ActivateAI: From Hype to Hands-On at the Millennium Forum
On 25 March, we brought ActivateAI: From Hype to Hands-On to the Millennium Forum in Derry, and the message from the room was clear: when you put practical tools, real stories and peer support around founders and SMEs, AI stops being hype and starts becoming hands on in delivering improvements in productivity.
ActivateAI is AwakenHub’s regional pilot to help entrepreneurs and SMEs move beyond “I’ve heard of AI” to “we’re actually using this inside our organisation.” Over several months, participants have been testing tools, redesigning workflows and applying AI directly to improve productivity, competitiveness and growth. The Showcase was our chance to share what they’ve learned, highlight real business impacts and open the door for many more organisations to start their own AI journey.
This project is part of the UK-wide Regional Tech Booster programme, funded by the UK Government through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in partnership with the UK Tech Cluster Group, with AwakenHub delivering the only Northern Ireland pilot, alongside local ecosystem partners.
Fireside Chat with Russ Shaw CBE Global Tech Advocates
Russ Shaw’s fireside conversation with Clare McGee helped pull the whole ActivateAI story into a much bigger frame, showing founders in the room that what they are doing in Northern Ireland sits inside a genuinely global AI moment. By contrasting the approaches of the US, China and fast‑moving markets like Nigeria and Indonesia, he underlined that Northern Ireland doesn’t need to copy anyone, but it does need to be acutely aware of the geopolitical race and clear about where it wants to compete. He positioned the UK as the world’s third major AI hub, highlighted the scale of new investment and initiatives like the AI Action Plan, Tech First and the Tech Prosperity Plan, and challenged local businesses to “show up” and claim their share of that opportunity rather than assuming it will bypass them. Perhaps most importantly for our audience, Russ translated national policy into something practical: free skills programmes, routes into funding, and a strong signal that the work being done through ActivateAI in Northern Ireland is exactly the kind of applied adoption story global investors and policymakers want to see.
Optik AI: Go‑to‑Market Innovation with Global Ambition
Alongside that global lens, Ciaran Ryan from Optik AI grounded the conversation in local ambition and execution. He shared his founder journey of building an AI‑powered go‑to‑market platform from Derry, emphasising how real customer problems on data quality and visibility, have shaped the product, and how AI enables a small team to compete on a global stage. His plans to scale into the US market underlined one of the day’s core themes: world‑class, AI‑driven companies can be built from Northern Ireland and grown outwards to the world.
From real examples to real impact
Throughout the morning, our focus stayed firmly on practice, not theory. We heard how AI is already at work in established firms, from using computer vision to cut repetitive paperwork and speed up on-site jobs, to automating document review in highly regulated environments, to unlocking value from huge content archives that were previously impossible to navigate. These are the kinds of applications that free up people’s time, improve accuracy and create space for better decision-making.
In our first panel, Clare Ryan (ITUS Secure Technologies), Darren Laverty (Seating Matters), Leeann Monk (Hard Yards) and Mark Johnston (Johnston Financial Solutions) shared how they are using AI inside established organisations to drive productivity, resilience and smarter operations.
We were joined by Tadhg Hickey and Bronagh Lanigan from the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC) who shared excellent examples of AI implemented in local businesses across Northern Ireland
In the second panel, founders Omodono Emretane (EmrethinQ), Mary Blake (SeeMe), Su Jean Ng (Journley) and Abi George (CareO) showed what it looks like to build with AI from day one using it as a force multiplier for product development, content, customer discovery and operations, often without big budgets or large teams behind them. Across both conversations, the emphasis stayed on what’s working, what’s hard and what they’d do differently knowing what they know now.
Thank you to our speakers and exhibitors
Events like this only work when people are generous with their experience. A huge thank you to our MC, speakers, panellists, case-study contributors and every founder who was willing to say “this is what really happened in our business.”
We also want to recognise all of the exhibitors in our Demo Arcade who brought AI and digital support to life on the day, showcasing solutions, funded programmes and very real help that businesses can tap into right now.
Shout out to our facilitators!
Activate AI was delivered by AwakenHub and supported by Catalyst, Ulster Bank and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC). A huge shout out to our expert facilitators Mara Bolis Louise Brogan Martin Spiller Tadhg Hickey and J. Kelly Hoey for their expertly curated design of their session content. They brought brilliant energy and shared practical takeaways at each session which really brought the content to life for the participants.
Where to go next: support you can access now
One of the strongest messages from ActivateAI is that there is already substantial support available across the North West and wider region.
If you’re ready to take the next step, here are three places to start:
E-Data Project – PEACEPLUS-funded support helping businesses grow digital capability through free one-to-one mentoring and transformation support.
NorthWest DEPTH (NWRC) – Funded digital, data and AI skills training from Level 1–5, open to individuals and employers through to 2029.
Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC) – Northern Ireland’s new centre for responsible AI adoption, offering fully funded AI consultancy, training, and links into world-leading university research.
Between these programmes and the wider ecosystem, there is genuinely no shortage of help, the challenge now is getting more businesses through the door and turning that support into practical, measurable change.
Looking ahead
ActivateAI has always been about more than a single programme. It’s about building shared capability across the region so that AI becomes something businesses use, not just something they talk about.
We’re incredibly proud of what this first cohort has achieved and excited to see how the learning, toolkit and networks created through ActivateAI will ripple out into many more organisations in the months ahead.
If you’d like to explore the Activate AI Toolkit or keep up with future opportunities, visit awakenhub.com and share the resources with any business that’s ready to move from hype to hands-on.
