In 2023, a multidisciplinary team from VU, comprising experts in Creative Arts, Education, and IT, collaborated to address a challenge: the increasing number of students in the Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood was overwhelming staff with routine administrative inquiries. To tackle this, the team created the 'Welcome Room,' a conversational AI assistant embedded in a VU Collaborate widget. This chatbot leverages large language model technology to provide accurate and timely responses to student queries. Our research focuses on humanizing technology to develop warm and welcoming technology-mediated learning environments and tools. The project includes creative elements such as text responses, character/avatar design, and a soundtrack to enhance the user experience.