AI Assistant to Modernize Utility Services in St. Petersburg

Russia’s largest bank, Sber, is introducing an AI chatbot to handle routine utility requests in St. Petersburg, aiming to cut wait times and reduce human error.

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a new agreement was signed to deploy Sber’s neural network assistant, GigaChat, into the city’s Unified Information and Settlement Center (EIRTS). Developed in collaboration with the Speech Technology Center (STC), the AI will automate routine operations like processing standard customer requests, reporting meter readings, filling out applications, and preparing reports.

Residents of St. Petersburg will now be able to get faster responses to utility-related questions while time-consuming manual operations are handled automatically. The implementation is expected to reduce operator workloads and streamline customer service.

According to Denis Shabarin, CEO of EIRTS St. Petersburg, integrating GigaChat is a major step toward the digital transformation of the housing and utilities sector. 'Technology makes services more convenient and communication with management companies more transparent,' he said.

The innovation is set to minimize time spent on utilities-related tasks and improve service quality by lowering error rates and accelerating data processing. If successful, the model could be replicated in other regions of Russia.