Finding the right functionality
Speaking of the impetus behind their adoption of GXA, Kristen O’Gorman, the organisation’s digital innovation and development manager, explains, “The council has been interested in using AI agents to improve the website and customer journey for quite a while but we wanted to be sure we were doing it for the right reasons and that anything we adopted would deliver solutions to real problems and have measurable benefits.”
The council was already a user of Granicus Communications (formerly govDelivery) and Service Request Management (govService), but a conversation with their account manager in early 2026 revealed that this lack of structured, real-time digital interaction was hampering its forward progress, preventing it from optimising its CRM capabilities to their full extent.
Simultaneously, Kristen states that the council was undertaking a review of its website with a view to improving both its content as well as the overall quality of the data it contains. “We also realised long ago that our search tool wasn’t fantastic. This was affecting how, or if, customers could find the information they needed,” she adds, an aspect that had a direct impact on the service received by customers.
By implementing GXA — Granicus’ AI-powered digital agent — NEDDC gained the capabilities it needed to move forward with its digital transformation goals.
Reviewing and refining content with GXA
The implementation of GXA technology — now deployed on the council’s website via its NedBot tool — was undertaken in the first half of 2026, overlapping the organisation’s own review of its website. Kristen explains that, during the review process, the council’s various service areas were asked to review and update their online content for accuracy, completeness, and duplication.
“Everybody’s really on board with projects like this at North East Derbyshire, we all want to improve and move forward,” she says, but — as part of the process of implementing GXA — the support team at Granicus provided Kristen and her colleagues with an extensive list of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) questions to ensure that the information returned by the agent was relevant and correct.
This intensive testing process was an “eye opener,” says Kristen, adding that, “By carrying out a project like this, just by using an agent to ask that one simple question, we can easily see where information is in multiple places and where it is out of date or contradictory. This testing approach proved to be incredibly valuable.”
Kristen and her team took a thorough and thoughtful approach to testing. These efforts — made in collaboration with Granicus — not only resulted in the smooth implementation of GXA but also helped to ensure the overall quality of the site’s content. Looking back, Kristen says that, “If we hadn’t done the thorough testing that we did, I don’t think any of this would have been discovered. The implementation wouldn’t be successful because the information the agent would provide could have been misleading. We didn’t want to take that risk — thorough testing and a complete review of the website was non-negotiable for us.”
The positive impact of implementation
After months of testing and refinement, NedBot went live on the council’s site in early July 2026. Thanks to the swift support offered by Granicus during this time, Kristen and her team are now able to create an experience that — even in these early days — has had a positive impact on the council’s customers. At present, Kristen explains that engagement with the chatbot is steadily increasing and that she and her team are in the process of carefully analysing the responses it has returned.
However, she says, “We’ve had some really good feedback,” with users particularly impressed by the speed and accuracy of NedBot’s responses to their queries. But as Kristen goes on to say, “We have a real focus on providing excellent services to customers. And for the vast majority of people that will be our online presence, whether it’s social media, it’s the websites, it’s the agent … So we need to get that right.”
The wider project to implement GXA has delivered significant accessibility benefits, reducing the need for lengthy PDF documents and complex local government terminology. By providing information through natural language conversations, GXA helps to make council services and information more accessible to a wider range of residents, while improving the quality of enquiries and responses.
Facing the future with confidence
Looking ahead, North East Derbyshire District Council sees NedBot as an important step in its broader digital transformation journey. Reflecting on the potential benefits of GXA, Kristen explains, “I would like to look at the levels of calls that we get in the contact centre and the revenues teams and see if that is reducing over time, but also if the duration of those calls is increasing.” The ambition is not simply to reduce demand, but to ensure that staff spend more of their time supporting residents with complex enquiries, situations where personal assistance is invaluable.
The launch of NedBot also provides a foundation for the council’s wider exploration of AI. As the technology evolves, the council is continuing to assess how AI can be used responsibly to improve access to services, enhance customer journeys, and deliver practical benefits for residents and staff, while maintaining appropriate oversight and governance.
Quality remains central to this approach. For North East Derbyshire District Council, ensuring information is accurate, accessible, and up to date is essential to delivering a positive customer experience. It is also becoming increasingly important as the organisation prepares for future changes across local government. “We are moving toward local government reform,” says Kristen. This shift has further reinforced the importance of having reliable content, strong data foundations, and modern digital services that residents can trust.
While the implementation of GXA has already enhanced the way residents access information and services, it has also given the council confidence that it is building the foundations for the future. Whether improving customer access today or exploring new opportunities for responsible AI tomorrow, North East Derbyshire District Council is ensuring it is ready for whatever comes next.
