Sam is Fountain's AI Talent Agent, the Satisfaction Manager. Sam turns workforce pulse checks into action: it calls workers at key moments in their journey, captures honest feedback in a real two-way conversation, and works with Cue to surface what needs attention next. Rather than reading from a script, Sam adapts to what the worker says, follows up on anything unresolved, and closes every call on a supportive note.

To set up Sam you need admin access in Fountain and the Talent Agents product enabled on your account. The Sam workspace has three tabs:

This article will focus on the Surveys tab.

Each check-in is called a survey: a specific conversation Sam conducts with a worker at a particular milestone. You can activate as many or as few as you want. On the Surveys tab, the available templates are organized under All surveys, Active, and Inactive.

Activating a survey is a staged process: turning it on doesn't make it go live right away, so you have a chance to review everything first.

When you activate a survey, Sam automatically creates a pre-configured segment for it. Each survey has its own default: for example, Exit interview targets workers whose termination date is tomorrow, and the milestone check-ins are based on start date and employment status.

For example, the Post first day check-in uses the Day 1 Milestone segment: "Workers whose employment status is Active and whose start date was exactly 1 day ago." A copy of the segment is saved with the survey when you activate it, and it appears under Settings → Segments.

You can keep the default segment or change it before going live:

Make your changes and click Save. Sam uses Fountain's automation center to send notifications based on these conditions.

On a survey card, open the ⋮ menu and choose Edit (or click Edit directly), then click Edit on the Trigger row. This opens the survey's installation editor as a full page.

The editor has three blocks:

Each trigger row has its own edit and delete icons. Click Add under Trigger to pick a condition from the menu: when a worker enters or exits a segment, is created, deleted, or updated, or when a worker's attribute, job, location, Onboard status, or status changes.

Choosing "When a worker enters or exits a segment" opens a panel where you pick Enters segment or Leaves segment and choose the segment from a dropdown, for example 30-Day Milestone, 60-Day Milestone, 90-Day Milestone, Day 1 Milestone, Day 7 Milestone, All Workers, All new hires starting in 3 days, All recently departed workers, or All workers whose termination date is tomorrow.

Filters work the same way: click Add under Filters for a menu of conditions, such as only if a worker's attribute, job, location, Onboard status, segment, or status matches, or only if an applicant's attribute or stage matches, or only if the worker matches a dataset.

Click Save to apply your changes.

To adjust what Sam asks, open the survey (⋮ → Edit, or Edit on the card). The survey page shows the Trigger, Questions, and Custom instructions together, with Test and Save at the top right.

The Questions box holds one question per line. For example, the Post first day check-in ships with:

Edit the wording, add a question, or remove one that isn't relevant to your workers, for example a badge, locker, or uniform question. Keep the list focused: three to five substantive questions per call. Sam fills in the gaps with natural follow-up probes, so you don't need to script every angle.

Use the Custom instructions box to tell Sam anything it should say or handle a specific way during the call. For example: "During the introduction, mention that you only speak English and apologize if it's not their preferred language."

Click Save when you're done, then republish.

Use the Test button at the top right of the survey page to hear the conversation yourself before it reaches workers.

Before you can test, prepare a test worker:

Then, on the survey page:

Each survey card has a ⋮ menu with Edit, Pause, and Uninstall.