Maine business school students Connor Daigle (right) and his teammates Paige Martin (center) and Gracie Coker (left) won the Sherwin Williams Eastern Division Internship Competition for the chatbot service they designed for the company. Photo courtesy of Connor Daigle.
Business Student will co-develop Sherwin-Williams award-winning AI chatbot
When Union's Conor Daigle attended a career event at a Maine business school, he didn't expect him to lead him to top tier internships and award-winning team projects.
Daigle, which doubles marketing and business information systems and security management, won the Sherwin Williams Eastern Division Internship Competition with a chatbot service designed for the company.
The competition, held on August 1 in Westchester, Pennsylvania, brought together top intern teams from the North, Central, South and Eastern regions. Daigle and his teammates, Page Martin of Michigan State and Gracie Corker of Salisbury University, took first place in their innovative projects. A customer service chatbot powered by AI designed to enhance digital engagement and streamline support across the Sher-Williams platform.
“We've found the current chatbots on the Sherwin-Williams website are difficult to use and lack the functionality our customers expect,” said Daigle, who intern at a store in Rockland, Maine.
After analyzing the challenges customers experienced and comparing solutions from competitors, the team realized there was a great opportunity to improve their online experience. Sherbot was their solution.
“We designed a more intuitive, AI-powered chatbot that provides faster and more accurate responses while operating 24/7, breaking down language barriers and generating up to nine times the monthly revenue costs,” says Daigle.
The project combined customer insights, competitor analysis, return on investment (ROI) forecasts and a five-year implementation roadmap. Juries, including Curt Kaucher, president of Sherwin-Williams' Eastern Division, praised the team's professionalism, clear communication and data-driven approach.
“It was a huge victory,” said Anisa Fensin, Maine's Sherwin Williams district manager. “Connor and his teammates found blind spots in their customer engagement strategies and brought AI-driven solutions to the table in a timely manner. Their research and presentations were outstanding.
For Daigle, a student-athlete on Umaine's cross-country and track and field teams, the experience was offered far more than a summer internship. It helped him hone his ability to lead, communicate and analyze the skills he brings to his fourth year at the University of Maine and beyond.
“I decided to intern at Sherwin-Williams due to the company's strong reputation for leadership development and commitment to employee growth,” he said. “The practical experience I had this summer has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”
“Sherwin-Williams has been around for over 150 years, and many of our employees are staying for a long time,” Fensin says. “Our interns bring a fresh perspective and really value their contribution.”
The Sherwin-Williams Internship is a paid 10-week program that combines students with store managers, mentors and fellow interns to tackle high-impact projects. It is one of the many internship opportunities that employers offer to students across the state, working with Maine Business School. Find out more about these opportunities on the school's website.
Contact: Melanie Brooks, Melanie.brooks@maine.edu
