The Royal Navy’s “Atlas”: Supporting Submariner Recruitment

Client: The Royal Navy

The safety of our seas and water boundaries as a nation is always of paramount importance. With the geo-political instability of the world, the need for a robust, well-staffed Royal Navy was greater than ever. No more so, than when it comes to the Submariners.

The Submariners are a highly secretive operation. Very few 16 – 24-year-olds know they exist, let alone consider a career in their ranks. Specialist recruitment teams are typically deployed to put the Submariners on candidates’ radars. But this isn’t scalable and can fail to engage Gen Z audiences, who prefer digital-first communication. Our mission was to boost submariner consideration amongst UK Gen Z’s. The solution: “Atlas”, the world's first government digital human; powered by a conversational large-language model (LLM). Atlas is a real-time animated avatar that provides a private, supportive platform for potential recruits to explore a Submariner career. Submariner consideration surged by 24% amongst those who interacted with Atlas. On average, Gen Z users spent nearly 7 mins with the avatar, asking 8+ questions and giving the experience an exceptional 95% NPS rating. By bridging the information gap with innovative AI, Atlas is helping the Royal Navy boost recruitment and secure our national maritime safety.