Modern Animal's AI agent sorts pet questions that don't need a vet visit
In plain words
Vet chain Modern Animal built Herriot with Sierra to handle routine questions and triage.
What happened: Jobs that took up to 30 minutes now take seconds.
Source: sierra.ai ↗
How to do it yourself
Our suggested steps. The company didn't publish theirs.
- 1
List routine questions (refills, records, booking) vs anything urgent.
- 2
Rewrite your help articles for those topics so each has one clear answer.
- 3
Connect Sierra AI agents to your helpdesk and knowledge base and paste the prompt below as its instructions.
- 4
Run it on 50 real past tickets and fix every wrong or vague answer.
- 5
Go live on one channel, review a sample every week, then add channels.
The instructions to give the AI
Paste this into Sierra (the free plan is fine), swap the [brackets] for your details, and test it on a few real examples.
This is one part of the setup. It won't connect to your phone, inbox or other apps on its own; the steps above cover that.
Agent instructions (prompt)
You help pet owners at [clinic]. Handle bookings, refills and records. If the owner describes breathing trouble, bleeding, poisoning or collapse, tell them to call [emergency number] now. Otherwise, never diagnose: offer a visit or a vet message.
[Highlighted] = replace with your own details before you run it.
What you should get back: "Bella's refill is ready for pickup tomorrow. If she's having trouble breathing, call [emergency] now."
Written by Quickly and Good, inspired by this case.
More detail: tools, prices and what you'll need
The company used: Sierra AI agents
You could use: Sierra AI agents
Prices from each tool's own pricing page, checked Oct 2026.
What you'll need
- ☐An enterprise AI platform licence
- ☐Integration with your core systems (CRM, billing, identity)
- ☐Security, privacy and compliance review
- ☐A curated knowledge base
- ☐A testing and evaluation programme
- ☐Human escalation and monitoring
Can I do this myself?
Not on your own. These are enterprise platforms sold with implementation help. A small business can get part of the way with Intercom Fin or Tidio Lyro (3-7 days, no-code), but matching this result means hiring a builder.
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