In One Day, Porto do Açu's HR Team Went from AI Hesitation to Building Their Own Agent
Client | Porto do Açu (Prumo Group), HR Department |
Participants | 8 people, spanning analysts and managers |
Format | 1-day in-person immersion |
Outcome | Department's first AI agent built in a single session + team empowered to create and test their own agents |
IMAGE · OPENING
Photo of Porto do Açu's HR team during the in-person immersion alongside AutoU founders.
Wide horizontal format, high resolution.
1. Context
Until then, Porto do Açu's HR team had only used artificial intelligence in personal contexts, not at work. Most relied on basic ChatGPT queries for everyday questions, without realizing they could build customized organizational solutions. The entire department participated—eight professionals from analysts to management—all previously limited to basic chat prompts.
A lack of technical exposure created a feeling of falling behind. While other business units were automating workflows and assembling agents, HR observed the movement with a specific apprehension: the fear of being replaced by technology. The workshop's mission arose directly from this: demonstrating hands-on that AI is an augmenting capability that expands the team's reach, rather than a replacement.
2. How we did it
The workshop was designed as a single 8-hour in-person intensive session. The team gathered in one room, each at their computer, supported by an AutoU developer and both co-founders. The founders' presence lent a strategic consulting atmosphere, balancing conceptual groundwork with complete hands-on agent building in Copilot Studio.
The journey started at the roots: foundational concepts regarding the origin and behavior of generative AI, demystifying common concerns and showcasing real HR application cases. Next came the practical phase. To ensure immediate applicability, an MVP was selected based on a real, high-friction operational workflow in the department.
IMAGE · LIVE BUILDING
Photo of the room with the team assembling the agent, or shared screen of the step-by-step guidance provided by consultants.
3. Results
The workshop achieved intense engagement and concluded with a production-ready agent built during the session itself. The agent resolves recurrent inquiries about internal company policies—a repetitive task that previously drained hours of team time and is now handled automatically without manual intervention.
Before | After |
|---|---|
• Used AI solely in personal life for basic queries | • Built and tested their own HR policy advisory agent |
• Viewed AI with apprehension as a potential job threat | • View AI as a tool that restores valuable time and expands HR capabilities |
Each participant constructed the agent through live, step-by-step instruction and deployed it within the department's workspace. Everyone emerged with the confidence and autonomy to prototype new agents and validate them before submitting to IT for enterprise deployment.
IMAGE · AGENT IN USE
Screenshot of the policy advisory agent in action, or group photo at the conclusion of the immersion.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
"It was a one-day reflection that brought many insights and great motivation to do new things with this tool that we've now mastered."
Paulo Carvalho, Senior HR Specialist at Porto do Açu
4. Key Learnings
What sets this case apart is the starting point. The HR team didn't arrive curious; they arrived apprehensive. The underlying worry wasn't mastering the software—it was fear of obsolescence. In that context, no amount of abstract lecture works on its own, because the psychological barrier touches personal identity. The turnaround occurred when the team saw AI take over a tedious task—answering repetitive policy queries—and hand time back rather than usurp their roles. When individuals build the assistive agent with their own hands, fear of replacement yields to enthusiasm for building more. Resistance to AI rarely dissolves through debate; it dissolves through authorship.
The second takeaway reinforces a recurring truth across our corporate programs: sustained engagement requires solving a real problem. Here, the policy bot wasn't an academic sample; it was an authentic friction point in daily HR operations. Anchoring the exercise in reality translated learning into immediate utility, sustaining high motivation across an intensive 8-hour sprint.