AI Week recap: Winners of West Monroe’s inaugural AI competition for employees

West Monroe recently wrapped up our first-ever AI Week! Throughout the week, employees leveled up their AI skills through expert-led sessions on pressing AI topics and hands-on tutorials. We also held an internal AI competition, where our employees submitted nearly 40 real-life use cases of how they’re using AI. Below are the winners for both client and internal use along with a recap of how they created their tools leveraging Nigel and Glean, our AI-powered platforms, to deliver even greater impact for clients and colleagues. 

Award winners for best client use 

First place: AI-powered data tool to speed up migration efficiency 

Julia Waggoner, Senior Manager, Technology & Experience 
Thomas Zhang, Senior Principal, Technology & Experience 
Meghan Patel, Senior Consultant, Technology & Experience 

What They Did: Julia, Thomas, and Meghan developed a groundbreaking tool by integrating a large language model (LLM) directly into Databricks. This tool addresses long-standing manual data engineering tasks like data modeling, migration, and code conversion, significantly streamlining workflows and enhancing efficiency. Their approach incorporates a “human in the loop” strategy, allowing data engineers to focus on more strategic initiatives. This solution stands out as the first of its kind, delivering fast, efficient data migrations that clients have been eager to adopt. 

How They Did It: The tool was built with extensive support from West Monroe’s Data & Analytics team, led by Cam Cross as the executive sponsor. Various senior leaders, consultants, and departments, including marketing and business development, collaborated to promote and refine the tool’s features. The team worked closely with Databricks’ account executives to facilitate client rollout, while consultants actively contributed to its ongoing development. 

“We've got consultants that are raising their hands, jumping to actually support building out new features and maturing the asset. We've got senior leaders raising their hand and sharing more ideas of where we can take this next,” Julia said. “We've had a ton of support from the business developers getting up to speed on this and starting to share this with their contacts with the partnership channels of getting this in Databricks’ hands, and the number of Databricks AEs we've talked to about this now is growing by the day.” 

The Impact: The tool has dramatically improved efficiency for clients, completing tasks in a fraction of the time. In one case, a task that used to take 10 hours was finished in just one hour, with immediate code conversion.

"There’s been so much excitement from our clients and the Databricks team because we’re not seeing anyone else doing this yet. We’re ahead of the curve here," said Julia. 

The measurable results include:

• 80% savings in code migration efforts 
• a 55% increase in engineering velocity 
• a 35% boost in analytics velocity
• a 30% increase in data governance efficiency and adoption

The widespread support has not only driven excitement but also positioned us as a leader in AI-driven data migration solutions.

Second place: AI tools to enhance insights for a healthcare client

Marlene Arata, Principal Product Manager, Technology & Experience 
Meghan Jensen, Senior Principal Product Manager, Technology & Experience 
Connor Blacksher, Senior Product Designer, Technology & Experience 

A healthcare payer client needed help understanding their healthcare practice administrators' experiences, and the West Monroe team had just four weeks to gather insights from 35 interviews. Using a combination of AI tools, specifically Glean and West Monroe’s own Nigel AI chatbot, the team summarized interview transcripts, extracted key quotes, and aggregated insights. 

These tools enabled faster decision-making and efficient feedback analysis, improving the quality of data. The client was impressed and is considering expanding AI usage for future projects as the work supports better strategies for product and service enhancements.

Third place: Using Nigel AI to streamline parts categorization with precision

Alex Heim, Senior Consultant, M&A 

Alex used West Monroe’s internal AI tool Nigel to develop a machine learning script that categorized 17,000 parts into five distinct groups, achieving 98% accuracy. By training the model with verified data, the team significantly streamlined the cycle counting process, saving approximately five weeks of analyst time. Nigel also aided in code creation and troubleshooting, empowering analysts without advanced coding skills to leverage AI for complex tasks. This approach demonstrated responsible AI use, improved client confidence, and highlighted the potential for future applications in machine learning. 

Award winners for best internal use 

First place: Using AI to transform M&A project management efficiency

Brad Tate, Manager, M&A; Nate Crouch, Manager, M&A 

What They Did: Brad and Nate led the integration of generative AI into the M&A team’s workflow by developing a tool that simplifies project management tasks. The tool focuses on generating summaries of meeting notes and action items tailored to different client formats. With over 1,000 uses, this tool has saved substantial time—ranging from 15 minutes to several hours per meeting—resulting in significant cost savings potentially reaching tens of thousands of dollars. 

How They Did It: West Monroe played a vital role in supporting the initiative, particularly with leadership backing from John Ross. Collaboration with Nancy Vermitsky and the Intellio Advantage team helped integrate these AI-driven prompts into a broader M&A lifecycle framework. The team continuously refined the tool through various iterations, improving its usability and adaptability. This has allowed consultants to focus more on higher-value tasks rather than manual notetaking, enhancing the overall project management process. 

The Impact: The tool’s efficiency and ease of use have transformed day-to-day operations, freeing up valuable time for consultants. By automating repetitive tasks, the team has enabled M&A professionals to allocate their efforts toward more strategic work. As Tate explained, “Generative AI doesn’t need to be scary... The more you use it, the more you’re going to be able to incorporate it into your day-to-day life.” The successful integration of this AI tool has not only streamlined project management but also set a precedent for how generative AI can be leveraged across the M&A lifecycle. 

Second place: Nigel private chat function enhances data privacy and adoption

Connor VanAllman, Junior Talent Business Partner, Talent Management  

With the reality that some employees could be reluctant to use Nigel due to fears about data privacy, Connor introduced the Nigel Private Chat feature. It addressed those concerns by ensuring that conversations remain confidential and inaccessible to admins, similar to incognito mode. This feature has proven beneficial, allowing teams to save significant time in data analysis while meeting compliance requirements. To encourage adoption, potential use cases were shared with employees, helping them recognize the practical advantages of using Nigel in their daily work. 

Watch a demo of Nigel’s private chat function in action. 

Third place: Glean AI app streamlines IT contract reviews

Jason Wrage, Senior Manager, IT; Wenhao Luebs, Senior Specialist, IT 

To streamline the IT contract review process at West Monroe, Jason and Wenhao developed a Glean AI app. This app utilizes Glean’s search capabilities and AI Apps feature to evaluate contracts against established guidelines. Users can upload contracts and receive analyses that suggest appropriate language, significantly reducing the time spent on reviews. 

The innovation is expected to save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars by ensuring consistent application of guidelines. By embedding the guidelines directly into the app, the team achieved more reliable results—ultimately easing the burden on portfolio managers and improving efficiency for those requesting new tools.