South AfricaEducation2025 – ongoing

University of Cape Town

EduBot AI upgrade for admissions and student support

UCT's AI-upgraded EduBot served 43,600 users in 90 days, its supplier reported

WorkingVendor case studyVendor ↗

Problem

UCT's scripted chatbot struggled with requests outside its menus. Staff had to keep adding questions, while students frequently requested human help.

Approach

UCT upgraded EduBot with AI on 28 May 2025 after testing with its supplier. The system used official university documents and website content to answer questions in natural language while retaining human escalation.

Results

43,600unique users in the first 90 days, per Verge AIVendor case study[1]

245,000AI-powered answers in the first 90 days, per Verge AIVendor case study[1]

8%requesting human assistance after the upgrade, versus 11% before it, per Verge AIVendor case study[1]

Takeaway

The supplier compared the first 90 days after launch with a much longer pre-upgrade period. That comparison did not isolate AI's effect from seasonal changes.

Sources

How UCT used EduBot to serve 43 600 students in 90 days
ITWeb / Verge AI2 Jan 2026Vendor publication

Source summaries

[1]ITWeb / Verge AI2 Jan 2026

Verge AI reported UCT's upgrade and initial usage. It gave user and answer counts and reported fewer human-handoff requests.

Full details are in the original sources.

Added 1 Nov 2026 · Updated 1 Nov 2026