Basware

Project overview

Industry

Software

Services

AI
Development

About company

Basware is how finance leaders in global enterprises can finally automate their complex, labor-intensive invoice processes and stay compliant with regulatory change. Our AP automation and invoicing platform helps you achieve a new level of efficiency – in a matter of months – while reducing errors and risks. We bring a unique combination of true automation, complete coverage, and deeper expertise to make it all just happen for our customers. That’s why the world’s most efficient AP departments at thousands of companies rely on Basware to handle over 170 million invoices per year.

About project

Basware partnered with Zure to build AskMary, a generative AI tool that supports Basware’s customer service teams in drafting responses to customer inquiries.

AskMary helps Basware’s customer support team turn customer questions into clear, tailored response suggestions. The final response is always reviewed, refined, and sent by Basware’s own experts.

Secure AI in Basware’s own Azure environment
AskMary uses Azure OpenAI Service within Basware’s Microsoft Azure environment, helping protect customer data while enabling generative AI use.

Built into the support team’s daily workflow
The tool is available through Microsoft Teams, so support agents can use it without changing how they work.

Human-led by design
AI suggests responses. Basware’s experts review, refine, and send them.

From idea to implementation in weeks
Zure helped Basware implement the technology quickly, turning generative AI from an opportunity into a working support tool.

The Challenge

Customer inquiries in financial management can be complex. Support teams need to understand the customer’s situation, provide accurate information, and respond in a way that feels clear, helpful, and timely.

For Basware, the opportunity was not to replace customer support with AI. The goal was to give support specialists a practical tool that helps them work faster and maintain consistency, while keeping people in control of every customer interaction.

At the same time, the solution needed to meet strict requirements for customer data security. For an organization handling financial processes and customer-specific information, AI could only be useful if it was implemented in a controlled and secure environment.

“Delivering customer value is one of our core objectives at Basware. As a platform built on AI and ML technology itself, we were relentless to introduce AI technology within a secure Microsoft Azure environment to enhance our customer service. In our early use of the tool, we have witnessed a transformation in our customer communications that maintains the human element and allows us to help customers better and faster."

Matthias Lippert

Chief Customer Support Officer, Basware

The Implementation

Zure worked with Basware to implement AskMary within Basware’s Microsoft Azure environment in a matter of weeks.

The tool is available through Microsoft Teams, making it easy for support agents to use as part of their existing daily workflow. Instead of moving between separate tools, agents can input customer inquiries as prompts and receive AI-generated suggestions for customer responses directly through the AskMary platform.

The implementation focused on four practical priorities:

Secure use of generative AI
AskMary uses Azure OpenAI Service within Basware’s own Azure environment, supporting strong data protection and control.

Human-led customer support
The tool creates response suggestions, but Basware’s support specialists remain responsible for reviewing, refining, and sending the final message.

Consistency and speed
AskMary helps support teams produce clear and timely responses, especially when dealing with complex or varied customer inquiries.

Ease of use
By making AskMary accessible through Microsoft Teams, the solution fits naturally into the way support teams already work.

The Results

AskMary gives Basware’s customer support team a practical way to use generative AI in daily customer work.

The solution helps support agents draft clearer and more consistent responses faster, while keeping human judgement at the center of customer communication. Early use of the tool showed positive feedback and opened up further possibilities for using AI beyond customer support.

For Basware, the project was also a concrete step in learning how Azure OpenAI can be used securely and responsibly in real business operations.

Plans for the Future

AskMary is part of Basware’s broader ambition to use AI to improve the customer experience and support function. The company’s goal is to continue learning from the use of Azure OpenAI and expand AI-powered capabilities where they create real value.

The direction is clear: the best support experience is not only faster responses, but fewer support needs in the first place, because systems, communication, and processes work more intelligently from the start.

Want to use AI in customer-facing work without losing control?

Generative AI can help teams work faster and more consistently, but only when security, data protection, and human oversight are built in from the start.

Let’s explore where AI could create practical value in your customer support, operations, or internal workflows.

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