Skip to content

README.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
313 lines (226 loc) · 10 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

313 lines (226 loc) · 10 KB
Raw

The Shadow Mentor: Invisible Onboarding Companion

Screenshot 2025-11-23 185945

Built for the Agentic AI Hackathon with IBM watsonx Orchestrate

💡 About The Shadow Mentor

The Shadow Mentor is an AI-powered solution built on IBM Watsonx designed to address the HR challenge of post-onboarding "ghosting." This phase typically occurs after the first week, when new hires start feeling lost and productivity declines as managers become busier. The solution acts as an Invisible Onboarding Companion that supports continuous cultural and functional integration.

🧠 Core Innovation & Features

The agent operates on an intelligent loop: Perceive → Decide → Act.

image

Perceive (Integration Gaps)

The agent analyzes the new hire's activity using Watsonx Skills (calendar access, Slack integration, HRIS data). It identifies integration gaps such as:

  • Missing 1:1 meetings
  • Unaccessed onboarding resources
  • Incomplete tasks
  • Low engagement indicators

Decide (Role-Based Needs)

It consults its knowledge base to determine what the employee needs next, including:

  • Identifying their role level (Junior/Senior)
  • Recommending relevant certification paths
  • Suggesting learning roadmaps
  • Matching with appropriate mentors

Act (Discreet Intervention)

The agent intervenes proactively by:

  • Automatically scheduling short check-ins on the manager's calendar with suggested talking points
  • Sending personalized Slack reminders with direct links to incomplete tasks
  • Providing real-time support without being intrusive

✨ Key Employee Features

image

Intelligent Provisioning & Performance Tracking

  • New employees receive role-specific challenges and an initial project monitored by the Shadow Mentor
  • Performance scoring system tracks progress
  • Structured assessments with limited retakes before progressing to certificates
  • Real-time project monitoring and task completion tracking

Follow-Up & Continuous Development

  • Tracks progress across certification paths
  • Displays personalized roadmaps for each role (e.g., Software Engineer, Data Scientist, DevOps Engineer)
  • Provides salary progression insights based on upcoming certifications
  • Shows certification completion status and next steps

Smart Scheduling

  • Smart calendar organizes daily tasks and meetings
  • Switch between active (AI-driven) or manual scheduling modes
  • Predictive indicator shows whether the employee's pace is aligned with peers
  • Automatic meeting scheduling and conflict detection

Cultural Integration

  • Enhances cultural onboarding by pairing new hires with a Buddy based on shared interests
  • Facilitates team connections and social integration
  • Tracks cultural engagement metrics

The Shadow Mentor ensures that every new employee remains connected, productive, and supported from their very first day.

🏗️ Architecture

Architecture

Shadow Mentor Architecture Diagram

Enterprise Suite Integrated With IBM Watsonx Orchestrate

Enterprise Suite Integration

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+ and npm
  • Python 3.8+ (for backend API)
  • IBM Watsonx Orchestrate account and credentials

Installation

Frontend Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 to view the application.

Backend API Setup

# Navigate to IBM WATSONX CONNECTION folder
cd "IBM WATSONX CONNECTION"

# Install Python dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure your Watson credentials in config.py
# Set your API_KEY and AGENT_ID

# Start the API server
python start_server.py

The API server will run on http://localhost:5000

Build for Production

# Build frontend
npm run build

# Preview production build
npm run preview

📁 Project Structure

Shadow_Mentor/
├── src/
│   ├── pages/
│   │   ├── LandingPage.jsx          # Landing page
│   │   ├── Dashboard.jsx             # Admin dashboard
│   │   ├── EmployeeDashboard.jsx    # Employee dashboard
│   │   ├── EmployeeView.jsx         # Individual employee details
│   │   ├── AdminPanel.jsx           # Admin settings
│   │   ├── Certifications.jsx       # Certification management
│   │   ├── Schedule.jsx              # Scheduling interface
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── utils/
│   │   └── watsonApi.js             # Watson API client
│   ├── App.jsx                      # Main app with routing
│   └── main.jsx                     # Entry point
├── IBM WATSONX CONNECTION/
│   ├── watson_connection.py         # Core Watson connection
│   ├── employee_functions.py        # Employee-related functions
│   ├── certification_functions.py  # Certification functions
│   ├── performance_functions.py     # Performance tracking
│   ├── scheduling_functions.py     # Scheduling functions
│   ├── admin_functions.py           # Admin functions
│   ├── api_server.py                # Flask API server
│   └── config.py                    # Configuration
├── public/
│   └── Shadow Mentor Logo.png
└── package.json

🛠️ Technologies

Frontend

  • React 18 - UI library
  • Vite - Build tool and dev server
  • Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
  • Framer Motion - Animation library
  • Recharts - Data visualization
  • Lucide React - Icon library
  • React Router - Navigation

Backend

  • Python 3.8+ - Backend language
  • Flask - Web framework
  • IBM Watsonx Orchestrate - AI agent platform
  • Requests - HTTP library

🎯 Key Pages

Employee Dashboard (/employee-dashboard)

  • Employee information display
  • Initial project assignment and tracking
  • Certification roadmap with PDF links
  • Salary insights and projections
  • Performance tracking (score, tests, project monitoring)
  • Smart calendar with daily tasks and meetings
  • Predictive clock for productivity tracking

Admin Dashboard (/dashboard)

  • Real-time statistics
  • Onboarding progress charts
  • Role distribution visualization
  • Integration gaps alerts
  • Recent employees table
  • Live activity feed

Learning & Performance

  • My Learning (/my-learning) - Certifications and learning paths
  • My Schedule (/my-schedule) - Calendar and task management
  • My Performance (/my-performance) - Performance metrics and insights

Configuration

Watson Orchestrate Setup

  1. Edit IBM WATSONX CONNECTION/config.py:

    API_URL = "https://api.eu-gb.watson-orchestrate.cloud.ibm.com/instances/YOUR_INSTANCE_ID"
API_KEY = "your-api-key-here"
AGENT_ID = "your-agent-id-here"

  2. Test the connection:

    cd "IBM WATSONX CONNECTION"
python test_connection.py

Frontend API Configuration

The frontend is configured to connect to the API server at http://localhost:5000 by default. You can modify this in src/utils/watsonApi.js:

const API_BASE_URL = 'http://localhost:5000/api';

API Documentation

See IBM WATSONX CONNECTION/README.md for detailed API documentation.

Quick API Examples

// Get employee information
const employee = await employeeApi.getEmployee('EMP-1001');

// Get certification roadmap
const roadmap = await certificationApi.getRoadmap('Software Engineer');

// Get performance score
const performance = await performanceApi.getPerformance('EMP-1001');

// Get daily tasks
const tasks = await schedulingApi.getTasks('EMP-1001');

This project was developed for the Agentic AI Hackathon with IBM watsonx Orchestrate.

Meet our Amazing Team

Team Members

🙏 Acknowledgments

  • IBM Watsonx Orchestrate for providing the AI agent platform
  • Hackathon organizers for the opportunity
  • Our amazing team for their dedication and hard work

Built with ❤️ by the Shadow Mentor Team

Ensuring no new hire gets left behind