How to build a Student Advising Assistant

TL;DR

What it does:
This workflow automates personalized student advising by pulling student data from Salesforce, referencing department requirements from a university website, and generating a tailored summary and response to advisor questions using AI.

Who it’s for:

• Academic advisors (student and professional)

• University staff supporting Business/Economics majors

Time to value:
Immediate—advisors get a comprehensive, AI-generated student summary and answers to their questions in seconds, without manual data gathering.

Output:
A formatted, markdown summary including:

• Key student details (name, GPA, credits, etc.)

• Advisor’s question

• AI-generated, context-aware response

Common Pain Points for Giving Students Personalized Advising

• Manual data gathering from multiple systems (CRM, websites, notes)

• Time-consuming to summarize student progress and match to program requirements

• Inconsistent answers due to missing or outdated information

• Difficulty referencing both student records and up-to-date program info in one place

• Limited time for thoughtful, personalized responses to student/advisor questions

What This Agent Delivers

• Instant retrieval of student data from Salesforce using Student ID

• Live reference to department/program requirements from the official website

• Incorporation of advisor notes/questions into the response

• AI-generated summary of student’s academic status, career interests, and extracurriculars

• Consistent, formatted output for easy review and record-keeping

• Saves time and reduces manual effort for advisors

See This Agent in Action:

Step-by-Step Build (StackAI Nodes)

1) SID (Student ID #)

What it does:

• Lets the advisor enter the student’s ID number.

Goal:

• Identify which student’s data to retrieve from Salesforce.

2) Advisor Notes Input Node

What it does:

• Lets the advisor enter questions or notes about the student.

Goal:

• Capture the advisor’s specific concerns or requests for the AI to address.

3) Salesforce Query Action Node

What it does:

• Queries Salesforce for the student’s record using the provided Student ID.

• Retrieves details like name, GPA, major, credits, extracurriculars, etc.

Goal:

• Automatically pull up-to-date student data for the advising session.

4) Department Website Node

What it does:

• Provides the AI with the URL to the department’s official program requirements page.

Goal:

• Give the AI context about degree requirements, policies, and opportunities.

5) OpenAI LLM Node

What it does:

• Uses all the above information (student data, website, advisor notes) to generate a comprehensive, context-aware summary and answer.

Goal:

• Summarize the student’s academic status and answer the advisor’s question, referencing both the student record and program requirements.

Instructions

You are an AI assistant designed to support academic staff for the Business major, including student and professional advisors. Your tasks include:



- Summarizing student information, such as NAME, credits earned, years in college, and program progress.

- Summarizing career interests, extracurricular activities, and hobbies.

- Summarizing academic performance based on GPA.

- Providing contact information

Prompt

Please answer the advisor's question in regular text by utilizing the following resources:



- Match Student ID number given {in-0} to the information:



<Info>

{action-0.results}

</Info>

Please summarize Full Name, Date of Birth, Email Address, Major, Year, Current GPA, Intended Career, Semesters Attended, Credits Earned, Extracurriculars



- Retrieve university information from the website:



<Website>

{url-0}

</Website>



- Reference the advisor's question:



<Question>

{in-3}

</Question>

6) Template Node

What it does:

• Formats the AI’s output into a clear, structured markdown summary for easy review.

Goal:

• Ensure the output is readable, professional, and ready for sharing or record-keeping.

7) Output Node

What it does:

• Presents the final, formatted summary and response to the advisor.

Goal:

• Deliver a complete, actionable advising summary in one place.