Customer Success Stories
UZ Gent is one of Flanders' largest hospitals, with 7,000 employees, 1,200 doctors, and over 3,000 daily consultations. As a university hospital, it focuses on care, education, and research, supported by approximately 800 IT applications. With nearly all staff using IT, the helpdesk faced an increasing volume of 5,000 inquiries per month, leading to long wait times. UZ Gent sought a solution to reduce workload and accelerate ticket resolution.
Published : 24/02/2026
"Innovation is a priority for us", says CIO Christiaan Polet. Partnering with Inetum, UZ Gent developed a custom chatbot using Microsoft Azure AI Foundry. The bot uses 500 pages of intranet data to provide instant answers. "Employees who used to call immediately now get instant answers and source links from the bot" notes Bram van Groenigen, Head of ICT Infrastructure.
In a large hospital environment where IT reliability and response times directly affect daily operations, UZ Gent needed a way to handle growing support demand without increasing operational complexity or risk. To address this challenge, the hospital adopted a structured, framework-based approach to generative AI, designed to deliver controlled, secure and repeatable outcomes in a regulated healthcare context.
Built on Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and supported by Inetum’s implementation expertise, the solution moved beyond a standalone chatbot into a production-ready framework, already embedded in daily operations.
By relying exclusively on validated internal knowledge sources, the framework enables UZ Gent to accelerate conversational workflows linked to administrative, operational and clinical processes, while establishing a scalable foundation for future digital initiatives.De oplossing, gebouwd op Microsoft Azure AI Foundry en ondersteund door de implementatie‑expertise van Inetum, gaat verder dan een eenvoudige chatbot en vormt een productieklare operationele omgeving die reeds geïntegreerd is in de dagelijkse activiteiten.
Door uitsluitend gebruik te maken van gevalideerde interne kennisbronnen stelt dit kader UZ Gent in staat om conversatiestromen rond administratieve, operationele en klinische processen te versnellen, terwijl tegelijk een solide basis wordt gelegd voor duurzame schaalbaarheid en toekomstige digitale initiatieven.
The chatbot now handles the majority of queries, with only 5-8% requiring human intervention. This allows the IT team to focus on complex tasks, improving both efficiency and job satisfaction. The hospital plans to expand this technology to HR and facility management desks.
