Press Release 29th August 2025

Bot “Haidi”: BIPA launches AI assistant for employees and sets new standards in knowledge transfer

The Austrian drugstore retailer BIPA has developed an innovative AI bot in collaboration with Google Cloud to make internal knowledge easily accessible to all employees in stores and to facilitate onboarding for new employees. The AI bot can be asked questions about all internal processes via a user-friendly search interface, similar to well-known AI systems. “Haidi” also supports multiple languages, including German, English, Turkish, and Hungarian, and automatically translates existing information.

Alexander Huber, REWE Category Manager Digital HUB (1st from left), Andreas Persigehl, BIPA Managing Director (2nd from left), Maimuna Mosser, Country Director Google Austria (2nd from right), Tobias Müller, Enterprise Cloud Architect, Google Germany GmbH (1st from right) / Copyright: © BIPA Parfumerien Gesellschaft m.b.H./Robert Harson, Reproduction for PR purposes free of charge

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As the first company in Austria, BIPA is migrating its internal knowledge database to a Google Cloud solution to enhance user-friendliness through AI. Starting in August, the tool named “Haidi” will be rolled out across Austria, providing employees in all BIPA stores with helpful answers to inquiries about return or complaint processes, information about individual products, and the numerous benefits of the jö-app. “Our goal was to make internal process knowledge and relevant information as accessible as possible for all employees. Particularly, we want ‘Haidi’ to support our new colleagues. Thanks to our close collaboration with Google, we were able to develop a solution that is intuitive to use and integrates seamlessly into the daily work routine,” says BIPA Managing Director Andreas Persigehl. The new AI-supported system was initiated by BIPA and technically implemented in collaboration with the REWE Cloud Team. Google provided the infrastructure components, such as Vertex AI Search and Cloud Run. Through extensive application testing by product managers and experts, as well as testing phases in selected BIPA stores, it was ensured that the tool is ready for nationwide launch and truly meets the needs of store employees. Another advantage of “Haidi” is its multilingual capability – employees can inquire about the needed knowledge in their preferred language to achieve the best results.

Support for internal research

The new AI-supported system will be integrated into the existing intranet, allowing employees to ask questions in natural language. Unlike conventional search functions, the tool provides more than just a list of hits; it formulates coherent answers, suggests appropriate follow-up questions, and links directly to relevant content in internal documents and manuals. Sample questions make it easier to start using the system and make it an integral part of the existing intranet search. “Together with BIPA, we have created a revolutionary platform for internal knowledge transfer that will serve as a model for other Austrian companies. This system, based on the secure and efficient AI infrastructure of Google Cloud, proves a crucial truth: AI is a turning point for corporate efficiency,” says Maimuna Mosser, Country Director of Google Austria.