Quick Take
- ShopAI secured £750,000 from Haatch for conversational business intelligence platform
- Platform delivers 281% ROI by replacing traditional dashboards with natural language
- Jake AI deployment at The Wholesale Group demonstrates real-world application
- Per-platform pricing model contrasts with Microsoft’s per-user licensing approach
- Anti-hallucination architecture addresses key AI reliability concerns
Former Jisp executive transforms business intelligence with natural language interface
ShopAI has landed £750,000 in funding led by Haatch’s strategic investment positions the venture capital firm at the cutting edge of AI-driven data strategies. The move comes as businesses increasingly hunt for alternatives to dashboard-heavy systems that require technical expertise.
The startup, headed by former Jisp executive Ilann Hepworth, is ditching traditional dashboards in favor of natural language interfaces that show real returns. According to Hepworth, “Microsoft charges per person, we charge per platform. That’s the difference between improving old systems and creating new categories.” The comment highlights how ShopAI positions itself against established players in the market.
Anti-Hallucination Architecture Drives Reliability
ShopAI’s technology stands out through an architecture built specifically to stop AI hallucination – one of the biggest headaches in conversational AI systems. The platform lets users tap into complex data insights through text, voice, and video interactions. This removes the technical know-how that business intelligence tools typically demand.
This approach has proven essential for enterprise adoption. Data accuracy and reliability remain top concerns for decision-makers weighing AI-powered solutions.
Real-World Deployment Shows Market Validation
The Wholesale Group has already rolled out ShopAI’s technology through its Jake AI solution. The system targets wholesale members and supplier partners specifically. The implementation shows practical uses of conversational BI in industry settings, letting users query complex datasets using everyday language.
Tom Gittins, Joint Managing Director at The Wholesale Group, noted, “Unlike traditional BI tools that require technical expertise, Jake AI makes data access more conversational.” The comment underscores the operational impact.
Wholesale members and supplier partners can now access data insights without technical hurdles. This makes analytics available across the entire supply chain ecosystem.
Investment Signals Broader Market Shift
ShopAI’s per-platform pricing model offers potential cost benefits for organizations with large user bases. The approach contrasts sharply with traditional per-user licensing structures that can become expensive at scale.
Industry Transformation Through Human-AI Collaboration
The Jake AI deployment represents a wider shift toward boosting human expertise with artificial intelligence rather than replacing it entirely. This approach tackles enterprise concerns about AI adoption while delivering measurable productivity gains.
The substantial 281% ROI figures and successful early deployments show strong market validation for ShopAI’s conversational interface approach. The results address long-standing usability challenges that have limited business intelligence adoption across organizations.
Strategic Positioning for Growth
With Hepworth’s industry experience from Jisp and The Wholesale Group’s active deployment serving as a testing ground, ShopAI appears well-positioned to benefit from growing demand for accessible data analytics tools. The company’s focus on creating new product categories rather than incrementally improving existing solutions reflects a strategic understanding of market dynamics.
The funding round shows investor confidence in conversational AI applications for business intelligence. This comes as organizations prioritize democratizing data access across their operations while maintaining the reliability and accuracy essential for strategic decision-making.
