How University West built a production-ready AI agent system

The challenge: Scaling AI without large teams or budgets

Like many organizations, University West in Sweden (Högskolan Väst) saw clear potential in generative AI, but didn’t have the luxury of a big team or unlimited budget. With just a handful of developers and over 14,000 students to serve, the university needed a focused approach.

"With AI, it kind of feels different. This time, we can’t just sit back and wait because then we’ll be left behind," said Tobias Ekenstam, Head of Development at University West.

They weren’t looking for flashy AI demos. They needed a solution that worked in production, aligned with their values of collaboration and learning, and delivered real value to students without becoming a governance headache or cost risk down the line.

Their question was one many companies face: how do you move forward with AI when you can’t afford to get it wrong?

The solution: A smart, secure AI agent system built with Microsoft technologies

"We didn’t want Eficode to build it for us. We wanted them to teach us how to build it the right way," stated Tobias Ekenstam, Head of Development at University West.

Working alongside Eficode, University West co-created a multi-agent AI system designed to help students engage with course material more effectively. Built on Azure AI Foundry and the Microsoft Agent Framework, the solution prioritized real-world functionality over hype.

It launched with two core agents:

• Course agent: Uses RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) to answer questions based on specific course materials. It's flexible enough to provide helpful answers, but grounded in verified content.
  
  
• Schedule agent: Connects to the university’s scheduling system, allowing students to prepare for classes and even request pop quizzes to study proactively.

The agents run within Microsoft Teams—a secure, familiar UI already used by staff and students—avoiding the need to roll out new tools or train users from scratch. With Eficode's guidance, the university ensured the architecture was compliant, observable, and scalable from day one.

“We don't want to spend our time or money on making all the mistakes. Eficode can help us navigate past the mistake and help us do it the right way from the beginning,” said Tobias Ekenstam, Head of Development at University West.

The results: Real-world impact, faster learning, and a foundation to scale

Despite the limited internal resources, University West delivered a production-ready AI solution that:

• Drives real engagement: Students are using the agent system actively, often preferring it over public AI tools thanks to its accuracy and relevance.
• Reduces resource waste: By building on existing platforms (Teams, Azure) and using small, focused models, the system stays cost-effective and fast.
• Improves learning outcomes: Students get direct support aligned with course content helping them study smarter, not harder.
• Enables future growth: The system is built to scale, with filtered indexes and clear governance in place to support new courses, agents, and use cases.

Just as importantly, the team is learning together. Students are discovering how to ask better questions. Teachers are seeing how AI can support, not replace, education. And the university is proving that with the right partners and architecture, you don’t need a big budget to build something big.

This story is based on the talk Tobias gave with Peter Drougge in October 2025: Driving real impact with AI Agents: A blueprint from Högskolan Väst.