A comprehensive agentic AI strategy for a recycling business on Azure

Context

A fast growing recycling business serving customers across the UK. The company had grown organically to the point where headcount was outpacing its manual processes, and leadership wanted to understand where agentic AI could relieve the pressure.

The challenge

Deep domain expertise was trapped in repetitive work. Across functions the story was strikingly consistent: skilled people spending days each month cleansing operational data, checking subcontractor invoices line by line, reconciling files by hand, and answering the same routine customer queries. None of it was glamorous, all of it mattered, and most of it was a poor use of experienced staff — alongside real external pressure from tightening regulatory reporting and the early signs of an agent-to-agent future for customer procurement.

What we did

The engagement covered:

• Discovery and stakeholder interviews across operations, sales, customer services, finance and regulatory teams — understanding real pain points before proposing solutions.
• Two lighthouse programmes: Operational Intelligence (smarter scheduling, route optimisation, regulatory compliance) and Augmented Workforce (empowering frontline staff with AI-assisted decision-making).
• Architecture on Microsoft Azure, with solutions designed around CoPilot Studio and Azure, building on the stack they already own.
• Board-level strategy deliverables including investment cases, risk assessments, and a phased roadmap from pilot to production.