Before ChatGPT. Before "AI transformation." Before every consultancy added "AI" to their PowerPoints...
De Montfort University, 2011
I was teaching neural networks to perform music. My final year project at De Montfort University was called "The 'Living' Electronic Performer" - an AI system that generated audio-visual performances using neural networks. This was 2011. My professors thought I was mad. The system thought in frequencies and colors. We performed together, the machine and I, creating something neither of us could produce alone.
That's when I learned the truth about AI: it's not about replacing humans. It's about amplifying what makes us irreplaceable.
From 2013-2019, I learned two critical lessons: resistance to technology isn't about capability, it's about fear (convincing 200+ schools to adopt iPads at KRCS), and machines spot patterns humans miss (building ML fraud detection at Circle & Poloniex that improved accuracy 40% and reduced false positives 25%). For years after, I helped 15+ companies across every industry imaginable understand their users and solve real problems. Good, honest product management work achieving 30% average operational efficiency gains. But something was missing.
Tutorless: The Proof
When LLMs arrived, I didn't write think-pieces. I built Tutorless - an AI tutoring platform that could teach mathematics with the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a library.
Everything automated: Marketing. Content creation. Customer support. Worksheet generation. Even the tutoring itself. One founder with AI doing the work of a 12-person tutoring agency.
Real students. Real learning. Real impact.
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Proof Sprint: £2,950 | 5 days | Working prototype with YOUR data
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That's when the calls started. "Can you do for us what you did for education?" Manufacturing, legal, property, recruitment - every SME facing the same challenge: They knew AI could transform their business. They just didn't know how to start.
The consultancies were circling, promising "AI transformation journeys" and "digital maturity assessments." Six months and £400k to tell them what I could see in three days.
So I founded Twisthand Intelligence. Named after Nottingham's industrial revolutionaries who operated complex machinery with simple, precise movements. Because that's what AI transformation really is - finding the right lever and knowing exactly how to pull it.
Why Twisthand?
Our office sits in a former lace mill in Nottingham's historic Lace Market - where the Industrial Revolution transformed textile production. The revolutionary lace-making machines of the 1800s used simple lever controls to operate 17 tons of machinery with 40,000 moving parts.
The skilled operators were called "twisthands" - craftspeople who mastered these impossibly complex machines through years of apprenticeship. One twisthand with the right machine could produce what hundreds of hand-workers couldn't. The complexity was in the machinery, not in hiring more hands.
That's our entire philosophy. We don't add more consultants to your problem. We build you the right machine and show you exactly how to operate it. Simple controls. Complex results. You become the twisthand of your own transformation.
"From Nottingham's lace looms to modern AI systems - the principle endures: mastery over machinery beats manpower every time."
Our office in Nottingham's historic Lace Market - where innovation meets heritage
What This Means For Your Business
When you work with Twisthand, you're not getting a consultant who talks about AI. You're getting:
- 14+ years of hands-on AI experience - from neural networks to modern LLMs
- Proven track record - 15+ organizations transformed, 70% average cost reduction
- Real implementation expertise - built and scaled Tutorless to 100 students with 95% satisfaction
- Nottingham base = no London overheads - 2 hours from Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds. On-site same day when needed.
- Direct founder access - no account managers, no juniors learning on your project
- Systems you own and operate - we build it, train you, then you run it independently
What I Believe
I believe every business has a process that could be 10x better with AI. Not should be. Could be. Today. With current technology.
I believe the difference between companies that thrive and those that merely survive won't be size or funding. It'll be who found their leverage point first.
I believe you should see a working prototype on Day 2, not a PowerPoint on Month 6. I believe your invoice processing should cost £0.30, not £12. I believe London consultancies charging £2,000/day should show results, not just analysis.
Most importantly, I believe SMEs deserve the same transformative power as enterprises - without the enterprise theatre.
"I'm still that student teaching neural networks to make music. Only now, I'm teaching businesses to make magic."
The Work Continues
These days, I split my time between building solutions and building capabilities. Five days to prove it works. Two weeks to build it properly. No armies. No committees. Just one creative technologist who's been making machines do unexpected things for over a decade.
The tools have evolved - from neural networks to LLMs, from Max/MSP to n8n, from academic experiments to production systems serving real users. But the principle remains the same: Technology should amplify human capability, not replace it.
Every business I work with gets the same thing: someone who's been on both sides of transformation. Who's convinced skeptics and built believers. Who knows that the best AI solution is the one that's actually running, not the one that's theoretically optimal.