At the Kazan Digital Week 2026 forum, Ildar Khuzzyatov, Mayor of Innopolis—Russia’s first dedicated IT city—unveiled new solutions being implemented for its residents. Among the latest developments is "Inna," an AI-powered virtual assistant that answers residents' questions via messaging apps (such as Telegram) and the official Innopolis website.
The AI agent provides information about the city and upcoming events, while also assisting the Innopolis concierge service in handling resident inquiries. It is fluent in Russian, Tatar, and English, and can process both voice commands and telephone calls.
Interactions are personalized, much like a conversation with a human operator. The digital assistant can ask follow-up questions to gain a deeper understanding of an issue. Residents can ask it anything—from recommendations for weekend activities or how to book a doctor’s appointment, to checking bus schedules or learning about prominent scientists living in the city.
At its core, the system utilizes an LLM (Large Language Model) integrated with a knowledge base drawn from the Innopolis website and official city social media channels, which is updated automatically. The concierge service team trains "Inna" and ensures the information in her database remains current.
The system is self-learning and keeps track of a user’s history, including previous questions and past requests. If the AI agent is unable to resolve an issue, a member of the concierge service team can promptly join the chat.
This new digital assistant is designed to handle routine inquiries, reducing response wait times to under one minute. Furthermore, the AI agent analyzes incoming requests to identify negative trends, enabling the city administration to quickly pinpoint and address problem areas within the city.
The development is currently in the testing phase, with an expected launch date by the end of November 2026. Ildar Khuzzyatov also highlighted technologies already in use within the city. For instance, Innopolis currently employs a "digital twin"—a dynamic, virtual 3D replica of the city where every object is linked to data and evolves over time. It monitors the status of 100,000 urban assets in real time, with over 500 km of utility networks already digitized.
"In Innopolis, the management system is constantly being updated. City services operate proactively: we identify vulnerable areas and take action before actual problems arise. Since 2025, the digital twin has served as a key tool for this, providing forecasts based on current data. It brings to light details that were previously buried in reports—such as actual timelines, bottlenecks, deviations from plans, redundant functions, and the performance quality of various departments," explained Ildar Khuzzyatov.
Additionally, a Telegram chatbot named "Inna" has been operating in Innopolis since 2017. Residents can use it 24/7 to submit inquiries or report issues related to urban amenities, transport, street lighting, and more.
