GenAI ‘fuelling wave of entrepreneurship’

The rise of generative artificial intelligence served by large language models could fuel a wave of entrepreneurship in the UK.

That’s the view of Matt Hammond, founder of Talk Think Do. He says the UK tech firm has seen a rise in demand for its AI services as entrepreneurs and startups across sectors are switching on to how the latest technology can enable business ideas.

The UK AI market is worth over £16.8 billion and is expected to grow to £802bn by 2035. According to government research, approximately one in six UK organisations now use at least one aspect of AI technology, with a variety of sectors and different sized companies adopting its use.

The businesses adopting the technology most prominently are IT & Telecommunications, finance, and legal; whilst the lowest adoption rates are found in the hospitality, health and retail sectors.

“While many companies are interested in exploring how GenAI can improve their operations, entrepreneurs are now seeing the technology as a basis for completely new businesses,” says the software architect.

One example in San Francisco is Nanonets, which recently completed a $29 million Series B funding round. Its technology automates time-consuming manual processes such as invoice processing and expenses management.

How are Manchester’s on-fire tech firms ‘engineering for growth’?

“It’s clear that the innovation and improved efficiencies AI creates for new businesses allow for startup companies like Nanonets to grow at a rapid pace, whose leveraging of AI has led to user numbers quadrupling over the past year,” said Hammond.

“A lot of people are looking at generative AI to build expert systems that draw on research and policy documentation to help guide and provide insight. We recently held a hackathon which did this: we created a proof-of-concept software that uses academic research and statistics to identify the physical and social health benefits of certain leisure activities so governments can assign funding in a more targeted manner.

“I have also seen examples of people using generative AI to try and prove the effectiveness of training.

“There are also specific use cases that work with the transcription of customer service calls to help train human agents. The software performs an analysis of responses, provides coaching and tips and also generates realistic simulated support queries.”

The impact of AI extends far beyond startups, says Hammond. Established US giants FedEx and Sprint now harness AI-driven predictive analysis to optimise customer retention strategies.

By identifying customers at risk of leaving and tailoring campaigns and communications to meet their needs, these companies are aiming to stay ahead in today’s competitive market landscape.

“Generative AI is likely to have the most significant impact on the workforce and how we function as a society,” said Hammond. “We’re already witnessing this on a grand scale as companies shift how they communicate with customers to improve proficiencies. The emergence of GenAI-powered tools is essentially revolutionising customer service, namely the rapid development of chatbots.

“GenAI is also used to summarise conversations between callers and customer agents, a process that once involved manual notetaking and a considerable amount of time. 

“By automating previously time-consuming tasks, companies can empower employees to focus on providing customers with valuable, bespoke insights. This allows businesses to deliver a superior service while also growing rapidly in many cases.

“As we navigate the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, one thing remains clear: the transformative potential of this technology for many businesses is unparalleled.”

Labour general election manifesto pledges to ‘drive innovation’