Rakuten Transforms Internal IT Support with Gen AI-Powered Helpdesk Automation

How Rakuten deployed Enjo across Slack and Microsoft Teams to automate IT support, eliminate unnecessary tickets, and deliver instant resolutions to 30,000+ employees worldwide.

About

• Japanese technology conglomerate – often called the “Amazon of Japan”
• 30,000+ employees across 30+ countries, 100+ nationalities
• 70+ services – e-commerce, FinTech, mobile, digital content
• ¥2.3 trillion (~$15B+) FY2024 revenue – 28 consecutive years of growth

Objective

• Deploy an AI-powered first point of contact for all internal IT support queries across Slack and Microsoft Teams
• Reduce dependency on manual IT support and avoid unnecessary Jira ticket creation
• Leverage internal documentation and knowledge bases to deliver instant, accurate resolutions
• Use structured AI conversational flows to capture complete request details before any ticket is created
• Ensure seamless Jira integration for automated ticket creation and routing when human action is required

Challenge

Rakuten Group is one of the world’s largest internet companies, operating 70+ services across e-commerce, FinTech, mobile, and digital content. With over 30,000 employees spanning 30+ countries and a workforce representing 100+ nationalities, Slack and Microsoft Teams serve as the company’s primary internal communication platforms. IT support channels were flooded daily with a mix of routine questions, information requests, and service requests – many of which had readily available answers in existing documentation.

The existing support model relied on manual triage. Every incoming query – whether a simple password reset question or a complex hardware request – required an agent to read, respond, and often create a Jira ticket regardless of necessity. This created significant bottlenecks, with IT staff spending disproportionate time on repetitive issues while higher-priority requests waited.

Compounding this, tickets created manually often arrived incomplete. Agents would need to follow up multiple times to gather basic details – such as the preferred laptop model, urgency, or business justification – causing delays and frustrating both employees and support staff. At Rakuten’s scale and global footprint, the manual approach was unsustainable.

Approach

Rakuten partnered with Troopr Labs to deploy Enjo as the intelligent first point of contact for all internal IT support. Enjo was configured directly within Slack and Microsoft Teams, ensuring zero disruption to existing workflows. When an employee asks a question, Enjo first attempts to resolve it using AI-generated responses grounded in Rakuten’s internal documentation and knowledge bases. If the information is available, the issue is resolved instantly – no Jira ticket is created.

When a request requires human action, Enjo initiates structured AI-driven conversational flows to collect all necessary details upfront. For example, when an employee requests a new laptop, Enjo systematically gathers the employee name, required timeline, preferred model, condition (new/replacement/upgrade), and business justification – all through a natural conversation in Slack or Teams. Only after capturing complete information does Enjo create the Jira ticket, fully formed and ready for the IT team to act on immediately.

Troopr Labs’ customer success team worked closely with Rakuten’s IT leadership to configure Enjo to align with Rakuten’s specific workflows, knowledge taxonomy, and escalation paths. Robust testing and iterative optimization ensured high-quality AI responses from day one, with stringent data security protocols safeguarding all sensitive information.