Western Bay of Plenty District Council adopted Theta Assist to give staff a secure, affordable way to use AI at scale. For Richard Gilligan, Technical Operations Team Leader, the decision centred on privacy, information security and cost control. The result was a practical rollout that improved data analysis, supported the contact centre and gave staff better access to Council knowledge.

At a glance

• Organisation: Western Bay of Plenty District Council
• Sector: Local government
• Use case: Secure AI for staff productivity, knowledge access and customer service support
• Key requirements: Privacy, information security, affordability and control over information sources
• Outcomes: Faster analysis, quicker access to operational information and stronger staff confidence with AI

Why the Council chose Theta Assist

Western Bay of Plenty District Council wanted to explore AI in a way that matched the realities of local government. The goal was to give staff access to useful AI support while maintaining clear control over information, cost and day-to-day use.

For Richard Gilligan, Technical Operations Team Leader, the decision came down to three practical requirements: privacy, information security and cost. With around 300 staff, buying individual licences with unlimited prompting capability was not an economical option. The Council needed an AI platform that could support broad staff use while still giving the organisation oversight over how information was handled.

Theta Assist first stood out on affordability. Its privacy and security controls then gave the Council confidence to move forward.

Secure AI with more control over information

The Council wanted an AI platform designed to handle personal information securely and provide greater visibility over how staff would work with organisational data.

Theta Assist allowed the Council to control which services and information sources were available to the AI. This created a more focused environment for staff working with relevant Council information and helped the organisation maintain oversight over how the platform was used.

For a district council, that kind of control is important. Teams need access to the right information, and leadership needs confidence that AI use aligns with internal information management and security expectations.

Building staff confidence through practical use

There was some apprehension and misunderstanding about AI among staff. The Council wanted to address this early and help people build confidence through direct experience.

Rather than leading with a formal acceptable-use policy, the Council encouraged staff to use Theta Assist in a low-pressure environment that supported learning and experimentation. This made it easier for people to move past the initial mental shift of understanding how AI could help with everyday work.

Richard noted that workshops played an important role in this stage. They helped staff see where AI could fit into practical tasks. As people became more comfortable with the platform, Theta provided more advanced training so they could keep developing their skills.

Fast rollout with local support

The Council was able to get Theta Assist set up in a single afternoon. The rollout itself remained deliberately light, which helped keep the focus on use cases and staff adoption rather than process overhead.

The Council also appreciated that the trainer lived nearby and that they were working with a local product team. That gave the rollout a more personal feel and reinforced that support was close at hand when needed.

Faster data analysis across Council teams

One of the clearest efficiency gains came from data analysis.

Staff were able to analyse thousands of rows of complex data in minutes. Previously, that same work could take weeks. This created a much faster path from raw information to usable insight.

The Council could also import Council-specific information from its document management system into Theta Assist. That allowed the AI to gather and combine information from multiple internal sources, helping staff work across documents and datasets more efficiently.

For teams that regularly work with reports, operational data or policy material, this kind of time saving can make a meaningful difference to responsiveness and workload management.

Specialist assistants for complex Council knowledge

Theta Assist also gave staff a way to create and share AI assistants built around Council-related knowledge in specialist areas such as compliance and building inspections.

These assistants made complex information easier to access across the organisation. Staff did not have to rely on one expert holding the context every time. They had a more accessible way to work with specialised knowledge and use it in day-to-day tasks.

For local government teams, this kind of shared access can improve consistency and reduce friction when staff need to work across different operational areas.

"More than 200 staff regularly use Theta Assist and a staff-built Planning Check assistant avoided $70,000 in module development costs." - Richard Gilligan

A closer relationship with the product team

Working with a smaller provider gave the Council direct access to Theta Assist’s developers. The Council could share ideas, discuss practical requirements and provide feedback directly to the development team.

That closer relationship gave the Council a meaningful voice in the product’s ongoing development. It also made it easier to raise operational needs and contribute to future improvements.

For organisations adopting AI, this kind of collaboration can be valuable. It helps ensure the platform continues to reflect real business requirements rather than generic assumptions about how teams work.

What this local government AI case study shows

Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s experience shows that AI adoption in local government can begin in a practical and controlled way. The combination of affordability, information controls, staff training and direct access to the product team created a solid foundation for broader adoption.

From faster data analysis to improved access to customer service information, Theta Assist helped the Council demonstrate how secure AI can support measurable efficiency gains across real operational work.

For councils and other organisations evaluating enterprise AI, this case study points to a practical approach: start with clear controls, support staff confidence early, focus on real use cases and build from there.

“Speaking on behalf of the Council, we would recommend you take a serious look at Theta Assist for many reasons. It’s affordable, functional, and… [you can] talk to the people directly to enhance the product. Put it on your list.” - Richard Gilligan

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