CASE STUDY
How AI helps hhpberlin build safer, smarter projects
“Templafy’s AI Assistant isn’t just an add-on; it’s a game changer.”
Stefan Truthän
Former CEO of hppberlin
INDUSTRY
Fire safety engineering
FOUNDED
2000
EMPLOYEES
200+
Creating space for more valuable work with AI
hhpberlin is a leader in fire safety engineering, tackling some of the most complex building projects out there—think skyscrapers, airports, stadiums, and industrial plants. With 25 years of experience and over 20,000 projects under their belt, they cover an impressive 25% of the German building market.
But with the rising demand for smart, sustainable engineering, their team faced mounting pressure. They needed a way to work more efficiently without compromising the consistency and accuracy of their critical project documents.
We spoke with Stefan Truthän, former CEO of hhpberlin, about how the company embraced AI to transform their workflows—and the remarkable impact it’s had on both quality and efficiency.
The results
- Marked improvement in efficiency in creating documents and responding to customer requests
- Higher document quality and precision
- Increased employee confidence in AI and widespread adoption
The challenges
- Growing market demand put new pressures on an already busy team
- Extremely high document quality standards
- Hesitation from the workforce towards adopting AI tools
Why are documents so important in your area of work?
Our work directly impacts the safety of buildings and the lives of the people in them. A single sentence in a fire safety document can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why quality control is critical. Every document we create goes through multiple rounds of review to ensure it is accurate.
What was the document creation process like at hhpberlin before Templafy?
At hhpberlin, our client reports are detailed Word documents, often 50–100 pages long, with thousands of reusable text snippets. Before Templafy, we relied on legacy systems, stored decades of content in file shares and SharePoint, and managed everything manually. Quality assurance required engineers to review entire documents, which was time-consuming and inefficient.
In 2020, we adopted Templafy to streamline this process. Over three years, we built a library of templates that ensures consistency and compliance with ISO 9001 and 27001 standards. For us, templates are not just a marketing advantage—they’re essential for maintaining efficiency and meeting mandatory requirements across all our operations.
What were your initial thoughts about introducing AI at work?
Our AI journey began with experimentation, exploring how large language models (LLMs) could support marketing, sales, and our core fire safety engineering functions. At first, people were apprehensive. There was a lot of fear that AI would replace jobs. Over time, as we integrated AI tools like Templafy’s AI Assistant into our workflows, that mindset shifted. Employees started to see AI as a productivity booster rather than a threat.
“Templafy’s AI Assistant has helped us create safer buildings, happier customers, and a more empowered workforce. It takes the knowledge we’ve built over decades and makes it accessible and actionable for our team every day.”
Stefan Truthän
Former CEO of hppberlin
You actually developed your own LLM—how did that work for you?
Yes, this was in 2023. I think every company around the world was experimenting with AI. Because we have such powerful raw data, we created Fire GPT—an LLM trained on 25 years of our own work—which became the foundation for our AI capabilities. And we were able to use it as part of our daily business, not just for marketing and sales, but to help us generate fire safety content.
How do you use our AI Assistant with your Fire GPT?
Templafy’s AI Assistant made it possible to use AI directly within tools like Word and Outlook, allowing us to use Fire GPT for everything from document consistency to real-time customer responses.
The beauty of the AI Assistant lies in its simplicity and accessibility. For instance, our engineers can highlight text in a Word document, click a button, and get AI-powered suggestions instantly, based on our own data and guidelines. It’s so easy to use, and that has really helped people see its value.
What was integration, onboarding, and training like?
Setting up AI Assistant was incredibly simple. Getting it to integrate with Fire GPT took about ten minutes. But the real turning point was once our employees started to use it. Within 20 minutes, people were able to start setting up their own prompts, so there was no real steep learning curve. Very quickly, they were asking for more. Employees shouldn’t have to learn entirely new systems to benefit from AI. By embedding AI Assistant into the tools they already use, it was very easy for them to start working with it.
“At hhpberlin, technology is not a cost driver—it’s a production factor. Templafy’s AI Assistant has transformed the way we work, enabling us to create safer buildings, happier customers, and more empowered employees.”
Stefan Truthän
Former CEO of hppberlin
How has AI impacted your overall quality of work?
Templafy has really streamlined how we work. For example, when a customer sends an email with a question, the AI Assistant can instantly analyze relevant fire safety concepts and generate a response in the hhpberlin style. Before, this process required searching through documents, manually writing a response, and having it checked for consistency—and that could take a very long time.
Now, employees can handle these requests in minutes. AI Assistant helps maintain consistency, aligns with our brand, and reduces the risk of human error. This was especially important because in our line of work, each sentence can be a matter of life or death.
How would you summarize the strategic value of AI for hhpberlin?
AI has shifted from being a curiosity to a strategic driver of transformation. It’s not just about doing things faster; it’s about maintaining the highest quality in everything we do. At hhpberlin, we don’t see technology as a cost driver—it’s a production factor.
Templafy’s AI Assistant has helped us create safer buildings, happier customers, and a more empowered workforce. It takes the knowledge we’ve built over decades and makes it accessible and actionable for our team every day. This transformation isn’t just about technology—it’s about building a stronger, more efficient organization.
“The AI Assistant can instantly analyze relevant fire safety concepts and generate a response in the hhpberlin style.”
Stefan Truthän
Former CEO of hppberlin
The solution
Personalized and built-in AI
Faster, more accurate document creation combining Templafy’s AI Assistant with Fire GPT
More streamlined and consistent workflows
Enthusiastic, company-wide adoption due to the tool’s usability and effectiveness
About hhpberlin
For more than 20 years, hhpberlin has been driven by the ambition to shape the changing world by making it safer, more sustainable, and more livable. With a team of 200 experts and its customized fire protection concepts, effective solutions, and innovative engineering methods, hhpberlin supports customers throughout Germany and worldwide from the initial concept to the finished building.