How Atomicwork empowers Catalyst Education in shaping better futures

If you've ever met someone balancing a full-time job while studying, you know they're driven by something bigger—a desire to improve their lives and elevate their communities. And behind every learner’s success is a team working hard to improve the learning journey, supporting them every step of the way.

Across Catalyst Education’s network of training organisations, learners juggle demanding workloads and busy home lives, carving out precious time to complete assignments, review materials, and prepare for their next educational milestone. At the same time, staff members manage complex operations, ensuring learners always have the support they need to succeed.

But here’s the catch: when the questions pile up at 11 p.m., and there’s no trainer to ask or teammate to turn to, where do the learners go? How do they keep moving forward without hitting a wall of unanswered doubts? This question sparked Catalyst Education’s transformative journey—one that led to Atomicwork.

Nurturing a compassionate society

Catalyst Education, based in Australia, is the parent organization of nationally recognized training providers including Selmar Institute of Education and Practical Outcomes. Dedicated to fostering a more capable and caring society, these organizations equip early childhood educators, aged care workers, and disability support professionals with the knowledge and skills to deliver exceptional care. With over 4,000 active learners and 50,000 graduates, they are shaping the future of care and engagement across Australia.

Leading Catalyst Education's technology strategy in this mission is Syachfri Tjhia, Head of Data and Technology. With a passion for innovation and a focus on impact, Syachfri and his team are dedicated to harnessing technology to help both employees and learners excel in their work. He continuously seeks ways to optimize operations and enhance learning experiences, ensuring every tool and process advances Catalyst's mission.

Seizing a missed opportunity

When generative AI emerged in early 2022, Syachfri realized its potential to enhance operational efficiency. As Syachfri explains, "It wasn't just about addressing our challenges. It was recognizing the chance to achieve something bigger, to transform the way we work".

Most learners study after regular working hours, creating unique challenges for the Catalyst team. Learners often need support late at night when trainers are unavailable. Ensuring employees manage operations efficiently while learners get on-demand assistance is key to maintaining productivity for both staff and students. With GenAI, he saw the potential to simplify access to information and automate repetitive tasks for employees. For learners, it promised instant answers, filling the void left by unavailable trainers.

Determined to explore the possibilities, Syachfri adopted a hands-on approach by building and testing solutions. He designed and iterated workflows in PowerAutomate to handle enrollments, organize data, and notify stakeholders, eliminating unnecessary complexity for employees. He experimented with Microsoft Azure OpenAI beta platform and consulted experts at Google about AI's nuances. He even built a custom search tool for learners using Google's Vertex AI search and the Microsoft Power Platform. He rigorously tested and refined these tools across several iterations.

Through his efforts, Syachfri realized that while AI’s potential was immense, it wasn't without limitations, and finding a solution that could meet Catalyst’s diverse needs was a challenge. His drive to simplify workflows and deliver real-time learner support underpinned every experiment and guided his search for a practical, scalable solution. Yet despite his efforts, no solution fully met their requirements.

That’s when he came across Atomicwork, with a vision matching his own and a product that delivered on it. And he knew he'd found the ideal partner for bringing AI-powered transformation to Catalyst Education.

Reimagining learning for an AI-first future

Atomicwork bridged the gap between Syachfri’s efforts and Catalyst’s vision of a seamless, AI-driven learning experience for students. The Microsoft Teams integration was a game changer. Learners no longer need to wait overnight for trainer responses or spend hours searching countless documents. Atom, the conversational AI assistant, serves as their personal learning companion, providing access to materials and answers at all times. It also enables them to connect with trainers, collaborate with peers, and complete assessments easily—all in one place.

"With Atom's guardrails, learners always get the right information tailored to their course and context," Syachfri explains. "They can ask Atom follow-up questions to clarify doubts, explore and understand topics in greater depth, and truly engage with the content. It’s like having a conversation with their trainers, anytime they need it.”

While introducing Atomicwork to such a large cohort requires careful planning and ongoing support, Syachfri is confident it will enhance learning, making it more rewarding, collaborative, and less stressful. The expected impact includes higher learner satisfaction, improved engagement, and a future-proof system designed to scale effortlessly with their expanding learner community.

From fragmentation to collaboration

Atomicwork’s impact extended beyond learners, streamlining internal operations and connecting teams. Before Atomicwork, each department had their own way of working—some used Excel, others relied on email, personal tools, or even post-it notes. Siloed, scattered knowledge made information sharing inefficient and cumbersome. These fragmented processes limited visibility into the company’s overall operational health, hampering Syachfri’s team from making data-driven decisions.

With Atomicwork, Syachfri found a platform that could unify operations in ways traditional IT solutions couldn't. Unlike rigid IT systems designed for specific tasks, Atomicwork's adaptable AI connected teams, surfaced insights, and simplified workflows—all without custom coding or complex configurations. His teams would have:

• Centralized knowledge: With a permissions-aware SharePoint integration and document upload support, Atomicwork consolidated organizational knowledge—policies, SOPs, and procedures—in one place. Employees could quickly find information from any department at any time by simply asking Atom.
• Streamlined processes: Atomicwork became the central hub for tracking tasks, with each team managing their own workspace. Standardized workflows and SLA policies kept teams aligned and productive.
• Unified language: Atomicwork effectively bridged the gap between IT and non-IT teams, ensuring accessibility for everyone without needing to “speak IT”.

Syachfri emphasized the importance of creating a shared language across the organization: "With Atomicwork, everyone—whether in HR, IT, or Finance—was finally speaking the same language, using the same workflows, processes, and tools," he explained.

Consolidating knowledge and onboarding teams to this cohesive platform took a few months, during which Syachfri worked closely with Atomicwork’s team to conduct thorough testing. Their responsiveness to his feedback ensured the platform met Catalyst's unique needs.

When introducing Atomicwork to employees, Syachfri focused on clearly communicating the why behind the changes. "People aren't scared of change—they're scared of the unknown. We focused on showing them how this would make their work easier, and the rest followed." This made it easy for Catalyst’s employees to adopt Atomicwork, and they are now increasingly comfortable using Atom as their go-to resource.

For Syachfri’s team, operations have become transparent and actionable. Teams can track SLAs, predict resource needs, and gain valuable insights from analytics—positioning Catalyst for continued success.

"Atomicwork has enabled us to have improved visibility into our operations," Syachfri shared. "It helps us see where we're overstretched or underutilized, identify performance gaps, and plan resources with confidence."

A partnership for growth

Catalyst Education's journey with Atomicwork is just beginning, but it demonstrates how a clear vision paired with the right technology creates transformation. As Catalyst continues to grow, Atomicwork will be a key partner in driving operational excellence for employees and enabling learners to focus on what matters—building their skills for the future. "AI is here to stay," Syachfri remarked. "It's about harnessing it to create something meaningful—and Atomicwork has helped us do just that."