Transforming Dunaway’s Business Processes Through AI Discovery

The Challenge

When Texas-based engineering and design firm Dunaway first engaged with MicroAge, their initial objective was to explore Microsoft Copilot Studio for developing internal chatbots that support their teams. The primary goals included:

• Civil Engineering: Create a knowledge agent to streamline municipal code research.
• Human Resources: Deploy a chatbot to automate employee access to HR policies, onboarding, and timekeeping.
• IT Helpdesk: Build an internal bot to resolve common support inquiries.

While these chatbot use cases represented strong starting points, Dunaway quickly realized that their AI potential extended far beyond isolated chatbot solutions. They sought a partner who could not only enable the technology but also guide them in identifying broader AI opportunities across their business processes.

The Solution

MicroAge led a two-phase engagement, combining hands-on technical training with comprehensive AI strategy development.

Phase I: Empowering the Team

MicroAge conducted structured Copilot Studio training sessions for Dunaway’s internal teams, supplemented with Office Hours and one-on-one mentoring. This technical foundation empowered Dunaway’s staff to confidently build and maintain AI-powered chatbots aligned to their initial use cases.

Phase II: Strategic AI Discovery

Following technical enablement, MicroAge partnered with Dunaway to lead a focused AI discovery engagement centered on a defined set of operational challenges. Rather than exploring broad AI possibilities, this phase concentrated on identifying a targeted opportunity to address persistent inefficiencies and decision-making gaps. Key activities included:

• Stakeholder Alignment & Ideation: Engaged cross-functional teams to explore how AI could alleviate recurring pain points—such as fragmented information, inconsistent evaluations, and high manual effort—through intelligent automation and data-driven insights.
• Challenge-Centered Opportunity Framing: Applied AI design thinking to shape a scalable opportunity that could streamline complex workflows, surface relevant historical knowledge, and improve transparency and consistency in strategic decisions.
• Strategic Blueprinting: Developed a validated opportunity framework grounded in business value, incorporating ROI modeling, risk considerations, and functional requirements to support confident next steps.

This discovery phase enabled Dunaway to clearly define how AI could be applied to a real, high-impact business problem—laying the foundation for meaningful transformation aligned with long-term strategic goals.

The Benefits

Through MicroAge’s AI strategy development and enablement, Dunaway transitioned from an exploratory interest in AI to an AI-first execution. Outcomes include:

• 80–90% faster RFP/RFQ drafting with AI-powered document automation.
• 10x time savings on research and analysis tasks that were previously highly manual.
• New capabilities such as automated market research, client profiling, and project categorization—enabling data-driven decision making.
• Knowledge democratization by capturing and sharing institutional expertise across teams.
• Full organizational alignment as senior leadership embraced an AI-first operational vision to drive ongoing innovation.

Let’s talk

Let’s explore how AI can optimize and transform your business. Contact us today at (800) 544-8877.