AI in Action - How our support teams turned AI into a colleague

In this first edition of our AI in Action series, we speak with Baukje Korsten, Head of Customer Services at team.blue, about how she turned a common support challenge into an opportunity to rethink onboarding from the ground up. By introducing Kolega AI inside BlueChat, team.blue's secureinternal AI assistant designed to support everyday work, Baukje and her team created an internal AI colleague that helps new hires get up to speed faster, gives senior agents more focus time, and is now shaping how the wider team thinks about working with AI. 

AI across team.blue 

At team.blue, AI powers every layer of the ecosystem. From how customers build their online presence to how our teams work behind the scenes. For millions of European SMBs, that means personalised experiences, proactive guidance, and simpler paths to success. 

But a company doesn't become AI-first through strategy alone. It happens when people across the organisation take ownership and make it real in their own work. 

This is one of those stories. 

The challenge: onboarding that couldn't keep up 

Support teams know a truth that most of the company never sees: knowledge walks out the door every time someone leaves. In customer service, where turnover is a constant reality, that means starting over again and again. 

For Baukje Korsten, Head of Customer Services at team.blue, this was the daily reality her teams were navigating across markets. New hires depended on shadowing senior colleagues to learn the tools, the processes, and the way things work. But senior agents were already stretched. Every question from a new hire meant an interruption for someone else, and the more the team grew or rotated, the harder it became to maintain consistency. 

The knowledge was there. It just wasn't accessible in the right way, at the right moment. 

Raising her hand 

AI is in team.blue's DNA. The AI Champions program is how that shows up in practice: a network of volunteers who run events, share use cases, and bring AI into the daily reality of their teams. When the program launched, Baukje didn't think twice. 

"I signed up as an AI Champion. Not because someone asked me to. Because I saw what it could mean for our support teams." 

As an active participant in the group focused on experimentation and testing, Baukje saw a double opportunity: solve the onboarding challenge and turn her support teams into active contributors to team.blue's broader AI strategy. 

What they built: Kolega AI in BlueChat 

Baukje and her team introduced Kolega AI inside BlueChat, team.blue's internal AI platform, trained on the support team's own knowledge base. They made it available directly in the team's Slack channel, right where the work already happens. 

The idea was practical: give new employees a place to ask questions and get instant, consistent answers, without having to wait for a colleague to be free. No complex rollout. No lengthy training programme. Just a tool that meets people where they are. 

The impact 

The results were felt quickly across the team. 

New hires started getting up to speed faster, with less dependency on shadowing. Senior agents received fewer interruptions and gained more focus time for complex cases. And because the answers came from a shared knowledge base, they were consistent, reducing the risk of conflicting information reaching customers. 

• New agents are 20% more productive during the first 4 weeks handling tickets by themselves.   
• The team saves 10 hours per week on repeated internal questions 
• All new support agents uses Kolega AI during their onboarding period 

A culture shift, not just a tool 

What stands out most in Baukje's story goes beyond the efficiency gain. It is what happened next. 

"We introduced AI as an internal trainer. It saves time for existing team members, helps new colleagues get up to speed faster. That enthusiasm is now driving our support teams to actively think about how AI can work in our favour." 

What started as a practical solution to an onboarding challenge has grown into something broader: a team that actively looks for new ways to work with AI, every day. The support team went from being recipients of a tool to becoming contributors to team.blue's AI strategy.

Part of a bigger picture 

Baukje's story is one of many taking shape across team.blue. The AI Champions are helping to set the pace, but the momentum goes beyond them. With more than 4,000 people across 22 countries, AI is becoming part of how teams across the organisation think, work, and solve problems every day. 

This is what 'AI at the core' means in practice. A culture where people raise their hand, try something, and bring their teams along. 

AI in Action is a series where we spotlight the people behind team.blue's AI journey. Real people, real work, real impact. This is the first story. More are coming. 

→ Learn more about how AI powers team.blue: team.blue/ai