AI Sales Agent Development

Overview

The client is a leading provider of technology, products, and services supporting correctional facilities and justice-focused organizations across the United States. Sales and procurement teams rely on accurate, timely access to product and item data to support customer interactions, pricing discussions, and fulfillment decisions.

As their item catalog and data complexity grew, sales teams increasingly depended on internal systems to answer detailed questions related to item availability, categories, pricing, and profitability. They engaged Oakwood Systems Group to design and deliver an AI-powered Sales Assistant that could improve sales efficiency, reduce manual lookups, and establish a foundation for broader AI-enabled capabilities across the organization.

Business Challenge

The organization maintained a large Item Master dataset containing hundreds of thousands of records with frequent updates and complex attributes. Sales teams needed fast, accurate answers to common questions related to item numbers, descriptions, categories, availability, and warehouse details, but existing lookup processes were time consuming and inconsistent.

In addition, early attempts to leverage AI introduced challenges related to response accuracy, filtering logic, and performance. Token limits, inconsistent query results, and lack of governance created risk and reduced trust in AI-driven responses. The client required a solution that balanced conversational AI capabilities with structured data access, reliability, and measurable success criteria.

Solution

Oakwood partnered with them to deliver a pilot Sales Assistant built on Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, designed to integrate directly with their Item Master data. The engagement began with discovery and validation activities focused on understanding existing work products, defining priority sales questions, and documenting the Item Master dataset, including structure, refresh cadence, and data quality considerations.

Based on this foundation, Oakwood designed a target architecture that combined structured data access with AI-driven conversational capabilities. Retrieval APIs were implemented to pre-filter queries before interaction with large language models, improving accuracy and performance. Agent skills were developed to support item number, partial description, category, and location-based lookups, while governance guardrails addressed data freshness, error handling, and human-in-the-loop review.

Oakwood then built and tested the Sales Assistant, integrating it with Salesforce using their existing chat implementation. Iterative test cycles validated accuracy, response time, and consistency against defined success metrics. Daily collaboration with the internal development team ensured transparency into design decisions and supported shared learning throughout the build process.

The pilot was deployed to a defined sales group, supported by training sessions and enablement materials. Oakwood monitored usage, performance, and adoption metrics while capturing business impact indicators such as time savings and reduced internal inquiries. Findings were documented and presented to stakeholders along with a roadmap for expanding AI agent capabilities beyond the initial pilot.

Outcome

The Sales Assistant pilot provided the client with a reliable, AI-powered tool that improved how sales teams accessed and used Item Master data. Sales representatives were able to retrieve accurate information more quickly, reducing reliance on manual searches and internal support teams.

The engagement also established a scalable foundation for future AI initiatives by demonstrating how structured data, governance, and conversational AI can work together effectively. With validated architecture, documented designs, and measurable results, they are positioned to extend AI-driven capabilities across additional use cases while maintaining accuracy, performance, and trust.

About Oakwood

Our Team of seasoned professionals delivers unparalleled expertise in consulting and implementation services across the Microsoft Azure stack, ensuring our clients harness the full potential of their technology investments. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for driving business success, Oakwood Systems stands at the forefront of technological innovation, helping businesses navigate and excel in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.