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Specialists

Specialists are domain-focused agents that handle specific technology finance questions. They combine operating instructions with approved Data Sources and tools to produce relevant analysis.

Choose a Specialist for the question

Specialist

Use it for

Example question

IT Cost Analyst

IT actuals, budgets, forecasts, variances

Which cost centres exceeded budget last month?

Cloud FinOps Analyst

Cloud spend, consumption, commitments

Which cloud services drove recent cost growth?

Vendor & Contract Analyst

Vendor costs, agreements, renewals

Which contracts have notice deadlines within 90 days?

Application & Service TCO Analyst

Application and service cost ownership

What is the current TCO of this service?

Chargeback & Showback Analyst

Business-unit and consumer allocations

Which business units received the largest allocated charges?

License & SaaS Optimization Analyst

License usage, subscription and SaaS costs

Where do we have inactive or unused licence capacity?

Cost Model Steward

Cost-pool, tower and model mapping

Which cost allocations need review?

The Specialist must have access to relevant configured sources for an answer. A domain name alone does not grant data access.

Example: Use IT Cost Analyst for cost-centre budget variance, Cloud FinOps Analyst for cloud commitment or consumption questions, and Vendor & Contract Analyst for renewal dates, notice deadlines, and commercial terms.

Create a Specialist

  1. Open Admin > AI Studio > Configure > Specialists.

  2. Select + Add Specialist.

  3. Choose Guided setup to describe the intended questions and review the generated setup, or Skip to manual setup to enter configuration yourself.

  4. Enter Display Name and Description. Make the description specific to the subject and question types it should handle.

  5. Add Instructions describing analysis boundaries, sources, tool use, response requirements, and how to handle missing information.

  6. Add relevant Conversation Starters and review the available Data Source or tool references.

  7. Save the Specialist, then test representative questions.

In Guided setup, select Restart if you need to restart the configuration flow.

Configure identity

Display Name and Description are required. Use a name users can recognize and a description that clearly defines the domain, supported tasks, and question types.

Keep the scope specific. For example, a contract-focused Specialist should cover contract values, renewal dates, vendors, and invoice information rather than general IT spend.

Write useful instructions

Instructions should tell the Specialist what work it is responsible for, which data to use, when to ask for clarification, and what evidence to return.

Define:

  1. Role and supported tasks.

  2. Relevant Data Sources and tools, including when each should be used.

  3. Required input or clarification when the request is incomplete.

  4. Expected output, including measures, periods, and supporting evidence.

  5. Constraints, including tasks the Specialist must not attempt.

Example: Vendor Renewal Analyst

Use approved contract and vendor spend data for renewal questions. Distinguish contract end date from cancellation notice deadline. For each contract, state vendor, contract value, end date, notice deadline, owner when available, and source. If a clause, owner, or date is missing, identify that gap rather than inferring it. Do not use unrelated spend reports as proof of contract terms.

Use realistic instructions that state what evidence is required and what the Specialist should do when source data is missing. Do not ask it to infer facts that are not present in an approved source.

Reference Data Sources and tools

In specialist instructions, admins can reference both Data Sources and Tools using @.

Reference

Purpose

Example

Data Source

Exposes governed saved-report data such as spend or contracts

Use contracts source for expiry and notice dates

Tool

Provides a supported action or calculation capability

Use the appropriate available tool when the task requires it

Use the @ picker to select the available resource by its configured name where supported. Describe when to use it, not only which resource exists. Do not cite a source that does not contain the requested fact.

Add conversation starters

  1. Open Conversation Starters.

  2. Enter a realistic request within the Specialist's scope.

  3. Select Add and repeat as needed.

  4. Select Save.

Use examples with a clear measure, time period, and dimension where relevant. For example: Which contracts need renewal decisions in the next 90 days?

Use a Specialist in Ask Yarken

  1. Open Ask Yarken.

  2. Enter @ in the chat composer and choose the relevant Specialist from the menu.

  3. Ask a question with a clear scope, period, and metric. For example: Which cloud services had the largest spend increase in September?

  4. Check the result against the corresponding report or cited document.

Choose the Specialist that owns the question's domain. If the request crosses domains, start with the Specialist responsible for the primary decision or metric.

Test and maintain

  1. Ask one question within the Specialist's domain and one outside its domain.

  2. Check sources, permissions, figures, time periods, and any missing-data explanations.

  3. Confirm restricted records remain restricted and the Specialist does not invent unsupported amounts, dates, owners, or other facts.

  4. Review instructions if the Specialist selects unrelated Data Sources or offers unsupported advice.

  5. Use Deactivate when it should no longer be available but configuration must remain for later reactivation.

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