Artificial intelligence, Elli, opened a new direction for Emill’s development

Emill’s journey began with a very concrete need: how to capture the knowledge, skills, and insights that emerge in everyday work, share them, and reuse them — at the very moment they are most valuable. From the start, Emill was built for the needs of working life, not on the terms of formal education systems. The goal was an interface that is always present and connected to the situation where learning actually happens: in the middle of work.

But when artificial intelligence entered the picture, the entire path changed.

AI is not an add-on — it is part of the interface

Emill’s AI — Elli — is not an external bot that answers questions in a generic way. It does not search the internet or speculate. Elli operates entirely on an organisation’s own content: observations, solutions, internal documents, and ideas shared by teams form its learning foundation.

This means that AI does not bring external knowledge into the system — instead, it surfaces what the work community already knows. When someone solves a problem today, Elli can suggest the same solution to another user tomorrow. Learning shifts from being cyclical to cumulative — the community begins to learn from itself.

Mobile-first, because problem-solving does not happen in the office

Emill is designed for mobile use because everyday learning happens where work happens — in the field, on the shop floor, in warehouses, or at a customer site. We wanted to ensure that knowledge can be captured at the very moment it emerges. Not through reports or meetings, but immediately.

A low barrier to use has been a core principle from the beginning. Emill works without complex system integrations and is accessible to everyone — across organisational boundaries. A user can belong to multiple teams, communities, or networks, and still use the same interface in their own work.

Locality is a strength — not a limitation

One of Emill’s most important insights has been the understanding that not all knowledge needs to scale. What works in a warehouse, during a service visit, or in a social services unit may be irrelevant elsewhere — but critical in that specific context.

Elli understands this. It does not search for “best practices,” but brings forward solutions that have already proven effective in a particular team or situation. This makes knowledge not only usable, but also human and situational — exactly as everyday expertise should be.

AI strengthens collaboration between people

Elli does not replace experts. Instead, it strengthens their role by acting as a shared memory that recognises routines, surfaces experiential knowledge, and helps articulate practices that would otherwise disappear.

This combination — people, practical work, and locally learning AI — makes Emill something that has not existed before. It is not a system. It is not a course platform. It is an interface for the expertise that emerges through work.

AI reinforced what we were building from the start

Adding AI to Emill was not a feature glued on afterward. It was a decisive turning point that opened a new perspective on the meaning of the entire service. At the same time, it reinforced the original idea: work is learning — and now we have a way to make it visible, shared, and repeatable.

Emill is an interface that connects people, knowledge, and AI — where work happens — around ideas and solutions.