Case Study: North Dakota University System achieves faster policy search and AI-driven efficiency with Databricks

NDUS uses Databricks to optimize policy searches using generative AI

The North Dakota University System (NDUS) needed a better way to manage thousands of policies, state laws, contracts, and procedures that were slowing down compliance and internal searches. Using Databricks on Azure, NDUS set out to modernize its data architecture and add generative AI capabilities for faster policy search and response.

Databricks helped NDUS build “Policy Assistant,” a GenAI search tool powered by LLMs, Foundation Model APIs, Unity Catalog, Vector Search, and MLflow. The result was a centralized lakehouse, a 2x reduction in time to market from one year to six months, and 10–20x faster policy search and response. NDUS also cut procurement time and costs by 100% using Databricks on Azure.

North Dakota University System

Ryan Jockers

Assistant Director of Reporting and Analytics