The Royal Navy has unveiled a web-based conversational AI assistant, in partnership with Wavemaker UK, its partner, Voxly Digital, and the Navy’s digital programme partner, Great State.

Accessible via the Royal Navy website, the Royal Navy Virtual Guide has been created to ensure its information and processes resonate with the changing needs of a new generation of potential recruits. “We’ve seen huge change in the needs of our users considering a career in the Royal Navy over the last few years,” said David Chandler, Division Director at Great State. With increasing expectations from Generation Z to provide a more personalised and convenient experience, the Royal Navy needed a new approach that would ensure it stayed future-fit to meet audience expectations.

The Royal Navy Virtual Guide will provide applicants with individually tailored journeys, content and nudges as they navigate their way through the extensive information currently held on the Royal Navy careers website. With over 100 roles available in the Royal Navy, it will assist them to explore the career path that is best suited to their needs, ambitions and experience. It can even help candidates to complete their application form within the chat interface to kick-start their joining journey.

By leveraging natural language processing models, the Royal Navy Virtual Guide can answer open-ended questions from potential candidates. The assistant gets to know candidates through conversation and provides dynamic answers, proactive content and nudges based on who they are and how far along the journey they’ve come. Answers vary based on age, gender, interest and level of commitment.

“Solutions like our new AI Virtual Guide allow us to communicate in a 1:1 way for our website visitors, delivering the right content, to the right person, at the right time,” said  

Paul Colley, Head of Marketing at Royal Navy. “This complex project has been a brilliant collaboration between our partner agencies, and we’re only at the start of an exciting roadmap. Our ambitions for this solution are long-term, and I look forward to seeing its capabilities developing over time.”