I have created my own AI Agent for my clients, and I trained it on a decade of my work.
Welcome back to AI SIX, I’m Joanne Sweeney, and I’m this week’s long-listen, I’m doing something a bit different. I want to take you behind the scenes of how I used a platform called Botpress to deploy my own AI agent, trained on over a decade of my work in marketing, communications, and public engagement.
If you’ve ever wished you could clone yourself to answer client questions, onboard new team members, or share trusted knowledge without constantly being “on,” this episode is for you. I know there will be some nervous AI adopters out there, but this episode is also for you!
And, spoiler alert, I’m now looking for a focus group of public sector marketing professionals to test this tool with me. I’ll share the details at the end.
Why I Built My Own AI Agent
So why build my own AI agent?
Over the years, I’ve built up a huge body of work: training materials, AI playbooks, podcast episodes, strategy documents, slide decks, keynote scripts, the list goes on.
But it’s not searchable. It’s not always accessible when people need it. And in my work with public sector organisations, I kept seeing the same challenge: comms professionals need timely, trustworthy guidance, but often don’t have time to sift through documents or wait for a consultant.
I wanted to create something that could answer questions, share relevant resources, and reflect how I think and work, 24/7.
That’s what led me to Botpress.
Why Botpress
Botpress is what I’d call a complete AI agent platform, not just a chatbot builder.
It gives you everything you need to build, deploy, and manage intelligent conversational agents, combining the power of large language models with an intuitive visual interface.
There were a few features that sold me:
- Visual Flow Builder: A drag-and-drop tool that let me design conversations without writing code. It uses nodes and cards to map out logic—perfect for someone like me who thinks in frameworks.
- Knowledge Agent: This was a game changer. I could upload content from my site, PDFs, training materials, transcripts, all the stuff I’ve built over ten years, and train the bot on it.
- Personality Agent: This lets me define tone of voice, plain English, no fluff, confident and practical. It made the responses feel like me, not ChatGPT.
- Autonomous Nodes: These allow the agent to break down complex queries and reason through them, so it’s not just regurgitating information but thinking through tasks logically.
- Multi-channel deployment: Once the agent was ready, I could publish it to my site—but also scale to WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack, and more if I wanted.
How I Built It
Here’s how I actually built it.
Step 1: Knowledge Collection
I started by pulling together my IP, decades of content. Podcast transcripts, client slide decks, keynote scripts, blog posts, internal frameworks, AI training guides, even long-forgotten PDFs.
Step 2: Upload and Train
Using the Knowledge Agent in Botpress, I uploaded everything, linked my website, and tested a few queries. The AI indexed it all and made it searchable and responsive.
Step 3: Tone and Guardrails
Then I used the Personality Agent to shape how it responds, straight-talking, grounded, no jargon. I also set boundaries on what it shouldn’t try to answer.
Step 4: Smarts and Sequencing
With the Autonomous Nodes, I created logic so that the agent could break complex questions into steps. For example, someone asks, “How do I start using AI in my comms team?” The agent now clarifies their role, suggests a starting point, and points to high-value content and turns it into a response with steps.
Step 5: Summary and Handover
I added a Summary Agent to make human handovers smooth it can wrap up a conversation and send me the key points when someone needs a real follow-up.
Step 6: Live Testing
It’s now live on my site and in active testing. I’ve used it myself when preparing workshops, checking past examples, or onboarding collaborators.
What It Can Do
So what exactly can this agent do?
- Answer questions about AI in marketing and comms, based on my real examples and client work
- Guide users through prompt creation, workflows, and use case design
- Point to relevant resources from my podcast, trainings, and blog
- Explain concepts in plain English, like what a custom GPT is, or how to evaluate AI tools
- Act as a micro-consultant, especially useful for solo public sector comms pros or small teams without in-house AI skills
This isn’t a novelty, it’s a real working tool. And it’s only going to get better as I refine it.
What I’ve Learned So Far
Here are a few takeaways from the build and test phase:
- Content matters more than tech. The better structured and labelled my content was, the smarter the bot became.
- Testing is everything. I kept feeding it questions I get in workshops or DMs—and refined the answers accordingly.
- It’s not a shortcut, but it’s a serious amplifier. This bot doesn’t replace me. It extends my ability to help more people.
Also worth noting: Botpress supports top-tier models like GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and more. You’re not locked into one LLM, which gives you flexibility down the line.
For teams managing large audiences, whether that’s public queries, internal training, or even onboarding, it could be a powerful internal or external tool.
I’m Looking for Testers
This is where you come in.
I’m looking for a small focus group of public sector marketing and comms professionals to test the agent in real-world settings.
If you work in local government, public health, higher education, a state agency, or the EU institutions, I’d love to hear from you.
You’ll get exclusive access, a short onboarding call with me, and a space to give feedback on what works and what needs work.
This isn’t about selling anything. It’s about learning what’s useful, what’s annoying, and what could actually move the needle in your work.
If that sounds like you, just drop me a message on LinkedIn or email me; details are in the show notes.
So that’s it: my AI agent, trained on 10+ years of my work, now lives, learning, and is ready to help.
Whether you’re curious about Botpress, thinking about building your own AI tools, or just want a peek at what’s possible, I hope this gave you some inspiration.
Send me an email to info@publicsectormarktingpros.com with AIJ Tester in the Subject Line.
About the Podcast Host
Joanne Sweeney is a specialist in public-sector marketing and digital communications. She’s the author of Public Sector Marketing Pro and the creator of the Professional Diploma in AI for Public Sector Marketing. With years of experience in training, consulting, and advocating for digital transformation, Joanne provides insight and guidance for government agencies navigating the digital landscape. She is also the host of the award-winning Public Sector Marketing Show podcast.
