4 real-life Business Process Automation examples in Education, Training and Research

4 real-life Business Process Automation examples in Education, Training and Research

Automation in education, training and research is not just about efficiency but improving learning outcomes, stronger student or researcher support, and more time for teaching and discovery.

The most valuable automations reduce administrative load around enrolment, scheduling, records, communications, grant workflows, and knowledge management while respecting academic calendars, safeguarding requirements, and the need for human mentoring and review.

Business function

Industry

Khan Academy's Khanmigo AI Tutor and Teaching Assistant

Khan Academy deployed Khanmigo, an AI tutoring and teaching assistant to provide personalised conversational support to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers across its free online learning platform.

Use Case
AI Conversational Tutoring and Teaching Support
Tools
OpenAI
Input
Student learning histories, in-progress exercise attempts, and teacher requests for lesson planning support submitted through the Khan Academy platform.
Process
Khanmigo uses OpenAI's LLMs to engage students in Socratic dialogue, guiding them through problem-solving rather than providing direct answers, while offering teachers tools to generate lesson plans, assessments and differentiated content aligned to curriculum objectives.
Output
Personalised conversational tutoring responses and hints delivered to students in real time, plus lesson plans, quiz drafts, and instructional materials generated for teachers on demand.
Outcome
Hundreds of thousands of students and teachers have adopted Khanmigo with early data showing improved student engagement and comprehension rates, validating AI tutoring at scale on a free platform.
Edtech Platforms
Product

Pearson and IBM's AI-Powered Personalised Learning Platform

Pearson partnered with IBM to build AI-powered personalised learning tools using watsonx Orchestrate and watsonx Governance, combining Pearson's learning content and credentialling expertise with IBM's AI platform to deliver adaptive professional development at enterprise scale.

Use Case
AI-Personalised Professional Skills Development
Tools
watsonx Orchestrate
Input
Learner skills profiles, career goals, and performance data drawn from Pearson's assessment and credentialling products, including Credly, Faethm and Pearson Professional Assessments.
Process
watsonx Orchestrate agents analyse individual skills gaps and learning histories to generate personalised development pathways, while watsonx Governance ensures transparency and accountability across AI-driven recommendations.
Output
Tailored learning recommendations and curated content pathways delivered to individual learners and organisations, accessible to IBM's 270,000 employees and broader enterprise clients globally.
Outcome
The partnership addresses a $1.1 trillion annual US economic cost attributed to skills mismatches, providing organisations with faster, more relevant upskilling aligned to AI-driven workforce transformation.
Professional Training Providers
People

VTT's Agentforce Inbound Lead Qualification

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland deploy Salesforce Agentforce to automate the qualification and engagement of thousands of inbound leads generated through web, digital, and in-person events. The AI agent handles outreach, answers questions, and books meetings around the clock, enabling VTT to connect with close to 100% of inbound leads.

Use Case
AI-Powered Autonomous Inbound Lead Qualification and Engagement
Tools
Agentforce
Input
Inbound lead records from web forms, event registrations, and digital campaigns; CRM and company knowledge base data; product and service information
Process
Agentforce SDR agent autonomously engages each inbound lead using natural language, qualifies them against BANT criteria, answers product and service questions using preloaded company data, handles objections, and books meetings with human sales reps when leads are ready to progress
Output
Qualified leads with meeting bookings routed to human sales reps; 24/7 outreach coverage across all inbound channels; structured lead engagement records in Salesforce CRM
Outcome
VTT now connects with close to 100% of its 4,000 annual inbound leads, freeing its SDR team to focus on high-value partnerships and complex sales conversations
Research Institutes
Sales

Georgia State University's Pounce AI Student Services Chatbot

Georgia State University deploys Pounce, an AI-powered chatbot, to handle hundreds of thousands of student enquiries annually, covering admissions, financial aid, and enrolment, which frees staff for complex advisory work and contributing to improved student retention rates.

Use Case
Automated Student Services and Enquiry Handling
Tools
Internal Tools
Input
Student queries submitted via text and web channels, covering admissions status, financial aid, course registration and campus services
Process
A conversational AI interprets student queries, retrieves answers from institutional knowledge bases, and escalates complex cases to human advisors.
Output
Instant, accurate responses to student enquiries around the clock with automated escalation routing for complex cases
Outcome
Hundreds of thousands of queries handled without human intervention, freeing staff for higher-value advisory work and improving student retention.
Schools and Universities
Operations
See all 142 Business Process Automation examples