Russia’s Social Fund Uses AI to Handle Millions of Citizen Requests
An AI-powered assistant now takes one in five calls to the country’s main social services hotline.
Russia’s Social Fund — the agency overseeing pensions, social benefits, and family programs — has turned to artificial intelligence to handle its massive flow of citizen inquiries. The Contact Center’s virtual assistant has already conducted over 100 million consultations and now processes more than 100,000 calls and messages every day.
Developed by the tech firm BSS, the AI system helps users navigate everything from maternity capital and pension savings to changing payment methods or booking appointments. It can locate the nearest branch office and independently resolve about 20% of all inquiries. When the issue involves personal data or requires deeper expertise, the bot seamlessly transfers the call to a human operator.
Teaching machines to talk like humans
According to Social Fund chairman Sergey Chirkov, the next step is to integrate neural network–based speech synthesis.
An online chat with live operators is also in development. The initiative reflects a broader trend in Russia’s public sector: as government services go digital, artificial intelligence is becoming a frontline tool for citizen interaction — turning once bureaucratic systems into faster, more human-like experiences.
