Ask BambooHR®

The article outlines the setup and functionality of Ask BambooHR, an AI-powered HR assistant designed to facilitate employee access to HR-related information. It provides guidance on how employees can use the feature to inquire about company policies, benefits, and other HR data through a chat interface. The article includes a table of contents, learning resources, and detailed instructions on managing policy documents, including uploading, deleting, and utilizing them within the assistant. It emphasizes the importance of data access permissions and the ability to track employee inquiries through a conversation log. Additionally, it offers communication templates for introducing Ask BambooHR to employees, highlighting its potential to enhance efficiency in HR operations.

  • Jul 9, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Ask BambooHR®
Article Text

Purpose: To help you learn how to set up Ask BambooHR, which is a virtual HR assistant powered by AI, and what data employees have access to when using this feature. 

Learning Lab: Join our two-part Learning Lab to learn how to set up and optimize Ask BambooHR, an innovative AI assistant that boosts productivity by providing employees with quick, accurate answers to routine HR questions.

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Table of Contents

Overview

Ask BambooHR is an AI-powered feature that empowers your employees to find quick answers to their questions regarding company policies and employee information in BambooHR. This feature also saves HR admins valuable time in their daily work, freeing them to focus on more strategic and people-centric tasks.

Employees interact with Ask BambooHR through individual chat conversations. Each conversation is saved as its own thread, making it easy to return to previous questions, continue a topic, and stay organized.

By using a conversational interface, employees can input questions about their PTO balance, benefits, company calendar (holidays), company policies, HRIS data, etc., and Ask BambooHR will provide quick answers based on the data contained within policy documents and employee information in BambooHR.

Important: When using AI in our product, you are dealing with an artificial intelligence system and not a human being. Consider double checking all important data delivered by AI in your account.

Have questions about BambooHR AI? Please refer to AI Security & Privacy FAQ and BambooHR AI for more information or reach out to our Customer Support team.

Setting up Ask BambooHR

Learning Course: We offer a BambooHR Learning course that covers the basics of Ask BambooHR and will help you better understand the setup process. Click here to learn more!

Ask BambooHR compiles data in their responses from several areas of BambooHR, depending on the package purchased:

  1. *HRIS data (Core, Pro, and Elite packages): This source is automated, meaning Ask BambooHR will pull data from the employee's Time Off tab, Benefits tab, and the company directory and calendar to provide answers based on the employee’s access level settings to that data. The following are some examples of questions your employees may be able to ask based on how you have set up Ask BambooHR.
    • "What are our company holidays?"
    • "How much time off do I have?"
    • "What is my pto balance?"
    • "Who's out today?"
    • "Who am I?"
    • "Who is [Employee Name]?"
    • "Who is out today in my department?"
    • "How many days have I been with the company?"
    • "What benefits am I enrolled in?"
    • "What is my medical insurance group number?"
    • "How much is my deductible?"
  2. BambooHR Slack integration (Core, Pro, and Elite packages): If using our Slack integration, employees can ask questions within Slack to receive responses generated by Ask BambooHR.
  3. BambooHR Help Center (Core, Pro, and Elite packages): This data source is only accessible to administrators, not employees. Ask BambooHR can provide content from our Help Center to assist admins with their how-to and support-related inquiries.
  4. Policy documents (Pro and Elite packages only): To use policy documents as a data source for Ask BambooHR, you will need to manually upload PDF files containing your company’s policies to the Files tab. Then, you will be able to select those documents in Settings > Ask BambooHR. (Please do not upload files with identifiable personal and sensitive information.)

*In addition to answering common HR questions, Ask BambooHR® can transform existing data into strategic insights, moving beyond simple retrieval to advanced analysis. Examples:

  • "What's the ratio of engineers to product managers? Are we within a normal range?"
  • "Who has [Your Company Name] hired within the last year, and what does it say about the company's strategy? Give insights about the company strategy."
  • "If I took every Friday off starting this week, how many Fridays could I take off before I run out of PTO?"

HRIS data

Ask BambooHR is automatically enabled to help you save time in answering your employees' questions about HRIS data, including time off, benefits, and company directory information. Employees can also ask how-to questions for managing their personal data on their employee profile. (If you prefer to deactivate the feature, simply click Turn Off in the top right corner.) 

Employees will only have access to the data they are permitted to view based on their access level settings.

With the feature enabled, you can review any of the questions your employees are asking by downloading a conversation log. Click Download Log to receive a .csv file with all the necessary data to ensure your employees' questions are being answered. If needed, you can turn off the feature at any point by clicking Turn Off in the top right corner.

Policy documents

In addition to HRIS data,  the Pro and Elite packages include the ability to upload policy documents. Your policy documents, such as company handbooks, benefits overviews, or other uploaded HR files, serve as reference materials Ask BambooHR uses to answer employee questions.

Want employees to get answers to policy questions like your employee handbook or benefits details? With the Pro or Elite package, you can upload policy documents so Ask BambooHR can reference them directly, helping employees find answers faster without reaching out to HR. 

Files tab

Files

The functionality of policy documents in Ask BambooHR is tied to the Files tab in BambooHR.

Files

All shared files on the Files tab will appear in a list for selection when setting up Ask BambooHR. Shared files are the files you have shared with specific people or all employees.

If you have access permissions set on certain files, employees will receive answers that are specific to the files they have access to view. Whenever an employee asks a question in Ask BambooHR, the system will check their permissions and will only provide answers from documents that the employee has access to.

