U-M Maizey In Depth

U-M Maizey enables U-M faculty, staff, and students to create customized generative AI experiences using their own data and instructions.

Within a single Maizey project, you can build multiple apps tailored to your specific audiences and tasks. There are three app types to choose from:

  • Agentic Chat App: The Maizey chat experience with M-Connectors
  • Legacy Chat App: The original Maizey chat experience
  • Batch App: A document-processing workflow that applies the same instructions and questions to multiple PDFs

Support

See our Support page for step-by-step instructions for working with Maizey projects and apps.

How Maizey Works

1. Create a Project

A project is the main container for your Maizey apps. It is where you:

  • Manage project access and permissions
  • Configure billing and administrative settings
  • Connect, maintain, and update shared data sources used by Agentic Chat and Legacy Chat Apps
  • Reindex project data when content changes
  • Schedule indexing on a monthly or weekly basis
  • Create and manage apps

2. Create One or More Apps

Apps are the generative AI experiences you build for your users. Each app can have its own purpose, audience, configuration, instructions, and access settings. You can add any combination of Agentic Chat, Legacy Chat, or Batch Apps to a project.

Depending on the app type, you can:

  • Define the app’s purpose and audience
  • Configure app settings and access
  • Customize the app’s instructions or prompt
  • Configure M-Connectors for an Agentic Chat App
  • Configure a separate data source for a Batch App
  • Publish, unpublish, edit, or remove an app without changing the project’s settings and shared data
     
Choose the Right Maizey App
Agentic Chat App

Recommended for most new conversational Maizey experiences.

An Agentic Chat App can answer questions using your project data sources and complete supported tasks by securely connecting to supported services via M-Connectors. It can also function identically to a Legacy Chat App when M-Connectors are disabled.

Choose an Agentic Chat App when you want users to:

  • Ask questions about project data sources
  • Find supported information in connected services
  • Combine project data with current or user-specific information
  • Prepare content using connected information
  • Complete supported actions after reviewing and approving them

Examples include:

  • A policy assistant that explains guidance and helps prepare an email
  • A department assistant that finds relevant Google Drive files
  • A scheduling assistant that works with supported calendar information
  • A course assistant that combines project guidance with supported Canvas information
  • An assistant that finds relevant Gmail messages and helps prepare a reply

M-Connectors securely connect Maizey to supported services such as Google Workspace, Canvas, Slack, Zoom, Dropbox, and MCommunity. Depending on the M-Connector, an Agentic Chat App may retrieve supported information or help complete a supported action after the user reviews and approves it.

Project Admins control whether M-Connectors are enabled for an app. App users can only interact with M-Connectors for the services they're approved to access.

Legacy Chat App

A Legacy Chat App provides the original, familiar Maizey conversational experience grounded in data connected to your project. It does not use M-Connectors.

Choose a Legacy Chat App when you want users to:

  • Use the familiar Maizey chat experience
  • Ask questions using only project data
  • Use the app without needing M-Connectors

Examples include:

  • A course assistant that answers questions only from course materials
  • A department assistant that explains procedures
  • A research assistant that helps users explore a document collection
  • A public-information assistant based on indexed websites
Maizey Batch App

A Batch App applies the same instructions and questions to every PDF in an app-specific Google Drive folder, then returns the results in a CSV file.

Batch is designed for repeated document processing rather than an ongoing conversation. It does not use the project’s shared data sources. Each Batch App uses a separate data source configured specifically for that app, and that data is available only within that Batch App.

Choose a Batch App when you want to:

  • Extract the same information from many PDFs
  • Summarize a set of documents consistently
  • Check a set of documents for required information or language
  • Apply a common rubric or set of criteria
  • Export structured results for review

Examples include:

  • Extracting dates and amounts from invoices
  • Summarizing a collection of reports
  • Reviewing documents for required language
  • Applying the same questions to applications or proposals
  • Providing feedback based on a common rubric

Batch has a different setup, prompt structure, workflow, and billing model than the Agentic Chat and Legacy Chat Apps.

Learn more about the Maizey Batch App

Compare Maizey App Types

App typeBest forData usedM-ConnectorsResults
Agentic Chat AppMost new conversational experiencesShared project data sources and supported M-ConnectorsYesConversational responses and supported actions
Legacy Chat AppFamiliar Maizey chat experienceShared project data sourcesNoConversational responses
Batch AppApplying the same task to many PDFsSeparate app-specific data sourceNoStructured, exportable CSV file

M-Connector availability and supported actions may vary based on individual project settings and users’ existing systems access.

Why Use Multiple Apps?

Creating multiple apps within a project allows you to:

  • Create different experiences for different audiences
  • Use shared project data for multiple conversational apps
  • Pair conversational apps with a separate Batch workflow
  • Customize an app without duplicating the overall project
  • Manage multiple experiences from one project

For example, you could retain an existing Legacy Chat App for staff, create a new Agentic Chat App for new hires, and also create a Batch App for a recurring document-review workflow.

Videos: Use Cases and Walk-Throughs

What are Maizey Apps and How Do They Change U-M Maizey?

Walk-Through, Part One: How to Make a Maizey Project

Walk-Through, Part Two: How to Make a Maizey App Interface for Your Project

Sensitive Data

Check the ITS AI Service entry in the Sensitive Data Guide to IT Services for a list of the data types that are permitted to be used with ITS AI Services.

Before using institutional and research data with third-party AI services, carefully review the ITS Safe Computing guidelines.