Challenge.

With more than 5,000 catalogue products, numerous customer-specific developments, and a wide range of variants, technical specifications, documents and application-specific requirements, Telegärtner manages a highly complex product portfolio. Customers and business partners therefore need to be able to find the right information quickly, whether they are searching for a specific product number or defining a solution based on technical requirements alone. The goal was to make product, documentation and availability information easier to access while providing digital support for recurring enquiries. At the same time, sensitive data such as gross list prices and availability information had to remain accessible only to authorised business partners.

Artificial intelligence will change the way we work. For us, what matters is putting new technologies to practical use where they create real value for customers, business partners and employees. The AI chatbot is an important step towards making information more accessible, reducing the effort involved in handling recurring enquiries and creating more scope for individual technical consultation.

Michael Kolban, Managing Director, Telegärtner Karl Gärtner GmbH

Solution.

Together with Bechtle, Telegärtner defined the business and technical requirements for the AI chatbot. A key part of the project involved preparing the company’s complex product structures for a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture in Microsoft Azure, with product data, technical information and other relevant content structured so that the chatbot could process them reliably and present them in a clear and user-friendly way. Selected pricing and availability data are extracted from existing systems, prepared for use and transferred to the Azure environment. Eligible business partners can then authenticate using their customer number and postcode, allowing them to access gross list prices and availability information directly within the chat without the need for a separate login. Beyond helping users find specific products, the chatbot guides them through technical information by providing relevant product details, comparing key technical characteristics and linking directly to related content on the Telegärtner website. Before going live, the solution was tested against real product enquiries and continuously refined to ensure reliable and accurate responses.

Business benefits.

  • Faster access to products: Through searches using product numbers or natural-language queries.
  • Direct access: To relevant documents and content on the Telegärtner website.
  • Support for sales teams: Through the automated handling of recurring information requests.
  • Targeted product selection: Through follow-up questions and structured information.
  • Access to gross list prices: Plus availability information for authorised business partners.
  • Future-ready platform: Designed to support the gradual expansion of additional digital services.