£3.85 back for every £1 invested

Drastic cost reduction across a three-year benefits case

From nine hours to 17.84 seconds

Applicant follow-up files transformed by automation  

Software robots and AI agents

Deployed across every department

Define

A large UK university had become heavily reliant on an external automation supplier, but it wasn’t working. The arrangement had not delivered the independence or the return on investment the institution needed. 

The goal was clear: bring automation capability in-house, own it, govern it and prove its value. Definia was brought in to build an internal artificial intelligence (AI) and automation capability from the ground up, with a remit to demonstrate the benefits in hard financial terms. The engagement was delivered in partnership with Noviform, whose methodology underpins Definia’s AI and automation offer for higher education.

Design

The solution Definia and Noviform designed centred on two technologies working under one roof:

  • Rule-based robotic process automation (RPA) to handle high-volume, structured processing
  • AI-led agents and chatbots to manage enquiries and tasks requiring judgement

Critically, this was built and run as a service rather than a project. That distinction mattered. Ideas could be submitted from any department, then taken through build, deployment and live support in production, creating a sustainable, repeatable model rather than a series of one-off implementations.

Every automation was prioritised and proven by ROI, assessed against a Finance-grade seven-category benefits methodology. This gave the institution the rigour and credibility needed to build a robust internal business case. 

Deliver

Definia, powered by Noviform, built and now runs the institution’s in-house AI and automation capability, delivering software robots and AI agents across every department.

Key outcomes included: 

  • A Finance-endorsed benefits case delivering cost savings in Year 1
  • £1.13m of that already realised in Year 1 — 15% of the three-year target — across live automations in recruitment, admissions and student services
  • A rule-based document robot removing eight to nine minutes of manual work per case across close to 9,000 student applications
  • AI-led recruitment and admissions bots live in-house
  • Applicant follow-up files that previously took around nine hours to process by hand now completed in 17.84 seconds

The result is not just a faster operation, it is a more independent one. The institution now owns its automation capability, governs it internally and can demonstrate its value with Finance-grade evidence. 

Learn about Definia’s AI MOT for higher education
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