Cement giant lets AI agent answer employee HR questions around the clock

When are you entitled to time off? What are the rules for a particular benefit? At the Mexican building materials group Cemex, employees can now get answers from an AI agent whenever they need them, not just when the HR department is open.

The agent is called Consult HR and is built in Microsoft Copilot Studio, a tool for creating AI assistants without writing much code. Employees find it in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot and can ask questions about HR information, policies and benefits in plain language.

Why and for whom

According to Microsoft's customer case, the background is that traditional HR channels depend on opening hours and cannot keep up with round-the-clock demand across countries. For now, the agent supports about 800 employees in Central Mexico. Cemex has about 40,000 employees worldwide.

How it works

The agent pulls its knowledge from lists and PDF files in SharePoint Online. Through Power Platform, Microsoft's tool for connecting systems, it is linked to ServiceNow. This means employees can create and track HR cases directly in the conversation.

The agent is also set to be connected to SAP SuccessFactors, an HR system with employee data. According to the forum site WindowsForum, which has analyzed the case, this part is still being built out. Absence requests and employment letters are being activated gradually. It is not clear how many of the features are in operation.

SharePoint search respects user permissions, so employees must have read access to the documents the agent needs to use. WindowsForum therefore recommends testing with regular employee accounts and not just administrators.

From testing to operation

Cemex carried out a proof of concept, that is, an initial trial, in November 2025, followed by a pilot with 25 users. Full production launch was January 26, 2026.

According to Microsoft, the agent provides answers in seconds, reduces repeat inquiries to HR and provides a better overview via ServiceNow. However, there are no figures for answer accuracy, time savings, usage or costs. WindowsForum assesses that the case is therefore an example of how to build such a system and not proof of return on investment. The story is also Microsoft's own customer case.

Next steps

Cemex plans to expand the agent to more regions with support for more languages.

Alberto Luis de Armas, SVP HR at Cemex, says, according to a summary of the case, that Consult HR shows how Cemex is rethinking employee support by making reliable HR information available when people need it. Pamela Garcia of Central Digitalization says Copilot Studio was the perfect answer because it was low-code and not very complex.