When Ben Kolp...
When Ben Kolp, co-founder of The Living Room Coworking (TLR) in Málaga, started automating internal processes back in 2019, he had no idea he was creating a future award-winning team member.
It began with tools like Zapier, Mailchimp and OfficeRnD, used to sync bookings, emails, and calendars across TLR’s coworking operations. Over time, those workflows stacked up – and started to feel oddly… human.
“At some point, it just felt like we had another employee,” Ben recalls. “So we gave it a name.”
The Origins of Ken Bensley: Not Just Code, But Culture
That name came from a spontaneous joke. Ben and an intern named Wesley were standing at the front desk when a cheerful coworker walked in and greeted them, “Good morning, Bensley!” A mash-up of their names. It stuck. Add in another team member named Koen, and suddenly, the name Ken Bensley was born.
Soon after, this invisible automation tool was sending emails with a signature:
Ken Bensley – the world’s fastest community manager.
“We even gave him a face,” Ben laughs. “When we redid the website, I added him to the team page. If we’re calling him a teammate, he deserved a picture.”
That mix of humor, creativity, and humanity would later shape the next chapter of Ken’s evolution – and it’s exactly what Pro AI Assistant helped bring to life.
The Real Problem: Interns, Manuals, and Too Many Questions
Like many coworking spaces, TLR works with interns who rotate every few months. Onboarding them meant endless hours of explaining the same things: tools, procedures, community policies.
“They’d start and have no idea what a coworking space even is, let alone what a community manager does,” Ben says. “We had a few hundred pages of the operations manual – but who’s going to read that?”
Despite his tech-savvy background, Ben knew the problem wasn’t just technical. The real issue was making internal knowledge usable, scalable, and accessible.
That’s when he discovered the idea of turning internal documentation into a conversational assistant.
“Even though I’m comfortable with IT, I’m not an AI expert. Pro AI Assistant said, ‘We can build this for you.’ So we gave it a go.”
From AI to Working Tool: More Than Just Training a Model
Pro AI Assistant didn’t just help train a chatbot. They built a fully functioning solution.
Working with Ben, their team collected hundreds of internal documents and thousands of emails – all the fragmented knowledge that usually lives in people’s heads or scattered folders. They cleaned the data, anonymized, structured it, and trained a model that could understand the TLR way of working – not just the facts, but the tone, priorities, and values.
But that was only half of it. They also developed a user-friendly interface that allowed TLR team members to interact with Ken in a clear and intuitive way.
Ben noted that the solution needed to be not only technically smart, but also intuitive for the team to use. Pro AI Assistant delivered the full solution – both the AI training and the actual UI to talk to it.
“Pro AI Assistant didn’t just drop the files into a system. They went through thousands of emails, cleaned the data, structured it carefully, and trained it properly,” Ben says. “There was so much human intelligence involved. Julija, founder of Pro AI Assistant, always explained everything clearly, step by step.”
The tool is now integrated into the team’s daily workflow. They can ask Ken questions instead of interrupting managers. Knowledge is accessible on demand – without having to dig through a giant PDF or chase down someone who 'knows.'
A Test That Felt… Human
One of the earliest moments that proved Ken’s value came not from logistics, but from emotion.
“We asked how we should deal with a situation, where a dear member of ours had to cancel – someone who was let go from their job and needed to step away. Ken suggested giving them a temporary free membership – so they could stay connected to the community.”
That suggestion wasn’t in the operations manual. It came from the tone, empathy, and mindset reflected in years of internal communications – the data Ken was trained on.
This experience showed how deeply Ken had absorbed the tone and values of the TLR team – not just the rules.
Saving Time. Empowering Humans.
With AI Ken active, interns and team members don’t have to rely on memory, repetitive conversations, or long reading sessions to get answers.
“We used to repeat ourselves constantly. Now, we’ve freed up time for what matters: talking to members, building relationships… even playing ping pong.”
Ken also breaks down knowledge silos. Instead of only one or two people knowing how to do certain things, everyone on the team has access to the same operational insight.
Working with Pro AI Assistant: Transparent, Professional, Trusted
Ben emphasizes that this wasn’t just a tool drop-off – it was a real collaboration.
“Pro AI Assistant was incredibly professional. They explained everything clearly, asked smart questions, and made us feel like we were in good hands.”
Early on, Pro AI Assistant also addressed concerns about runaway costs – helping TLR set up budget alerts and usage limits, giving the team peace of mind about scaling their AI usage safely.
“That transparency builds trust. We knew exactly what would cost what – and how to avoid surprises.”
Even with Ben’s own technical fluency, the project benefited from a dedicated expert team.
“I couldn’t have felt more comfortable, to be honest. If I imagined an AI consultant I could trust with this process and all this information — it would be Pro AI Assistant.”
Looking Ahead: Public-Facing Ken?
Ken is already helping TLR behind the scenes.
“If it works the way we think it will, I don’t see why we couldn’t also make Ken available externally one day.”
Ben is clear: if and when that happens, Pro AI Assistant will be part of it.
“I wouldn’t look anywhere else… I would definitely come back to Pro AI Assistant at any point in time.”
Final Thoughts: AI Isn’t a Threat — It’s a Teammate
Ben is clear about one thing: Ken isn’t replacing humans. It is empowering them.
“The more time we spend with members, the better. If AI can take the boring stuff off our plate – great. That’s not a threat, that’s freedom.”
And thanks to Pro AI Assistant, Ken isn’t just functional – he’s familiar. Smart, human-sounding, values-aligned, and deeply integrated into the way TLR works.
The Outcome
With the help of Pro AI Assistant, TLR didn’t just streamline operations. They created a digital teammate who embodies their culture – and it helped them win a national award for digital transformation and community.
Thanks to Pro AI Assistant, Ken evolved into something far more powerful than automation – a tool that helped win national recognition. And if you ever find yourself in Málaga, Spain — stop by the top coworking space and see the community in action: https://tlr-coworking.com/.