York University needed to make a deeper personal connection with its students — all 50,000 of them. The university worked with IBM, using Watson Assistant to create SAVY, a virtual assistant that gives customized answers to a wide range of student questions about university life, from the lunch menu to career advice.
Getting the right people in the room
The business owner for SAVY was the Division of Students, not a data team. “IBM guided us through the whole process, making sure we take on a human-centered design approach, making sure that we hear students’ concerns and ideas,” says Donald Ipperciel, chief information officer at York University.