Building a Corporate Chatbot: A Guide to Empowering Employees with SharePoint and OpenAI

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This blog post provides a comprehensive guide on how to construct a private corporate chatbot powered by SharePoint and OpenAI’s GPT-3 technology. This AI-powered assistant can answer employee inquiries regarding company policies, benefits, and procedures directly from your SharePoint documents.

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Prepare your SharePoint documents. Upload a collection of relevant documents (policies, procedures, standards, etc.) to a SharePoint document library (between 50-200 documents are recommended).

  2. Set up Azure App Registration and OpenAI Service.
  • An Azure app registration is required. Follow the instructions in the video description to create one.
  • You’ll also need to create an OpenAI service and a new model (GPT 3.5 turbo 16k was the best model available at the time of this video’s creation).
  1. Configure an Azure Cognitive Search service. This service will be used to crawl and index the uploaded SharePoint documents. You’ll need to obtain the admin API key for this service.
  2. Connect OpenAI and Azure Cognitive Search.
  • This step involves configuring the connection through the chat playground website.
  • Map the content from your SharePoint documents to corresponding fields within the OpenAI service. Here’s a breakdown of the mapping:
  • Content – File name
  • Content file name – SPO item name
  • Title – Title
  • URL – SPO item path
  1. Deploy the Chatbot. Deploy your AI model to a private Azure website. A tenant administrator will need to grant consent to the application.


Additional Considerations

  • System Message. You can provide a system message to introduce the chatbot to users. For instance, you can introduce the chatbot as an AI assistant designed to help employees find information within the organization.
  • More Detailed Guide. The video mentions a longer version hosted by the Toronto SharePoint User Group that provides a more comprehensive walkthrough.

Benefits of a Corporate Chatbot

  • Improved Accessibility. Employees can access company information anytime, anywhere through the chatbot, eliminating the need to search through multiple documents or contact different departments.
  • Increased Efficiency. Chatbots can handle routine inquiries, freeing up HR and IT staff to focus on more complex issues. This streamlines internal processes and improves response times.
  • Enhanced Employee Satisfaction. By providing quick and easy access to information, chatbots enhance the employee experience, boosting morale and productivity.
  • Consistent Information. The chatbot ensures consistent responses based on the information in your SharePoint documents, reducing the risk of misinformation or outdated responses.
  • Scalability. As your organization grows, the chatbot can easily scale to accommodate the increased demand for information.
  • Cost Savings. Over time, a chatbot can lead to significant cost savings by reducing the workload of HR and IT personnel.


By implementing a corporate chatbot powered by SharePoint and OpenAI, your organization can unlock a new level of efficiency, empower employees, and improve overall communication. The initial setup might require some technical expertise, but the long-term benefits are well worth the investment.

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