For many organizations, the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) felt like a race. New tools appeared overnight, promises multiplied, and a single question echoed through meeting rooms and office corridors alike:
How can we make AI work for us?
At the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), the answer was not to chase the latest trend or rush to adopt the newest technology. Instead, we started with a simpler question:
What do our people actually need?
Rather than building AI around technology, we chose to build it around the people who use it every day. We listened to colleagues, identified bottlenecks in their work, and focused on creating practical solutions that solve real challenges.
The goal was never AI for AI’s sake. The goal was to help people spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on work that creates value.
This people-first approach has become a cornerstone of UNV’s Strategic Framework, which seeks to make the organization more efficient, effective and future-ready. AI is not being introduced as a quick fix or a silver bullet. It is being integrated as a tool that supports colleagues, simplifies processes, and helps them do their jobs better.
In a world captivated by what AI can do, UNV has chosen to focus on who it is for. And that has made all the difference.
From Question to Solution
When UNV asked how AI could make work easier, the answer was not one tool but two. In 2026, UNV reached two major milestones: UNV AURA, a new AI-powered recruitment platform, and a next-generation Voli chatbot.
Both were built around the same principle: technology should support people, not replace them.
UNV AURA: Smarter Recruitment, Human Decisions
As volunteer assignments continue to grow, recruiters face thousands of applications for every opportunity. UNV AURA helps them cut through the volume with multilingual AI search, candidate matching, shortlist comparisons, and insights into applicant pools. It can even recommend suitable assignments to qualified candidates.
But AURA's greatest strength is not artificial intelligence. It is human intelligence. Recruitment and online volunteering teams helped shape the tool from the very beginning, testing prototypes, challenging assumptions, and refining features based on real-world experience.
The result is AI that assists recruiters while the cornerstone principle stays intact— a ‘human-in-the-loop’ at all stages—from design to development and day-to-day operations.
Voli Enters the AI Era
UNV's first Voli chatbot changed how users found information and requested support. Now, Voli has taken a major leap forward.
Launched in August 2026, the new Voli uses next-generation AI to provide smarter, more natural, and context-aware responses, drawing from trusted UNV knowledge sources. Behind the scenes, months of testing by technical and service desk teams helped ensure responses are accurate, reliable, and grounded in UNV's expertise.
What Comes Next?
These are only the first steps. More AI initiatives are already on the horizon, all driven by the same belief that has guided UNV's journey so far: the best AI solutions begin with people, are shaped by people, and ultimately help people do their work better.
The cover image is AI-generated to fit the story.