Case Study: Netchex: More Efficient HR Operations with LlamaIndex Powered AskHR + Netchex AI

Netchex is a leader in payroll and human resources software solutions for small to medium sized businesses. Netchex serves over 6,500 clients across the United States concentrated in industries with many hourly desk-less workers such as restaurants, hotels, healthcare, manufacturing, auto dealers and professional services. Their target customers often lack large HR teams, creating a need for efficient, automated HR solutions.

To meet this customer need, Netchex used LlamaIndex to create AskHR + Netchex AI that dramatically improves HR efficiency and employee support.

Netchex's customers faced significant hurdles in their HR operations. HR teams were overwhelmed by a constant influx of employee queries, leading to delayed responses and reduced productivity. Moreover, despite having comprehensive documentation like employee handbooks and benefit plan summaries , companies struggled to efficiently leverage this information to provide quick answers to staff inquiries. The existing solutions were clunky and lacked user-friendly interfaces.

The Challenge

Netchex wanted to innovate on behalf of their customers to streamline HR processes, enhance employee self-service capabilities, and alleviate the burden on HR personnel.

The Solution: AskHR + Netchex AI powered by LlamaIndex

Netchex chose LlamaIndex to power Netchex AI. The implementation used several key features of LlamaIndex:

1. Document Ingestion and Processing:
   • Used LlamaIndex's ingestion pipeline to process various document types including MS Office files and PDFs.
   • Employed chunking strategies on large HR documents like employee handbooks and benefit plans. LlamaIndex’s Azure OpenAI integration was used to generate embeddings.
2. Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG):
   • Implemented advanced RAG pipelines to ensure AI responses were grounded in the company's specific HR documents.
   • Used LlamaIndex's customizable retriever classes to fine-tune the relevance of retrieved information.
   • Employed the flexible query engine architecture to process employee questions and synthesize accurate, context-aware responses.
   • Utilized the citation feature to provide direct links to source documents and page numbers in AI responses.
3. Scalability and Semantic Routing
   • Took advantage of LlamaIndex's scalable architecture to handle varying loads across Netchex's diverse client base.
   • Leveraged LlamaIndex's router capabilities to implement semantic routing, efficiently directing queries to the most appropriate knowledge bases or response generation pipelines.

Remarkably, this sophisticated system was developed by just two engineers in approximately one month! Just 20% of their time was on LlamaIndex-related work. This speed of implementation was largely due to LlamaIndex's intuitive API and comprehensive documentation, allowing for quick prototyping and deployment.

Results and Impact

Netchex AI led to significant improvements:

• First in the industry solution: Utilizing LlamaIndex let Netchex innovate at a rapid pace and launch the industry's first solution in this area. Employees receive immediate answers to HR queries 24x7.
• Increased HR Productivity: HR teams can focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine queries.
• Improved Accuracy and Adoption: AI responses include direct links to source documents and page numbers. A much larger proportion of employees started engaging with the Netchex platform.

Abhinav Agrawal, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Netchex, says:

"LlamaIndex was the clear choice for us due to its robustness and ability to quickly prototype and scale. It's been instrumental in moving the needle on our AI initiatives, particularly in RAG applications and laying the groundwork for more complex agent workflows. With LlamaIndex, we've been able to bring enterprise-grade AI capabilities to small and medium businesses in a remarkably short timeframe."

LlamaIndex enables rapid implementation of production apps

Netchex AI demonstrates the transformative potential of AI in HR operations. By leveraging LlamaIndex, Netchex has created a scalable, efficient solution that significantly enhances HR operations for their clients. LlamaIndex enabled rapid prototyping, quick deployment to production and a future proof solution that lays the groundwork for more advanced AI applications, including agentic workflows.