What a first AI project needs to reach everyday use

We treat a first project as ready for everyday use when it covers one named task from start to finish. The task repeats, it has a clear input and output, and someone inside the business owns the result.

For example, in our own projects, a trade business now prepares quotes in 20 minutes compared with half a day previously, and first response to enquiries went from 4 hours to under 90 seconds. Each result covers a single task in one business.

A pilot shows that a tool can do a task. A working system does the task as part of the normal process: it connects to the systems the business already uses, someone checks its output, and someone owns it.

We scope each build around a named task and the systems it connects to. We agree who owns the output before handover and document how it works, so others can run it when the person who set it up moves on.

This work suits owners who already use AI tools themselves and do not have an engineering team to build something across the business.

Our industry pages give examples of AI use in legal services, finance and accountancy, estate and property, trade businesses, retail and healthcare, with the checks that apply in each sector.

Business Wales runs funded skills programmes and business support for businesses in Swansea, so check current eligibility with Business Wales. Our page on AI funding in Wales explains what to check.

The Swansea Bay City Deal funds investment programmes in the region, including digital infrastructure and premises for digital businesses. These programmes are infrastructure investment and do not pay for an individual business's AI project.

A business that wants a working system pays for the build itself, unless a programme it qualifies for covers part of the cost.