All enhancements - 18 (January - April)

Agentic AI assistant

The Applaud AI assistant now supports agentic AI capabilities, enabling it to take action on requests as well as answer questions.

Use the agentic AI assistant to:

• Automate HR processes such as promotions, compensation changes, flexible working requests, and leave bookings
• Gather data, trigger integrations, route approvals, and progress requests automatically across systems

Find out more about the Agentic AI Assistant.

AI assistant block type

You can now deploy the AI assistant as either a pop-up or embed it directly into pages using the new AI widget block type.

The widget includes configurable layout options to support different page designs and use cases.

Find out more about the AI assistant block type.

Search instant answers

Global search now includes AI-generated instant answers to help employees find information more quickly.

From the search experience, employees can:

• Open linked articles
• Provide feedback on responses
• View source references
• Continue the conversation in chat

Applaud in Microsoft Teams

You can now install Applaud directly from the Microsoft Teams App Store, making it easier than ever to integrate HR support into your Teams environment. 

• Simple deployment: install directly from the Teams app store, with zero-touch access where employee emails match. 
• Clear, responsive conversations: configurable disclaimers, loading indicators, and real-time activity updates keep employees informed. 
• Intuitive interactions: upload documents for AI-powered responses, react with emojis, view sources, and receive answers in your language. 
• End-to-end visibility: view all Teams conversations in Applaud, including channel context and deleted message tracking. 

Discover more about Applaud in Microsoft Teams.

AI conversation and feedback views for admins

We've enhanced the admin experience for viewing agent conversations and user feedback.

Enhancements include:

• Improved list layouts
• Simpler navigation
• Easier access to conversations and feedback

Related articles:

• View agent conversations
• View an agent's user feedback

Enhanced attachment support in the AI assistant

The AI Assistant now supports additional file types for uploads.

This enhancement improves compatibility across document, spreadsheet, presentation, and image formats.

Supported file types

Agent configuration page

We replaced the previous chatbot configuration experience with a new agent configuration experience.

The new experience provides a more consistent way for you to define, manage, and customize agents.

Support for agentic data migration through templates for Workday Tools

You can now migrate agentic data through templates for Workday tools.

Supported migration items include:

• Agents
• Tools
• Workflows
• Event definitions
• Integration connections

Workday tools and API support

To improve integration and data access capabilities, we’ve added support for Workday WQL, SOAP, and REST API queries.

Channels page

The Admin Dashboard now includes a new Channels tile that lets you view and manage active and available AI Assistant channels.

Applaud Data and Query Workday tool configuration

We introduced a new configuration experience for creating Applaud and Workday data tools.

These tools support actions such as:

• Retrieve
• Search
• Create
• Update
• Delete

Knowledge management

Enhanced knowledge search filtering for manager access

Managers now only see knowledge search results that match their assigned scope and permissions.

The update includes:

• Global filtering
• Country-level filtering

Enhanced auto-tagging and content relevance

We've introduced an auto-tagging model to improve content visibility and search relevance.

The update:

• Automatically tags country and audience attributes
• Uses user profile data to tailor results
• Uses AI-generated summaries to improve search relevance