Funds for Firm Tapping Staff Savvy for AI Roadmap

London-based Ares Intelligence has landed £2.48 million in funding, with which to expand its team and find new customers. The firm uses an AI interviewer to talk to all the employees of a client company, then outputs a roadmap for implementing AI to save time and money.

Founders Matt Falconer and Alfie Ranstead aim to address the problem of companies wanting to automate but not knowing where to begin. Working with employees at all levels and not just top management means the tool can identify where staff are using manual workarounds or unapproved AI tools, and where tasks pass inefficiently between them. Ares' process keeps employee input confidential, with controls to mask names, voices and - where they potentially identify individuals - job functions.

According to www.eu-startups.com , one customer, Mercedes-Benz spin-out Tremonia, used Ares' AI interviewer to gather the inputs of 'everyone from senior leadership to the paint shop floor' and found more than 400 hours of avoidable manual work per month, within four weeks.

'The people doing the work every day have a huge amount of knowledge about where AI could make a difference,' says Falconer, 'but they're rarely asked. Ares gives them a voice across departments, countries and languages, and turns what they share into a practical plan. This funding helps us expand and bring that approach to more businesses.'

Backers for this round included Creandum, Lakestar and angel investors connected to Google DeepMind.

The company is online at www.aresintelligence.ai .