Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
DEWA adds ChatGPT to its Rammas chatbot and cuts requirements drafting from a week to a day
Dubai's utility DEWA put generative AI into its Rammas customer chatbot and built an Azure-based tool that drafts business requirement documents. DEWA says a document that took a week now takes a day, and Rammas answered two million inquiries in 2024.
Key figures
Copied exactly from the sources. Copy any figure with its citation.
one day, including reviews
Time to draft a business requirement document with the generator (previously a week)1
two million
Inquiries Rammas answered in 20242
10%
Increase in inquiries answered in 2024 compared with 20232
1,000
Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses in the first rollout phase1
What it took
Cost, team size and timeline were not disclosed in the sources.
The problem
DEWA serves a large population and runs a big organisation. Customers need quick answers about bills and services, and staff lose time drafting long project documents by hand.
What they built
Three generative AI uses. The Rammas customer chatbot, which DEWA upgraded with ChatGPT technology in April 2023. A tool built on Azure AI Services that drafts business requirement documents. And Microsoft 365 Copilot for staff, introduced in early 2024 for tasks such as summarising meetings and emails.
How they did it
For the document tool, employees enter minimal information and the generator writes the draft and flags what is missing. Rammas answers in Arabic and English across the website, app, WhatsApp and voice assistants. DEWA says it quickly integrated Azure OpenAI Service into Rammas after Microsoft launched that service. The Copilot rollout started with champions from several departments, then 1,000 licences, with training for senior leaders.
Results
DEWA says a requirements document that used to take a week now takes a day, including reviews. Rammas answered two million inquiries in 2024, 10% more than in 2023. A DEWA executive described a remarkable productivity improvement from Copilot, without a figure.
Lessons for your project
Build on a chatbot you already run. DEWA launched Rammas in 2017 and added generative AI to it in 2023, so users and channels were in place.
Aim generative AI at paperwork that blocks projects. The requirements generator asks for minimal input and flags what is missing.
Roll out an office assistant in phases. DEWA began with champions in several departments before licensing 1,000 users and training senior managers.
Keep a use-case list. DEWA reports more than 85 AI use cases and scales them step by step.
Caveats
- Both sources are company or vendor statements. The one-week-to-one-day figure is from a Microsoft customer story quoting a DEWA executive; no independent check exists.
- The Microsoft story says Rammas uses Azure OpenAI Service, while DEWA's own release says ChatGPT technology. The model version is not named.
- DEWA's page returned a block to automated access, so a web-archive copy of the 20 January 2025 release was read.
- Rammas launched in 2017 and its inquiry totals include years before generative AI; only the 2024 figures are used. The Microsoft story's 9.2 million total and 98% happiness index are not used because they may predate generative AI.
- The date shown is when DEWA says it adopted ChatGPT technology in Rammas. The Copilot rollout started in early 2024 per Microsoft.
Sources
- DEWA pioneers the use of Azure AI Services in delivering utility services
Microsoft · 2024-08-21 · Vendor case study · microsoft.com
- DEWA's investment in generative AI enhances the efficiency and productivity of its virtual employee Rammas
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority · 2025-01-20 · Press release · dewa.gov.ae
Summarized in our own words from the sources above. Spotted an error? See corrections.