Overview
Public administrations in Bulgaria face increasing pressure to provide faster, more accessible, and citizen‑centred services. To address this, several municipalities have deployed AI‑powered citizen interaction points based on the Sirma.AI Enterprise platform. These are not simple touchscreen kiosks, but AI‑driven service hubs with voice interaction, multilingual support, and real-time guidance through municipal procedures.
Municipal authorities made a strategic decision to digitize frequently used services for citizens and businesses using an enterprise platform rather than isolated point solutions. This enables them to manage high visitor volumes, reduce front-desk bottlenecks, and extend access to municipal information beyond standard working hours.
Challenges in Citizen Service Delivery
Many public organizations that work directly with citizens and businesses face similar challenges. These include long queues at service counters, fragmented communication across departments, limited access to information outside office hours, and a high dependency on staff for repetitive inquiries and guidance. Without intervention, these factors can reduce citizen satisfaction and increase operational strain on municipal teams.
Municipal leaders need solutions that increase service capacity without a proportional increase in staffing. They also need to ensure that any new digital channel is accurate, compliant, and aligned with existing regulations and internal procedures.
Project Scope
Implementation of an AI-Powered Interactive Hub Based on the Sirma.AI Platform
Sirma supported local authorities in implementing AI‑powered interactive kiosks with voice‑enabled AI assistants, deployed on the Sirma.AI Еnterprise platform. Each kiosk acts as an AI‑powered citizen interaction point that can be easily expanded with new AI assistants and services over time. The same platform can later support web, mobile, and call‑centre assistants, ensuring continuity across channels. Currently, the AI-powered kiosk offers:
- Natural language voice and text interaction
- Real-time access to municipal systems and services where integrated
- Step-by-step guidance through administrative procedures
- Multilingual support for broader accessibility
- Integration with internal data using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for contextual answers
Citizens interact in the most convenient way by asking questions such as how to apply for a residence certificate, which documents are required for property registration, and and where to find a specific office within the building. The system provides clear, contextual and actionable guidance, serving as a digital front-office assistant that is always available.
Enterprise Integration, Security, and Compliance
As the kiosks are based on the Sirma.AI Enterprise platform, municipalities can connect them with various administrative systems, such as document management and service registries, to provide up-to-date information and, where appropriate, transactional capabilities. The platform model also enables the reuse of configurations and content, making the solution a scalable pattern applicable in other municipalities and regions.
The solution is designed with European public sector requirements in mind. It can be deployed on sovereign European cloud infrastructure or on‑premises, keeping data within EU jurisdictions and under the control of public authorities. GDPR and data protection principles are embedded by design, with clear control over what data is processed, how it is stored, and for how long. Secure deployment options and controlled access make the platform suitable for integration into existing e‑government environments and for use in high‑trust public sector settings.
Implementation Approach with Municipal Teams
The success of the projects is based on close collaboration between municipal experts and Sirma’s technology team. Administrative staff contribute their knowledge of real citizen journeys and procedures, while Sirma focuses on platform configuration, secure integration, and AI training using administrative data.
Implementation typically follows four phases: discovery and data preparation, development and integration on the platform, pilot deployment in municipal buildings and public spaces, and scaling with continuous optimization. This approach reduces project risk and ensures that the AI assistants reflect real service needs and local practices.
The Result
Sustainable Outcomes for Municipalities
The deployed AI interaction points deliver measurable benefits to municipalities. There is a noticeable reduction in front‑desk inquiries and shorter queues during peak hours. Staff can dedicate more time to complex cases and vulnerable citizens instead of repeatedly answering the same questions.
Citizens gain faster access to information, including outside normal working hours, and benefit from improved navigation within municipal buildings. Voice interaction and multilingual capabilities make services more accessible to elderly residents, foreign citizens, and visitors. Overall, the solution supports more efficient use of staff resources, reduced administrative workload, and higher citizen satisfaction.
Scalable Model and Future Outlook
The model is designed to be replicable and scalable for other municipalities. Smaller administrations can start with a single AI kiosk, while larger cities can deploy multiple interaction points across districts and gradually add services and languages. Because everything is built on the same enterprise platform, content and assistants can be reused and adapted rather than recreated.
These AI‑powered kiosks can also serve as the first step toward a broader AI‑driven municipal ecosystem. Once the platform and core assistants are in place, municipalities can extend the same AI capabilities to web portals, mobile applications, and call channels, creating a consistent experience across all touchpoints. Over time, this supports a more integrated, data-driven approach to planning, delivering, and improving public services.
