Users and Staff: How Is the Allier Department Implementing AI?

The challenge: to make it easier for users to access information and to equip staff, without compromising data security.

Two audiences, the same need for trust.

From the users' perspective: simplifying the search for information on the departmental website

A Department oversees a wide range of responsibilities: social services, independent living, children and families, roads, middle schools, and culture. Its website therefore contains a wealth of information, organized into numerous sections. To ensure that every user can easily find the answer to their question—whether they’re looking for assistance, information on a procedure, or a contact—the Department wanted to go beyond keyword search. The objectives were therefore as follows:

• Find the information on the first try: allow users to ask their questions in natural language, rather than navigating through the menu structure.
• Be available around the clock: respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including outside of counter hours.
• Take the pressure off the front desk: handle routine requests so that staff can focus on situations that require personal interaction.

For Agents: An AI Assistant for Everyday Use, with No Data Gaps

Departmental employees are beginning to use generative AI in their work. The challenge for the local government is to provide them with a secure, integrated tool, rather than letting them turn to consumer-grade tools that offer no guarantees regarding the data being processed. There was an additional major constraint: not all use cases involve the same level of sensitivity. A single model hosted on a single platform could not meet all of these needs.

The goal: to have a single AI platform for deploying various applications, while retaining control over the choice of models and hosting.

The solution: a multi-model AI platform, managed by the local government

Three AI applications deployed on Wikit Semantics.

An AI search engine and a chatbot on the website

Live since mid-2026, these two modules were deployed together on the Allier Department’s official website, along with the Wikit Semantics platform:

• Smart search engine: It replaces keyword-based search. The AI understands the question asked in natural language, identifies the user’s intent, and provides a clear answer, along with links to relevant pages and helpful resources.
• Conversational chatbot: It guides the user through a structured conversation to clarify their request, then directs them to the right information or service.
• Answers based on official content: Both tools draw on content published by the Department, ensuring that the answers are consistent with institutional information.

→ Learn more about AI in customer service

"My Professional Assistant": An AI assistant for agents across all fields

Since June 2026, Departmental Council employees have had access to“My Professional Assistant,”a secure AI assistant integrated into their daily work. The Department designed it to be a highly motivated colleague, available 24 hours a day, capable of handling a wide variety of tasks:

• Write letters, memos, and reports.
• Organize and summarize lengthy documents or complex files.
• Compare options and prepare project plans.
• Adapt the tone and level of language to the target audience: staff member, elected official, user, or service provider.

The local government employee always retains control: they guide the AI assistant, correct and approve its output, and remain the sole decision-maker. The assistant has been configured for the public sector: it respects data confidentiality and never supersedes an administrative decision.

Choosing a Model and Hosting Option: Based on Usage

That is what makes this deployment unique. The platform is operated by Wikit, but it is the Information Systems Department of the Allier Departmental Council that selects the appropriate infrastructure for each application, based on its level of sensitivity. Wikit Semantics offers the council a choice among several options:

• Models hosted by French service providers certified by SecNumCloud.
• AI solutions offered as SaaS by French or European companies, such as Mistral AI.
• International solutions deployed on leading cloud platforms.

For its three applications, the IT department made two distinct choices:

• Search engine and chatbot: These tools rely on the website’s public content. The Department has selected Mistral AI’s French AI, offered as a SaaS solution.
• “My Professional Assistant”: It processes employees’ work documents. We chose an open-source solution hosted in France by Scaleway, a French cloud hosting provider.

This multi-model approach tailors the level of protection to each use case, without locking the municipality into a single provider.

→ Explore the Wikit Semantics platform

The results: AI embraced by both users and staff

Less time wasted searching, more time for what really matters.

From the users' perspective: a more interactive website

• A rapid rollout: it took about two months to launch the smart search engine and the AI chatbot.
• A new search habit: The smart search engine is the tool most frequently used by users, a sign that they are naturally adopting natural-language search.
• A service available around the clock: users can get answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including evenings and weekends.

The Department's Perspective on the User Experience

From the agents' perspective: rapid adoption of “My Professional Assistant” 

• 250 users within the first few months after launch
• Everyday use: The assistant has become the Department’s most-used AI app, across all categories.

The Department's Perspective on the Employee Experience