From portal-hopping to instant answers: HEMA’s journey with MCP and Amazon Bedrock

HEMA, a Dutch retailer, built HAL, an internal AI assistant on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore that uses Model Context Protocol to give teams governed answers within the tools they already use.

By AIWI EditorialReviewed by Chayanika DivekarAI-assisted summary · human-reviewed1 min readPublished Sep 23, 2026

Single source1 source

Reality Check

Availability: Availability unclear
Hype-o-meter: Some hype
Who it's for: Enterprises · Developers · Platform Engineers
Do this now: Review how MCP and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore can embed governed knowledge into your existing developer tools.
Claims check: Describes a specific internal deployment; broader availability and outcomes are not detailed in the input.
Corroboration: Single source · 1 source

Key Takeaways

HEMA built an internal AI assistant called HAL on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
HAL uses Model Context Protocol to deliver governed knowledge in existing tools
No AWS credentials sit on the client side
Security is anchored in Microsoft Entra ID

HEMA, a 100-year-old Dutch retailer, built an internal AI assistant named HAL to replace developers switching between portals with direct answers. The assistant runs on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to surface governed knowledge within the tools teams already use.

The implementation keeps AWS credentials off the client side and anchors security in Microsoft Entra ID.

Why it matters

The approach illustrates how an enterprise can embed governed AI assistance into existing developer workflows rather than requiring separate portals, while maintaining identity-based access controls.

Who should care

Enterprise developer teams, platform engineers, and organizations evaluating Amazon Bedrock AgentCore or MCP for internal knowledge delivery may find this case relevant.

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Sources & Further Reading

From portal-hopping to instant answers: HEMA’s journey with MCP and Amazon Bedrock — AWS Machine Learning Blog · Sep 23, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What platform does HAL run on?

HAL is built on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and uses the Model Context Protocol.

How is security handled?

Security is anchored in Microsoft Entra ID, with no AWS credentials stored on the client.

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