Hey Geraldine: A Standout AI Tool for 2026

Why this recognition matters

Digital Leaders has spotlighted Hey Geraldine as one of the standout AI apps to watch in 2026, representing a major step forward in how social care teams can use AI safely, ethically, and at scale. As the team who worked in partnership with Peterborough City Council to develop and deploy Hey Geraldine, Datnexa is proud to see this work recognised alongside some of the most innovative AI tools in the world.

Digital Leaders’ “24 AI Apps and Tools to try out in 2026” highlights products that don’t just showcase cutting-edge tech, but actually improve how people work every day. Hey Geraldine sits in that list as a practical, real-world AI assistant that is already supporting frontline professionals, not a concept on a slide.

For Datnexa, this recognition reinforces a simple belief: the most valuable AI is grounded in real problems, real people, and measurable impact for public services and communities.

Big ideas, real impact

• Hey Geraldine grew from a simple question: how can an experienced practitioner’s judgement reach every worker, on every shift, without burning people out. The answer is a governed AI assistant that captures that expertise and makes it instantly available, 24/7, in the flow of work.

• Hey Geraldine sits alongside global products while staying firmly rooted in UK local government practice and adult social care. This shows how impact, not hype, can still attract national attention when it is tied to real cases and measurable outcomes. The tool has already been featured by ITV News, the BBC, LGA and AI.GOV.UK.

  
  

Governed AI in production

• Hey Geraldine was co‑designed with Peterborough City Council to meet social care’s safety, safeguarding, information security and ethics expectations from day one, not as an afterthought. Governance was built into how content is created, checked, deployed and improved, giving councils confidence that AI is working within their existing protections for residents and staff.

• The assistant unifies council and partner guidance into a single, secure knowledge base that can answer questions as they come in while respecting local policies and boundaries. This cuts duplication and confusion, while surfacing where teams need clearer guidance, training or communication.

  
  

Built on AWS discipline

• Behind the scenes, Datnexa applies an AWS‑native approach so councils get one trustworthy solution. This keeps infrastructure manageable for overstretched IT teams while meeting public sector expectations around security, resilience and auditability.

• Using AWS services as the backbone allows Datnexa to scale Hey Geraldine safely as more workers and partners use it, without compromising on performance or data protection. That discipline also makes it easier to reuse proven patterns in other services such as housing or prevention.

  
  

Lessons from real services

“I used Hey Geraldine and it quickly gave me a list of options to consider when supporting the person at home, it was quick and efficient and it relieved the pressure of having to email the TEC colleagues, as I got the answer there and then.”

Social Worker testimonial

• Hey Geraldine is grounded in the expertise of a real occupational therapist, Geraldine, whose decades of practice have been carefully translated into an AI colleague that feels familiar, not abstract. Staff describe using the assistant as “working alongside Geraldine”, which has been crucial in building trust and adoption.

• Continuous feedback loops, regular huddles and co‑design sessions with frontline teams mean the assistant evolves with practice, rather than being a static product dropped into a complex system.

  
  

A better tomorrow for public services

Being featured in “24 AI Apps and Tools to try out in 2026” signals to councils, health partners and wider public services that safe, governed AI in production is already possible. Hey Geraldine demonstrates how AI can capture expert knowledge, support pressured teams and contribute to better outcomes for people drawing on care and support.

Datnexa now helps organisations build similar assistants, grounded in local knowledge, robust data foundations and a calm, human‑centred approach to design. For social care, housing and prevention services looking beyond pilots, this is a practical route to putting governed AI to work where it matters most: supporting real people, in real places, every day.