AI for organisations
Getting started with AI
for nonprofits and social organisations.
There is plenty of research and teaching about artificial intelligence in social work. Less often does someone turn up and build something. That is exactly what I do — with seven years of my own practice in employment integration behind me.
Where this comes from
I know both sides of the table
Most people selling you AI have never sat in a counselling office. Most people who understand your work do not build software. I do both — and that is the only reason I am writing this page at all.
Seven years in employment integration
Work-related education, learning coaching, social counselling. I know what a day inside an institution looks like, where the time runs out and why well-meant tools end up unused.
Building a blended learning platform
From concept to daily operation — for job seekers, not for a pilot project. Details further down.
And I build things myself
Apps, websites, internal tools. If it turns out you need something that does not exist yet, I can develop it instead of referring you elsewhere.
From practice
Three stations, honestly placed
No case studies with invented percentages. Three stations I actually went through — with what they were and what they were not.
Blended learning platform for job seekers
Built and run within employment integration. Four areas that previously ran on lists, conversations and experience:
- Course selection — which course suits whom, by criteria you can follow rather than by gut feeling.
- Learning type assessment — people learn differently; the programme had to be able to reflect that.
- Course progress — visible to the participants themselves, not only to their support workers.
- Course evaluation — feedback that actually feeds into the next round.
The hard part was never the technology. It was deciding which judgements a tool may take over and which have to stay with a person.
SOREVA — one hub instead of five separate tools
There are plenty of solutions for individual areas. Each one is missing something different — and anyone running several ends up maintaining systems that know nothing about each other. That was the trigger.
SOREVA brings intake, participant administration and training together in one place — for institutions, public bodies, small businesses and independent consultants, with a focus on nonprofits and employment integration. Currently in development.
Asylum coordination, from 2011 — advising and building, together from the start
Social counselling, supporting asylum seekers and refugees, liaising with authorities. Even then I was building websites and digitalising workflows alongside it — with whatever was technically possible in 2011.
None of that has anything to do with AI, and I do not sell it that way. It is here because it shows that advising and building are not two phases of a career for me, but the same approach since 2011: look closely, work out what is missing — and then build it.
What I do
Four ways in
Depending on where you stand. It usually begins with the first one and turns out along the way to be the third.
Taking stock
Half a day: where you lose time today, what could sensibly be automated, and what had better not be. The result is an assessment, not a list of tools.
Workshop for the team
Hands-on, using your own tasks rather than textbook examples. For people without a technical background — which is the normal case, not the exception.
Support during operation
A workshop fizzles out if nobody is there afterwards. So I offer support over several months — with fixed appointments and the option to ask in between.
Building tools
If it turns out the right thing does not exist: I develop it. From a small internal tool to a full app — with the same person who did the consulting.
Limits
What AI does not do in your field
This belongs at the front, not in the small print. People in social work who are sceptical usually have good reasons.
It does not make decisions about people
No model decides who gets a measure and who does not. It can summarise documents and make suggestions — the responsibility stays with the person who knows the case. Anything else would be untenable, professionally and legally.
It does not replace relationship work
What happens in a conversation cannot be automated. AI can free up time spent on administration — more time for conversations is the point, not less.
It is not automatically compliant with data protection
Client data does not belong in a chat window unchecked. Which tools qualify under which conditions is part of every consultation — and sometimes the answer is: none, for this purpose.
It does not repair broken processes
An unclear process only becomes unclear faster through automation. If it turns out your real problem is not a technical one, I will say so — even when that means no engagement comes of it.
How it works
From the first call to the first result
First call
30 to 45 minutes, free of charge, by video or in person in Basel. We see whether it fits at all.
Taking stock
Half a day to a full day with you. I listen, look at how things run and ask a lot of questions.
Assessment
In writing, in plain language, with a recommendation — including the recommendation to do nothing for now.
Putting it into practice
Workshop, ongoing support, a tool that gets built — or a combination. What comes of it is your decision.
If that sounds like your situation
The first call is free and without obligation. I sell nothing in it — we look at whether I am the right partner. If I am not, I say so.