“Zoomers have zero patience”: how Pro.GenII simplifies admissions office work here and now

- Valentina, how did the idea come along to create a product such as Pro.GenII for educational institutions?

- It all started in an unusual way. We were contacted by a technical university based in Kazan: their management wanted to know if they could use an existing product for their admissions campaign, which was set to begin in 30 days. It was a challenge for our product team, but we were confident we could launch the product within 1 hour, customizing it to handle the university’s unpredictable flow of inquiries.

As we tested a bunch of scenarios, we realized the product definitely had potential. We had developed classic chatbots before for another university to assist their applicants. Their questions are always the same: how to get a certificate, how to submit docs, how to get on-campus accommodation, how to pay tuition, what GPA they need for admission, and so on—our generative AI can easily handle all these questions.

So we decided to scale the product up. Now it is at work providing academic services and campus services information, but once the workload lightens for the admissions office we plan to redeploy Pro.GenII for a more flexible role helping freshmen adapt to student life. This became the basis of our unique selling proposition. The puzzle came together: we realized the time had come to diversify into higher and vocational education with Pro.GenII as a full-fledged intelligent assistant, not just a chatbot.

- What did the market look like to you? Did you feel your solution was relevant?

- Definitely. Universities update their admission plans as early as February. The flow of applicants is growing, universities are expanding, opening new branches. There is serious competition in this market. Universities are compelled to embrace digital technology in order to appeal to modern applicants.

Moreover, when you create a new digital product, especially for young people, you must keep in mind that your audience are zoomers, Generation Z, people born between 1997 and 2010. They know what GPT is, they deal with AI almost daily, but most importantly, they have zero patience. They want everything here and now, or they simply walk away. This is our new reality, and universities that can afford it need to keep pace with the times.

- So, Pro.GenII isn’t just an assistant, but a competitive advantage?

- Exactly. It’s not a luxury, it’s something that impacts the educational institution’s image directly. We had a clear job brief: to create a bot that works 24/7 and knows everything at all times. So we went and made one. Pro.GenII replaces the human hotline, except it doesn’t get tired and doesn’t take lunch breaks. Admissions offices typically stay open from 8 or 9 AM until 5 or 6 PM. It also helps that the thing responds instantly: no waiting on the line for hours. Pro.GenII will respond in 5 seconds.

- Is it fully independent? Is any human input needed in the process?

- No, it’s a completely autonomous system. It takes 15 to 60 minutes to upload the documents to the system and put the bot information on the university website. That’s it. Pro.GenII and the Telegram bot are ready to use, they need no pre-scripted scenarios from AI or marketing experts.

It’s hard to believe, but with our product, you don’t need to write dialogue or manually configure the response tree. Pro.GenII will split documents into logical segments and examine them on its own, and even if the answer spans multiple documents, it will articulate it within seconds and respond in the chat room. The assistant also operates via a Telegram bot. This is a familiar, user-friendly practice that requires no app installation.

- Are you saying you can have a conversation in natural language, as with a real person?

- That’s right. I’m an applicant's parent myself right now. I get tired of searching websites for information. Every university has a different website structure—some use tables, others ask you to download PDF docs to figure out how to apply. I keep a piece of paper around, writing lots of stuff down by hand, because I know I'll never find that information again.

With Pro.GenII, I simply access the bot on the university website, type in my question—even briefly, like we do in Google, “admission papers” for instance—and within 3 seconds I have an answer generated with the data retrieved from the institution’s official documents.

Where the conversation goes from there is up to the initiator: you either modify your original question or ask a new one. It is an extra nice feature that the assistant supports English, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, and a few other languages, and will translate documents uploaded in Russian. We’ve already received a few inquiries from universities with international programs. They really appreciate the multilingual part.

- Valentina, how does the assistant work? What might a Q&A exchange sound like between an applicant and Pro.GenII?

- Okay, let's say the applicant asks about admission docs. “What documents do I need in order to apply?” The assistant will simply list the docs: “Your passport, secondary school certificate, USE results, 2 photos 3×4 cm, and health certificate form 086-u. See Admission Guidelines for a full list".

Or the applicant may want to know if dormitory accommodation is available for freshmen. The assistant will respond: “Yes, there is dormitory accommodation for freshmen. You'll need a health certificate to move in. See Immatriculation for moving-in schedules and contact details”.

These are just basic questions. The system can do more difficult ones too. For example, you can ask it about the subjects you get tested in for admission to a specific program or department, the GPA you have to have to enrol, the scholarship amount, how to enrol in a paid course, the application submission deadlines, and much more.

With each answer, the system will attach the source file the data was taken from, which the applicant is free to download and read.

- Sounds like the admissions office has a lot less to do now. Are there any workload reduction statistics?

- Yes, here are some figures from our pilot: staff workload is down by at least 50%, and request processing speed has tripled. Human involvement is minimal and limited to the rare cases when it’s really necessary. A human operator steps in where the bot fails. But the bot succeeds 90% of the time.

- Is the bot’s audience limited to applicants?

- No way! Pro.GenII helps students too, answering questions about class schedules, tests, scholarships, campus policies, etc.

For example, if you ask it “When is the Russian History test due for group X?” the assistant will promptly answer: “By December 15, as scheduled. Check your account for details”. If you ask it, the assistant will link you to campus fee schedules or internal procedures. This saves tons of time for both students and staff.

- Sounds cool! You mean, the bot has answers for staff, too?

- It does, and this makes life a lot easier. Pro.GenII will fast-track faculty and administrators to any docs they need, assist with curriculum planning, help to generate tests or get travel instructions. They don't have to go to the HR or Dean's Office for that anymore. And they can count on full privacy with Pro.GenII. Pro.GenII has customizable role model settings with regulated data access: each employee can only access data they’re authorized to view.

If you ask it: “How do I formalize a business trip?” it will tell you: “Complete form #1, have it signed by your supervisor, and take it to Accounting 5 days in advance. Forms available by requesting business travel”. It’s fast, it's easy, and it's perfectly transparent. No more waiting for email replies or searching the university website.

- Valentina, what do you personally think of Pro.GenII?

- To be honest, it was hard work to find a school for my child, I was exhausted. I spent too much time figuring out how websites worked and where to find admission information. It is not always obvious, you know, university websites are all designed differently, with information sitting in different sections that may be labeled differently by the institutions.

Pro.GenII is our cure for the pain suffered by admissions staff, parents, applicants, and students. You get everything in one place with Pro.GenII. You ask, you get an answer, you ask follow-up questions. No calling, no waiting, no getting trired. I’m sure tools like these are the future of education. We’re shaping that future right now.