CO-ADAPT · Project

AI Tools That Help Ageing Workers Stay Productive and Companies Manage Shift Schedules

healthPilotedTRL 7

Imagine your workforce is getting older and people struggle more with night shifts, heavy cognitive tasks, or keeping up with digital tools. CO-ADAPT built an AI assistant that talks to workers, understands their stress levels and capabilities, and then adjusts their work environment to match — like a smart scheduler that knows who should work which shift, or a recommender that serves up the right documents at the right time. They tested the shift scheduling tool with 20,000 workers in Finland and trialled assembly station adaptations in Italy. The goal is a two-way street: help workers adapt to changing conditions while also making the workplace adapt to the worker.

By the numbers

20,000

Workers in Finnish smart shift scheduling pilot

Consortium partners across 3 countries

Types of smart work system adaptations developed

Total project deliverables produced

SME partners in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Companies with ageing workforces face rising absenteeism, lower productivity, and difficulty retaining experienced workers who can no longer handle the same shift patterns or cognitive demands they once could. Traditional workforce management treats all employees the same regardless of age or capability, leading to burnout, errors, and early retirement. There is no easy way to automatically adapt work schedules, tasks, and digital tools to match what individual workers can actually handle.

The solution

What was built

CO-ADAPT built and released as open source a Proactive recommender tool and a Smart Shift Scheduling exemplar. They also developed an AI conversational agent using language and physiological analytics, adaptive assembly station technology that adjusts to cognitive workload, and a contextual recommender for documents, people, and applications — totalling 19 deliverables across the project.

Audience

Who needs this

Large employers with shift-based workforces (hospitals, logistics, manufacturing plants)Manufacturers with ageing assembly line workersHR technology and workforce management software vendorsOccupational health and safety consultanciesPublic sector organisations managing ageing civil servant workforces

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Logistics & Shift-Based Operations

enterprise

Target: Large employers with rotating shift workforces (warehouses, hospitals, call centres)

If you are a logistics or healthcare company struggling with absenteeism and burnout among older shift workers — this project developed a smart shift scheduling tool piloted with 20,000 employees in Finland that matches shifts to individual worker capabilities. It factors in age thresholds and cognitive workload so your scheduling actually accounts for what people can handle, not just availability.

Manufacturing & Assembly

mid-size

Target: Manufacturers with manual or semi-automated assembly lines

If you are a manufacturer dealing with rising error rates or slower throughput as your assembly workforce ages — CO-ADAPT built adaptive assembly station technology that adjusts task complexity based on individual cognitive workload. Trialled in real factory environments in Italy, it monitors worker state and adapts the work in real time to maintain quality and reduce strain.

Enterprise Software & HR Tech

any

Target: HR technology vendors and workforce management platforms

If you are an HR tech company looking to differentiate with AI-driven workforce tools — CO-ADAPT released open-source proactive recommender and smart shift scheduling tools. These can be integrated into existing workforce management platforms to add age-aware scheduling and contextual recommendations for documents, people, and applications.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement these tools?

The smart shift scheduling tool and proactive recommender have been released as open source, which eliminates licensing fees. Integration costs would depend on your existing IT infrastructure and workforce management systems. Based on available project data, the project focused on quantifying economic benefits through improved work ability, suggesting measurable ROI.

Can this scale to our workforce size?

The shift scheduling tool was piloted with 20,000 workers in Finland, demonstrating it can handle enterprise-scale operations. The assembly station adaptations and contextual recommender were tested in more focused trials, so scaling those components would require additional engineering work.

What is the IP and licensing situation?

The project explicitly released the Proactive recommender tool and Smart Shift Scheduling exemplar as open source. This means companies can adopt, modify, and integrate these tools without licensing restrictions. For other components developed within the 19 deliverables, contact the consortium for specific terms.

Does this work across different cultures and countries?

CO-ADAPT specifically ran comparative trials of the conversational AI agent in both northern and southern Europe to test cultural applicability. With consortium partners across Finland, Italy, and Belgium, the tools were designed to work across European workplace cultures.

How does the AI conversational agent actually work?

The agent uses language and physiological analytics to understand a worker's current state and provide personalised change support. It acts as a digital coach that monitors stress indicators via sensors and adapts its recommendations accordingly. The system was built on AI, physiology, psychology, and sensor technologies.

What evidence is there that this improves productivity?

The project's evaluation approach was specifically focused on quantifying economic benefits in terms of improved work ability. The pilot with 20,000 workers in Finland for smart shift scheduling provides the largest evidence base. Assembly station trials in Italy measured cognitive workload reduction in real manufacturing environments.

Consortium

Who built it

CO-ADAPT brings together 10 partners from 3 countries (Finland, Italy, Belgium) with a strong industry presence — 5 industrial partners including 4 SMEs, giving a 50% industry ratio. The University of Helsinki coordinates, providing deep AI and health research expertise. The balanced mix of 4 universities and 1 research organisation alongside the industry partners means this project was designed from the start with commercial adoption in mind. The geographic spread across northern (FI) and southern (IT) Europe, plus Belgium, ensures the solutions were tested across different workplace cultures and regulatory environments.

HELSINGIN YLIOPISTOCoordinator · FI
AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SRparticipant · FI
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVAparticipant · IT
ELECTROLUX ITALIA SPAparticipant · IT
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTOparticipant · IT
INNOVATION SPRINTparticipant · BE
TYOTERVEYSLAITOSparticipant · FI

How to reach the team

The coordinator is the University of Helsinki (Finland). SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction to the research team and relevant industry partners.

Order a report on this consortium See HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how CO-ADAPT's open-source shift scheduling or recommender tools could work in your organisation? SciTransfer can arrange a technical briefing with the consortium partners who built and tested these tools.

Order a report on this topic More in Health & Biomedical