Sprint includes
One knowledge domain. HR, IT, operations or a policy library, agreed at kickoff.
Content preparation. Outdated and duplicate documents flagged for owners before indexing.
The assistant in Teams or your intranet. Built on Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI or another stack that fits.
A test set of real questions. Accuracy measured before launch, with wrong answers fixed at the source.
Rules for staff. A short usage note aligned with your AI use policy.
How long it takes
Six weeks from kickoff. In our experience the usual split is two weeks for access and content cleanup, two weeks of build and testing on real questions, and two weeks of live use. Document cleanup by content owners is the usual cause of delay.
What it costs
The AI Pilot Sprint is $9,800 CAD + HST, fixed, for one assistant on one domain. Licences and model usage are billed by the vendor. If you are still deciding between Copilot and other tools, the AI Opportunity Audit ($2,900) compares them for your case and is credited toward the Sprint. See the pricing page.
Why Remolda for an internal AI assistant
- Answers with sources. Staff can check every reply.
- Your permissions, unchanged. The assistant inherits access rights.
- Platform by fit. Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI or another stack.
- Canadian data questions answered up front. Processing location and retention documented.
- Adoption included. Staff training through Copilot and ChatGPT training and a bilingual setup where needed.
How the work runs
The Sprint covers the Implement and Empower steps of the Remolda Cycle (Audit → Strategy → Implement → Empower → Evolve).
- Scope call. 30 minutes: domain, platform, audience.
- Content and access. Sources chosen, cleaned and indexed.
- Build and test. Real staff questions, measured accuracy.
- Go live. Rollout to a first group, then the whole team.
- Review. Usage, answer quality and ticket volume, then go / adjust / stop.
Frequently asked questions
What is an internal AI assistant?
It is a chat assistant for staff that finds answers in your organization's own documents, such as policies, procedures, benefit guides and IT instructions, and replies in plain language with a link to the source.
How much does an internal AI assistant cost?
Remolda's six-week AI Pilot Sprint is $9,800 CAD + HST for one assistant on one knowledge domain, including content preparation, access rules, testing and training. Licences and model usage are billed by Microsoft or the model provider.
Do we need Microsoft 365 Copilot for this?
It is one option. A Copilot Studio agent works well for Microsoft-centric teams. A custom assistant on Azure OpenAI or another model fits where you need more control over sources, hosting or cost. We recommend after reviewing your licences.
How do you stop the assistant from making things up?
It answers only from indexed documents, shows the source for every answer and says when it cannot find one. We test it on a set of real staff questions before launch and track wrong answers after.
Can the assistant see confidential HR or finance files?
It sees what the asking employee is already allowed to see. Content with restricted access stays restricted, and sensitive folders can be left out of the index entirely.
Where is the data processed?
That depends on the platform. Microsoft says in-country processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions in Canada is expected in 2027. Azure OpenAI Standard deployments in Canada East process prompts in Canada for listed models. We document the choice under PIPEDA and Law 25.
How long does it take?
Six weeks from kickoff. In our experience, cleaning up outdated or duplicate documents takes more time than the build.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn — What is Microsoft Copilot Studio?
- Microsoft — In-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot (editor's note, April 3, 2026)
- Microsoft Learn — Azure OpenAI deployment types (data processing location)
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — Principles for responsible, trustworthy and privacy-protective generative AI technologies
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