Enterprise AI Chatbot Solution for University Websites

The University of North Carolina Greensboro's Department of Information Technology Services is actively seeking information regarding enterprise AI chatbots for University websites. The intent of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather information on viable solutions, prior to potentially issuing a future solicitation which may result in a contract.

This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a formal solicitation. [...] The University issued this RFI to conduct market research in determining variables to consider for an AI chatbot enterprise solution which may be used for University websites, as defined herein.

Provide the following information about your solution and describe how your chatbot solution will support the following known requirements:

General Requirements

• The chatbot should support a federated model where individual University departments can utilize the chatbot platform, each with its own bot. Chatbot knowledge should be able to be isolated or shared with other bots, as needed. This federated model should allow for central oversight by ITS but delegate individual chatbot administration to departments.
• Provide branding customization (UNCG logo, color scheme, greeting message, avatar/name, etc.) consistent with the University's public-facing communication standards.
• Describe how your solution interacts with a WordPress CMS system.
• Does your platform support multi-channel deployment beyond a standard website (e.g. SMS, WhatsApp, MS Teams, native mobile apps) using the same central knowledge base?
• The chatbot should be able to make use of content (e.g. webpages and related media / documents) on specified websites as well as additional information and documents that can be added to the chatbot's knowledge base.
• If the bot becomes stumped, it should be able to offer the customer the ability to hand off to a live human representative or submit a support ticket that can be followed up upon. This should generate a ServiceNow ticket.
• The solution should provide source attribution and hyperlinking; inline citations and direct links to official UNCG web pages or knowledge base articles are preferred.
• Describe the chatbot's ability to make use of SSO. [...]

Administrative Requirements

• Provide the ability for departmental users to customize, edit, and expand chatbot responses, decision trees, and knowledge base articles without requiring vendor intervention for routine content updates.
• Identify the underlying large language model (LLM) engine(s) that power your solution.

Security, Reliability & Accessibility

• Provide a copy of your most recent Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) which specifies your products support of Section 508 standards.
• Specify explicit compliance frameworks that your tool supports, particularly for student privacy (FERPA) and health-related interactions (HIPAA).
• Specify your operational SLAs in terms of system availability.

Vendor's response to this RFI must be submitted through the NC eVP submission portal. [...] Request for Information (RFI) will be received at this office until 4:00 pm EST on the day of opening.

Written questions shall be submitted to Michael Logan via email at mflogan@uncg.edu and are due no later than October 23rd, 2026 5 pm EST. A summary of all questions and answers will be consolidated into a Q&A Addendum and posted to NC eVP, on or about October 30th, 2026.

Respondents will have 3 weeks to prepare their submissions to this RFI. Respondents may also be invited to present and discuss their solutions. This could be virtually or in person. Respondents will be notified of the specific date and time at least two (2) weeks in advance of their presentation.

The University will not pay for information received in response to the RFI. The vendor solely bears any costs incurred in preparation and submission of a response.