Example: Employee A is an intern and does not have the Benefits Overview file shared with them, and Employee B is a full-time employee and has access to the shared file. Then, the HR Admin adds the Benefits Overview file to Ask BambooHR and enables the feature for employees. 

Employee A enters a question about benefits, and they do not receive an answer with information from the Benefits Overview file, but Employee B will receive an answer with that information since they have access to the file.

Need to upload policy documents to the Files tab? Please visit our Upload a Document or File help guide.

Add policy documents

We use LlamaParse to understand the content of your policy documents. For more information, click here. See also LlamaParse Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 

To start adding policy documents, navigate to Settings > Ask BambooHR and then click Add Policy Documents. Please remove any personal identifiable information from your policy documents. You can also review our legal resources (Terms of Service, AI Addendum, etc.) directly from this page. These resources reiterate our commitment to be transparent in how we use AI, ensure that it is ethically created and deployed, ensuring top-notch security measures are in place to protect your data. 

Select the files you want to add from the dropdown list. Please note that the list will only contain PDF files shared with at least one employee from your Files tab. If you cannot find your desired files, you can navigate to the Files tab and make the appropriate changes there. 

There is no limit to the number of files you can add, but the size limit for each file is 20 MB. Additionally, PDF is the only document type that is indexed by Ask BambooHR. (For a seamless upload process, please ensure you have “.pdf” included in your file names.)

After selecting your documents,  click Add Docs, and your chosen files will be set to “Processing.” Documents may take up to a few minutes to process. Depending on the size and numbers of files, processing times vary from 0 to 10 minutes. You can navigate away from this page and come back at a later time to check in on their progress.  

Preview AI assistant

Before enabling the feature for all employees, you can test and preview the chat by clicking Preview AI Assistant. Enter some test questions and review the responses to ensure everything looks accurate.

In the example above, I asked "How much volunteer time off do I receive per calendar year?" and Ask BambooHR pulled data from the Volunteer Time Off document to answer my question.

When using Ask BambooHR on the web app, you and your employees can expand the Ask BambooHR chat into a full-screen workspace. This gives you more space to read detailed responses, review data, and continue longer conversations without losing your place.

In the full-screen view, you can also switch between conversations, making it easier to manage and return to different topics.

Launch Ask BambooHR

When you are ready to launch the feature to your employees, click Turn on. When employees open Ask BambooHR, a new chat conversation begins automatically, and they can return to a previous conversation from their conversation list. To learn more about the employee experience, see Using Ask BambooHR for Your Questions.

Ask BambooHR will respond in the same language as the employee uses in their questions.

Employee communication

Sample rollout email

We have provided the text below to help you communicate the rollout of Ask BambooHR with your employees. 

We are excited to introduce you to Ask BambooHR, our new AI-powered HR assistant! At [Company Name], we value open communication and want to ensure you have all the tools you need at your fingertips. 

What is Ask BambooHR? 
Ask BambooHR is a friendly chat-based feature right in our BambooHR profile. Think of it like your HR fast pass that gets you quick answers to your common HR questions without waiting for a response from HR. 

How Can Ask BambooHR Help You?

  • Instant Answers: Have questions about time off, company policies or benefits? Just ask!
  • Easy Access: Find reliable answers directly in BambooHR, anytime, anywhere.

Where Can You Find Ask BambooHR?

  1. Log in to BambooHR.
  2. Click on the “Ask” button in the top right-hand corner.
  3. Type your question and get instant answers!

What Types of Questions Can You Ask?

  • “When is our next company holiday?”
  • "What is the group number for my medical insurance provider?”
  • “When is our next payday?”
  • “Who is____ (name of someone at your company)?” 
     

Watch for the Ask BambooHR button in your BambooHR profile starting on [enter date], and feel free to reach out to HR if you have any questions. 
 

Happy chatting!

Using Ask BambooHR for Your HR Questions is a great resource for employees to learn how they can use Ask BambooHR.

Managing Ask BambooHR

Upload or delete a policy document

  1. To upload a new document from the Files tab, click +Add Documents.
  2. If you find that you need to delete a document, simply hover your cursor over the applicable document and select the “x” at the left of your screen.

If you need to upload a revised document, delete the original file from Ask BambooHR and add the revised version to the Files tab. Share the file with the people who should have access to it. Then, add the revised document in Settings > Ask BambooHR > +Add Documents.

View the conversation log

Ask BambooHR

Once your employees are using Ask BambooHR, you will have a conversation log available for download in Settings > Ask HR. The conversation log lists every question asked, who asked it, and when it was asked. If you need this information, click Download Log, and a .CSV file will be downloaded onto your device for your review.

Turn off Ask BambooHR

Ask BambooHR

If you need to turn off access, click Turn off. (Turning off this feature will not remove any documents you have uploaded.)

Empowering your employees to manage their own information can significantly enhance efficiency and satisfaction within your organization. If your HR team is overwhelmed with requests for basic information like PTO balances or address updates, consider streamlining these processes.

Our BambooHR Services team can help you optimize Ask BambooHR as a self-service enablement initiative. This paid service allows employees to access and manage their own information directly, reducing repetitive tasks and improving response times. By freeing up your HR team to focus on strategic priorities, you can enhance overall productivity and employee satisfaction, making your HR operations more effective and impactful.

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