Transforming Local Government Care: Datnexa's Journey at LocalGovCamp North

Adam Dustagheer, Managing Director of Datnexa, spoke recently at LocalGovCamp North on Thursday, 13th November 2025 in Leeds, delivering an insightful presentation on one of the most innovative AI implementations in UK local government: "Hey Geraldine."

Photo credit: Tom Styles - Tailwind Digital.

The Event: LocalGovCamp North

LocalGovCamp North brought together council leaders, digital practitioners, and technology partners from across the North of England for a day dedicated to digital transformation in public services. The event featured keynote presentations from pioneering councils, hands-on workshops tackling automation and data challenges, and unconference sessions where participants shaped the agenda around pressing issues facing local government.

The Hey Geraldine Story: Problem-First Innovation

Adam's presentation centered on the development and success of Hey Geraldine, an AI chatbot that exemplifies how local government can harness artificial intelligence to amplify human expertise rather than replace it. The story began with what Adam termed "The Geraldine Problem", a challenge many organisations face but few solve as innovatively.

Geraldine Jinks, a veteran occupational therapist with 35 years of experience at Peterborough City Council, had become the living encyclopedia for technology-enabled care (TEC). Her expertise in helping vulnerable residents maintain independence through assistive technology made her the go-to resource for colleagues seeking guidance. However, this created an unsustainable situation: Geraldine was overwhelmed by repetitive queries, unable to focus on complex cases, and when she was absent, her knowledge became inaccessible.

Photo credit: Tom Styles - Tailwind Digital.

From Challenge to Solution

In 2023, Peterborough City Council partnered with Datnexa to transform this challenge into opportunity. Rather than pursuing off-the-shelf commercial AI solutions with data privacy concerns, they developed a bespoke AI assistant in just six weeks.

The approach was deeply collaborative and human-centered. Geraldine worked directly with the development team, writing responses and teaching the chatbot her characteristic conversational style. The result was an AI assistant that staff described as indistinguishable from Geraldine herself.

Measurable Impact: Values and Value

Adam's presentation emphasised the distinction between what the team valued and their core values. The quantified impact was substantial: the chatbot saved 15 minutes per conversation, delivered over 300 hours of saved time during the trial period, cleared the referral backlog entirely, and enabled staff to focus on complex cases requiring human expertise.

Beyond metrics, the project demonstrated strong values around real user adoption, with staff expressing confidence in the tool and maintaining focus on human connection. Weekly huddles ensured continuous improvement, and insights from the chatbot helped identify knowledge gaps across the service.​

Universal Principles: "So What? Not What If"

A key message from Adam's presentation was the importance of starting with problems, not technology. The principles he outlined included:

Start with the problem, not the technology: Identify clear pain points before selecting AI solutions, using technology to accelerate impact rather than as an end in itself.

Involve end users from day one: Co-design ensures adoption and relevance, as demonstrated by Geraldine's direct involvement in developing her digital counterpart.

Build feedback loops: Weekly huddles and continuous iteration proved essential to the project's success.

Measure what matters: Focus on time savings, productivity gains, and user satisfaction aligned with organisational values.

The presentation also highlighted common pitfalls, including failing to recognise staff time and effort required for adoption, and underestimating governance requirements, with security and compliance often treated as afterthoughts.

The Future: Scaling Innovation

Adam outlined Datnexa's vision for expanding the Hey Geraldine approach. The chatbot is now a fixed-price, low-cost tool that can be rapidly deployed. Plans include building a social prescribing chatbot and exploring NFIX (Finding interventions for unmet or unknown needs), which creates extra capacity in the occupational therapy team for priority cases.

As Geraldine herself noted: "I want it to free up people's time to focus on the more complex queries which is where their knowledge and experience is better focused but also mean the number of people we can support will increase". 

Datnexa's Mission: Big Ideas, Bold Tech, Better Tomorrow

Adam's presentation embodied Datnexa's core philosophy: harnessing data, digital strategy, and emerging technology to deliver practical solutions that achieve real results. With over 20 years of experience leading complex digital projects across government, healthcare, and public services, Adam brings a hands-on approach focused relentlessly on outcomes.

The Hey Geraldine project demonstrates how thoughtful AI implementation can solve problems organisations "didn't know about with time they didn't have". By amplifying rather than replacing human expertise, creating genuine user adoption through co-design, and maintaining focus on measurable outcomes, Datnexa is helping local government transform how they deliver care and support to communities.

For attendees at LocalGovCamp North, Adam's presentation offered both inspiration and a practical roadmap for responsible AI adoption in public services, proving that with the right approach, technology can enhance the human connection that lies at the heart of effective social care.