Building AI-Powered Customer Support for National Grid Electricity Distribution
- Comprehensive platform evaluation to identify the most flexible and compliance-ready AI solution
- Custom AI integration for National Grid's domestic website which enhances self-service support
- Collaborative development to ensure full compliance with legal, cybersecurity, and regulatory standards
The ambition
National Grid Electricity Distribution, part of the wider National Grid Group, is responsible for delivering power to homes and businesses across the South West, South Wales, East Midlands and West Midlands. Their website is a central hub for customer support, information, and service interactions. However, with a mixed audience of domestic users and business customers, National Grid wanted to overhaul their digital experience.
Their goal was twofold; to create a more focused, user-friendly site for domestic users, and explore innovative ways to enhance customer support using AI. With the rise of conversational AI, National Grid saw an opportunity to reduce customer service demand by providing accurate, self-serve information, especially around complex topics like power cuts and connections. The challenge, however, was to design a secure, compliant AI solution that customers could trust. Given the regulatory sensitivities and the critical nature of the information being shared, every step of the AI’s development had to align with strict governance protocols. Ahead of the project build, Enigma worked in close collaboration with their AI Council to define clear parameters, reduce creative interpretation to zero, and support the implementation of strict tone-of-voice guidelines, ensuring every response was accurate, auditable, and aligned with National Grid’s high operational standards.
What we did
Understanding the client’s needs
From the outset, it was clear this project was not about implementing AI for the sake of it - instead National Grid needed a phased, thoughtful approach to AI adoption which worked hand in hand with their business needs. Our team worked closely with their project team and internal AI Council (made up of legal, technical, and compliance stakeholders), and facilitated workshops to define a realistic scope of work for the first phase of the project. The immediate aim was to deliver a functional AI search experience for domestic customers, aligned with the site's new homepage design.
Researching the right platform
Our team undertook a comprehensive market review of AI providers currently available and after evaluating several platforms, we recommended Chatbase for its flexibility, business-grade tone control, and API integration capabilities. Unlike other options, Chatbase allowed us to set granular parameters around tone, creativity, and response accuracy, while also making it easy for National Grid's team to train and refine responses in-house.
One of the strategic advantages of selecting Chatbase was its model-agnostic framework. The solution was designed to allow National Grid to swap underlying language models as the AI landscape evolves, without requiring extensive redevelopment. This futureproofing means that as regulatory expectations or technology advances, National Grid retains full control over their AI roadmap.
Designing a conversational UX
Rather than forcing AI to be front and centre, we designed a user journey where the chatbot is present but not intrusive. Initial customer research showed hesitancy towards AI, so the interface allows users to opt-in to AI assistance if they wish, rather than making it a default from the get-go. Once activated, the AI takes over the interface, becoming the primary way users navigate support content, but always with clear signposting back to human assistance if preferred.
Training with National Grid's Content
The AI was trained using National Grid's existing website content, brand guidelines and tone of voice and we ensured that any data was pulled directly from platforms owned by National Grid and not from the wider web. Key to the AI's performance was the quality of this content and thanks to previous collaboration with Enigma, much of the site's knowledge base was already structured for clarity. We layered this with conversational training prompts, teaching the AI to break down processes (like meter moves or power cuts) into digestible steps, always ending with a direct link to the relevant page to make the information provided as straightforward as possible for the end user.
Governance, Compliance and Risk Management
National Grid Electricity Distribution, part of the wider National Grid Group, is responsible for delivering power to homes and businesses across the South West, South Wales, East Midlands and West Midlands. Their website is a central hub for customer support, information, and service interactions. However, with a mixed audience of domestic users and business customers, National Grid wanted to overhaul their digital experience.
Iterative Testing and Continuous Improvement
One of this AI's standout features is its feedback loop. The tool logs every conversation, assigning a confidence score to each response so National Grid's team can review low-confidence answers, modify and improve them directly within the Chatbase interface, and cache those improvements for instant future responses. This system not only sharpens the AI's accuracy over time but also allows for rapid iteration based on real customer interactions.
Results
National Grid Electricity Distribution’s AI-powered chatbot launched on the domestic website in October 2025, delivering a more intuitive and self-serve support experience for domestic customers.
Phase One focuses on simplifying journeys around common topics like power cuts and meter connections, reducing customer frustration, and easing demand on contact centre teams.
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This initial rollout has been deliberately scoped to balance innovation with trust, laying the groundwork for more advanced features in future phases. These will include dynamic data integrations, such as real-time power cut updates based on a user’s postcode, and expanding AI support to business users handling complex service interactions.
A key success factor has been Enigma’s collaborative approach, working closely with National Grid’s AI Council to navigate compliance requirements, select a future-proof AI platform, and rigorously test user journeys. The result is a flexible, scalable solution that prioritises customer confidence while positioning National Grid for further digital innovation.
This project exemplifies Enigma’s ethos of delivering robust, research-led solutions tailored to the specific needs of each client. As AI adoption accelerates across the utilities sector, this project was our chance to show that AI can solve real problems, unlock efficiency and improve user experience when integrated meaningfully, where it makes sense.
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