Smarter functional management in a large Dutch Municipality

Challenge for functional management

The Functional Management department within the municipality oversees more than 1,200 applications, with growth expected to reach 1,800–1,900. These applications are maintained by approximately 350 functional administrators, who are responsible for daily operations, troubleshooting issues, implementing releases, and liaising with suppliers.
Functional managers work with a vast amount of documentation, often technical in nature and spread across multiple systems. This has led to four major bottlenecks:

1. Slow access to information
   Finding the right documentation could take hours, delaying resolution and productivity.
2. Limited mobility
   Temporary handovers—such as during holidays—were challenging due to the steep learning curve for unfamiliar applications.
3. Slow onboarding
   New hires required significant time to become productive, impacting team efficiency.
4. Difficult recruitment and retention
   The tight labor market, combined with the size of the team, made talent retention and employee satisfaction critical concerns.

The solution: FBAI, the AI assistant

The project began with an inspiration session for all 350 functional managers, exploring the possibilities of AI. This led to the development of an AI assistant: FBAI—an AI-powered chat application that answers questions based on internal documentation, complete with citations and direct links to relevant documents.

Key benefits of FBAI:

• Faster, intuitive information retrieval – even when questions are vague or incomplete.
• Centralized knowledge base – a single source of truth accessible to all.
• Improved mobility and collaboration – knowledge is no longer tied to individuals.
• Accelerated onboarding – new hires gain instant access to relevant information.
• Up to 25× faster search – reducing search time from 15–120 minutes to just 2 minutes.
• Governance-proof operations – all documentation is centrally stored and compliant with municipal standards.
• Seamless integration – connects with systems like SharePoint, Topdesk, and BlueDolphin for real-time answers.

Co-Creation with the Municipality

The project was executed in three phases: inspiration, pilot, and production. It was developed in close collaboration with the municipality, with a dedicated team of 3–4 functional managers actively involved in designing, testing, and refining the assistant. The solution was not just built for the municipality, but with it.

Better work through AI

FBAI is now live within the municipality’s environment, with content and management handled by the Functional Management department. Discussions are already underway to expand the solution to other departments—and even to end users.

This project demonstrates how AI can not only accelerate processes but also enhance employee satisfaction. By co-creating with end users, a solution was delivered that truly meets their needs—a great example of how technology and human-centered design go hand in hand.