Borås Energy and Environment’s AI journey – a business-driven AI lab for long-term value

Borås Energy and Environment is a municipally owned utility company responsible for delivering essential services such as energy, water, wastewater, waste management, and digital infrastructure to citizens and businesses in the municipality of Borås.

Digitalisation has long been a strategic priority in Borås Energy and Environment’s business plan. When the organisation took its next step into artificial intelligence, it deliberately chose a different path from traditional, technology-driven implementations. Instead, the focus was placed on building knowledge, confidence, and change capability from within the organisation.

At the outset, interest in AI was high, but knowledge was fragmented. There were no shared principles, clear processes, or structures for how AI ideas should be developed into value. At the same time, the organisation had a solid data foundation and a clear need to manage legal aspects, information security, and responsibility in a more structured way.

Borås Energy and Environment faced the challenge of transforming a growing interest in artificial intelligence into a concrete ability to use the technology in a structured and responsible way. Initial AI maturity was low, and the shared understanding of how AI could create value across the organisation was limited. There was no coherent AI strategy, no clear policies or governance, and no established processes for developing ideas into prototypes and, ultimately, into real business value.

Uncertainty around legal requirements, information security, and permitted use of AI further complicated broader adoption. In parallel, the organisation also needed to initiate two major AI initiatives: an AI chatbot for both public-facing and internal use, and AI support related to the management of physical assets.

The challenge was therefore not about implementing individual technical solutions, but about building trust, structure, and practical AI capability across the entire organisation as a foundation for long-term, sustainable AI development.

To address these challenges, Knowit and Borås Energy and Environment jointly established an AI lab designed as a practical learning programme focused on real business needs and use cases. The AI lab was created to build knowledge, confidence, and the ability to act within the organisation, rather than solely delivering technical solutions.

A central part of the initiative was the appointment of AI ambassadors from across the organisation. Approximately 15–20 employees participated, representing nearly all parts of the business. The ambassadors identified needs, tested and evaluated AI solutions, and shared knowledge and experiences with their colleagues, creating both engagement and broad organisational anchoring.

The AI lab was run using an iterative approach where understanding, experimentation, development, and reflection were closely integrated. The work was characterised by hands-on experimentation using real data, documents, and processes from Borås Energy and Environment, enabling learning that was closely connected to everyday operations.

AI use cases were identified in a business-driven manner through workshops and continuous dialogue with the AI ambassadors. Ideas were prioritised based on criteria such as business value, risk, feasibility, and scalability.

This resulted in a clear focus on:

• knowledge- and document-based AI solutions
• chatbot solutions for both internal and external use

All work was carried out on a secure, shared technical platform. The AI platform Intric was used as a foundation and complemented with data and analytics tools such as KNIME, ensuring both information security and future development potential.

In parallel with the AI lab, Knowit led two strategic AI initiatives together with Borås Energy and Environment: one focused on the development of an AI chatbot and the other on AI support related to asset management. These projects also served as important catalysts for the organisation’s overall AI development.

The AI initiative has delivered clear and measurable results and represents an important step in Borås Energy and Environment’s journey towards increased AI maturity. Through a structured, business-centric approach, a shared understanding of AI has been established across the organisation, while concrete use cases have been identified and prioritised based on real business value.

The work has resulted in several key building blocks for long-term, sustainable AI development:

• increased AI maturity and shared understanding of how AI can be used in the organisation
• clearly identified and prioritised AI use cases with tangible value
• an established AI policy, AI strategy, and long-term roadmap
• an active network of AI ambassadors who continue to drive change
• several AI assistants in operation or under development within areas such as HR, scheduling, forecasting, and technical and legal support
• improved efficiency, quality, and service for both employees and customers.

The AI lab has thus laid the foundation for Borås Energy and Environment’s continued AI journey. The result is not a completed initiative, but a growing and sustainable capability to use AI as a natural part of daily operations, with a strong focus on responsibility, societal benefit, and long-term value creation.

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