Applied Intelligence Ventures

AI that starts with people, not products.

Your business, process and workforce transformation partner. We understand what your organisation needs, then build responsible, people centred solutions that everyone can use.

Readiness snapshot
Day two
Your data Needs work

Three systems hold the same customer record. Fix that before anything else.

Your people Ready

Already using AI tools unofficially. The appetite is there, the permission is not.

Oversight Gaps

No one owns the decision when a tool gets something wrong.

What we told them: start with two workflows, not a platform. The cheaper answer was the right one.

AIV Diagnostic · two days

How we think

Three things we hold to.

01

Needs first

We diagnose before we prescribe. Sometimes the answer is simpler and cheaper, and that is fine.

02

Inclusive by design

Women, diverse voices and the digitally excluded are a thread through the work, not a bolt on.

03

Human led

Senior people, small teams, honest advice. We stay close to the work and the people doing it.

Things we help with

We do most of our work in six areas.

You probably do not need an AI department. You need a few specific jobs handled well, and these are the ones clients ask us for most.

01

AI strategy

Where AI fits your business, where it does not, and what to do first.

02

Policy and governance

Clear rules for how your people use AI, what is off limits, and who signs it off.

03

System builds

Tools, agents and automations built around how your team works, not how a vendor wishes they worked.

04

Diagnostics

A short, honest read on where you stand before anyone builds anything or signs a licence.

05

Dashboards and reporting

We turn scattered data into something a person can act on, in minutes rather than days.

06

Training and capability

Skills that stay with your people, from prompt workshops to accredited programmes.

If you are not sure which of these you need, start with the diagnostic.

What we do

Two ways in. One simple split.

If it can be government funded, that is Education. Everything else is AI Enablement. Same values, same people first approach, whichever door you come through.

Transformation

AI that earns its place in your business.

We help organisations understand and use AI properly, from a rapid diagnostic through to an embedded transformation partnership. Independent advice from senior people who deliver the work themselves.

  • AI diagnostics and strategy
  • Embedded transformation partnerships
  • The AI Academy for workforce capability

Clients includeNqual · High Performance · Code Institute

Explore AI Enablement
Funded programmes

Workforce development, fully funded.

We deliver AI qualifications and workplace training through funded and non funded routes, helping employers build capability and opening doors for people who might otherwise miss out.

  • AI Powered Business Analyst
  • AI and Automation Practitioner
  • Funded and non funded routes available

Clients includeWomenEd · The Belonging Effect · Wiser Academy · Peridot · Challenge TRG · Blackburn Central High School · Parkdean Resorts

Explore Education

How we work

We find what you need. Not what we want to sell.

Too often, conversations about AI begin with the technology. Ours begin with people, purpose and the problems worth solving. AIV starts by understanding your business, then recommends the right answer, even when it is simpler or cheaper than you expected.

01

Diagnose first

We work out what your business actually requires before recommending anything. Sometimes that is ambitious. Sometimes it is a simple fix, and that is fine.

02

Built for the overlooked

SMEs, smaller organisations and underrepresented groups are underserved by the large AI providers. They are exactly who we exist for.

03

Boutique and human led

Senior people, small teams, honest advice. We stay close to the work and to the people doing it.

Two colleagues working through a problem together at a screen

Inclusion

Nobody gets left behind.

AI is moving fast. Without care it will leave people behind: women underrepresented in tech, diverse voices missing from the room, and the digitally excluded locked out entirely.

We treat AI as a vehicle to bring those people forward, not a filter that screens them out. Inclusion is not a workstream at AIV. It is a thread that runs through everything we build, teach and advise on.

The point of applied intelligence is to widen the circle, not shrink it.

A diverse group of people using their phones and devices

Our stance

Ethics before everything.

Who you build with matters. We choose partners and technologies on the strength of their values as well as their capability. And we think the humans matter more than the models.

Values led technology

We preference AI partners who take safety and ethics seriously, like Anthropic, whose Claude models are built with responsibility at the core. The good guys of AI exist, and we choose to work with them.

Humans before models

Great AI implementation is a human discipline. Backgrounds in the humanities, philosophy and education often matter more than pure technical depth, because the hard questions are about people.

Honest advice

If the right answer is smaller, simpler or cheaper than you expected, that is the answer you will get. Our model only works if you can trust what we tell you.

Leadership

The leadership team.

You will be talking to the people who do the work, not an account manager.

Chris Thomason

Chris Thomason

Managing Director

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Yasmin Ariff

Yasmin Ariff

Education Director

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Adam Ariff

Adam Ariff

Commercial Director

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Myles Hughes

Myles Hughes

Director of AI Enablement

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Get in touch

Tell us what you're trying to do.

Not sure where to start with AI? That is exactly the conversation we are built for. No pitch and no jargon, just an honest look at what your business needs and how AI can work for everyone in it.