As AI redefines software and productivity standards, Empowill – the HR platform dedicated to career tracking for field operatives – wanted to do more than just follow the trend: they aimed to create a genuine competitive advantage. By launching the “AI Month” with Side School, their team transformed their working habits and laid the foundation for a new AI module at the core of the product.

The Challenge for Empowill

Empowill equips SMEs and large industrial, construction, or logistics companies with an HRIS specialized in annual reviews, training, and skill management. For Alexandre Malarewicz, co-founder, three challenges emerged:

1. Acclimate a wide range of professions: marketing, sales, customer success, product, and development teams needed to speak the same AI language.

2. Identify tangible productivity gains in daily activities (presentations, interview analyses, image generation, etc.).

3. Accelerate the integration of AI features in the software while ensuring data security and compliance with HR data standards.

“I wanted a setup where teams could test, tinker, make mistakes, and discover on their own. Side School provided the framework and energy to get us over that hurdle.” — Alexandre Malarewicz, Co-founder of Empowill

Learn and Adopt the Best AI Use Cases in a Month

A 100% online bootcamp, live workshops, weekly challenges, and a dedicated channel: the “AI Month” was the heartbeat of Empowill for four weeks. Everyone engaged with ChatGPT, Gamma, or Lindy agents on challenges to stay relevant with a multidisciplinary team.

“The month-long format created real momentum: we talked about it every day and immediately applied what we learned to our tasks. A one-shot training couldn't have done that.” — Alexandre Malarewicz

From Theory to Practice: AI Now at the Heart of the Product

• The technical team embraced AI, Cursor, and ChatGPT to speed up development (tests, refactoring, documentation).

• The product team prototyped an initial module for automatic HR interview synthesis, currently in beta with two pilot customers.

• The marketers & CSM team now use Gamma and Canva AI to produce presentations and materials twice as fast.

“The AI reflex is there now, but more importantly, it is informed: everyone knows when AI adds value... or not.” — Alexandre Malarewicz

Organizing the “AI Month”: Experience Feedback

Side School supports companies in three steps:

1. Business Diagnosis: mapping time-consuming tasks by team.

2. Curation of relevant tools & use cases, updated weekly.

3. Learning by Doing: challenges, coaching, feedback, and iterations to anchor reflexes.

“What I appreciated the most? The adaptability of Side School. We could give feedback on Monday and see Thursday’s session adjusted accordingly.” — Alexandre Malarewicz