Unibuddy Launches AI Assistant to Boost Student Engagement in Higher Education
Unibuddy, a peer-to-peer engagement platform for higher education, has launched Assistant—an AI-powered tool that supports large-scale, authentic student-led conversations. After a successful beta phase, the tool is now live at 30 institutions worldwide, delivering notable results such as tripling student engagement and significantly reducing staff workload while maintaining over 95% accuracy.
With rising student expectations and tighter university budgets, Unibuddy Assistant offers an efficient way to scale meaningful engagement. It combines AI's speed with the authenticity of real student voices, creating a balance between automation and human connection.
Key Results from Unibuddy Assistant’s Launch
- 65,000 unique students engaged with the Assistant
- Over 100,000 student questions answered automatically without manual input
- 125% increase in students participating in conversations
- 60% increase in lead capture
- Five hours saved per day for university staff
Diego Fanara, CEO of Unibuddy, explains, “Today’s students demand instant, authentic, and trustworthy communication. Unibuddy Assistant is the first solution that combines AI speed with credible peer-to-peer guidance, offering institutions a scalable way to meet expectations without sacrificing quality or trust.”
Why AI Alone Isn’t Enough
While chatbots are common in higher education, surveys by Unibuddy reveal their limitations:
- 84% of students said university responses were too slow (Unibuddy Survey, 2025)
- 79% want a balance between AI automation for speed and human interaction for depth (Unibuddy Survey, 2025)
- 51% don’t trust chatbots to answer questions about student experience (Unibuddy Survey, 2024)
- 78% find talking to a current student helpful, making peer advice 3.5 times more trusted than bot responses (Unibuddy Survey, 2025)
- Only 14% felt engaged by the universities they applied to (Unibuddy Survey, 2025)
These insights shaped Unibuddy Assistant’s approach: AI handles routine questions and highlights key information but smoothly transfers conversations to peers or staff when a personal touch is needed.
Institutional Success Stories
Buckinghamshire New University used Unibuddy Assistant to improve early engagement, generating 800,000 impressions, 30,000 clickthroughs, and over 10,000 student conversations in six months. The university saved more than 2,000 staff hours and recorded 3,000 referrals to students or staff.
University of South Florida Muma College of Business reported saving over 30 staff hours monthly, achieving a 59% click-to-conversation rate. Over a third of Assistant chats led to referrals to student ambassadors.
University of East Anglia deployed Assistant on 100+ web pages as part of the full Unibuddy suite. Student-led content contributed to a 62% offer-to-student conversion rate, compared to 34% for those who didn’t engage with Unibuddy.
Conclusion
Unibuddy Assistant addresses key challenges faced by universities by blending AI efficiency with peer authenticity. It supports large-scale student engagement, reduces staff workload, and helps institutions meet rising expectations without compromising trust or quality.
For education professionals interested in how AI tools can improve student communication and engagement, exploring relevant training can be valuable. Courses on AI in education and automation tools are available at Complete AI Training.
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