How PAIR is Empowering Humans to Work Better with Artificial Intelligence
Why Brixton Warehouse for Your Content Creation?
What brought you to Brixton Warehouse for filming your content?
As we pivoted from education to the private sector, we needed to refresh our videos. We wanted a backdrop that added professionalism and stood out. The photos on the Brixton Warehouse site caught my eye, and after a great chat with Jacob, I felt it was the right fit. We ended up filming nearly 100 videos there over a very busy few weeks in January.
What is PAIR? Understanding the Human–AI Partnership
Can you introduce us to PAIR and explain what makes your approach unique?
We believe the way humans work with AI will be one of the defining challenges—and opportunities—of the next few decades. These tools are powerful, but their impact depends on how people use them.
We chose the name PAIR to reflect our philosophy: AI isn’t the main character, people are. Our mission is to pair human empathy, nuance, and creativity with AI’s ability to process data, generate text, code, and imagery.
“We wanted to build a company that empowers people to harness AI, while keeping humans at the centre.”
From Medicine to Military to AI: An Unconventional Journey
Your career path has been unconventional—from RAF service to government advisory roles. What lessons from your military experience still guide you?
I’ve always invested deeply in what I’m passionate about. At medical school, I did just enough on subjects I didn’t enjoy, but I poured myself into a research project on neural networks—the foundation of modern AI.
That led me to the RAF, where I wasn’t a doctor for long. Instead, I built healthcare apps that used AI to help diagnose illnesses. Eventually, I left a promising military career—taking seven and a half months unpaid—to start this company. It was a risk, but I was passionate about giving people the skills to harness AI.
Inside Number 10: Bringing Data Science to Government
You advised the government at Number 10. What was that role, and how did it shape your thinking?
In 2020, I joined Number 10 after Dom Cummings’s call for “misfits and weirdos” with data skills. The aim was to make decision-making more evidence-based.
I became a founding member of the data science team, building capability at the centre of government. It was an exciting but tough 18 months—before ChatGPT, when GPT-3 had only just launched. I actually left the month before ChatGPT came out.
AI as Tool, Not Threat: Addressing Creative Industry Concerns
Many creatives see AI as a threat. What’s your perspective?
I can see why some would think that, but the genie is out of the bottle. AI isn’t going away.
And so my advice for creators is simple: experiment. Find where AI adds value to your workflows.
Right now, AI-generated images can still be a mixed bag – great human design can still outperform AI, and our Creative Lead Calum finds a lot of his role is curating the best AI-generated content. And sometimes you won’t want to use AI because you enjoy the craft. I know AI could probably write my LinkedIn better, but I like writing them and I gain something from the process, too.
So start by using AI for the tasks you dislike—whether that be accounts, marketing posts, admin—so you can focus on what you love or are uniquely positioned to do.
AI for Startup Founders: Multitasking Made Easier
How can AI help founders who wear many hats?
We’ve used AI to help us with almost everything—accountancy, contracts, hiring processes, compensation, marketing, and go-to-market strategy planning. It’s touched almost every part of building the business.
You can’t be an expert in everything. AI levels you up and acts as a critical thought partner. I still use it almost every hour of every day.
Applied AI Skills at Scale: What Does It Really Mean?
Your tagline is “Applied AI skills at scale.” What does that mean in practice?
“Applied AI skills” means practical use. Too much AI training focuses on algorithms, risks, and governance. Important, yes—but not useful for day-to-day work.
We teach people how to apply AI: writing more effectively, researching faster, generating ideas, and creating imagery. It’s about helping people do their best work, quicker.
“At scale” means we usually work with larger organisations—government departments, corporations, chambers of commerce. We also support small businesses, but usually through chambers that resell licences to our platform.
Getting Teams to Actually Use AI
How do you ensure organisations apply AI, not just learn about it?
If you show people a tool that saves them time, they rarely go back. The problem with most training is generic, irrelevant examples.
On PAIR, users enter their role and company, and we generate them personalised activities that are immediately relevant to their role, and provide them with automated feedback.
Certification takes two to three hours, and on average, users save 2.7 hours every week afterwards. Once people see the ROI, adoption takes care of itself.
The Human Touch: Why Real Presenters Matter
Why film your content in person instead of using AI?
Authenticity. Quality-wise, AI video isn’t there yet, and even if it were, human accountability matters.
If I teach something wrong, people can email me or leave a review. If the training is excellent, I’m accountable for that too.
Being able to look someone in the eye, stand behind your work, and put your face to it—that matters. I believe in what we do, so I wanted my face on the training.
The Vision: Building Impact, Not Just Numbers
What’s the ambition for PAIR?
We don’t have a magic financial target. What drives us is impact—the satisfaction of building something people actually use.
One teacher told me PAIR was like a book she couldn’t put down. She went on to found her own AI startup. A pharmaceutical supervisor in his 50s is now his company’s full-time AI lead after taking our course.
That kind of impact is addictive. We just want to keep building something that makes a real difference.
Getting Started: Practical AI Advice for Creatives and Small Businesses
What’s your advice for people just starting their AI journey?
Day one: pick one AI tool and stick with it—probably ChatGPT, unless you already have access to Copilot, Claude, or Gemini.
Then either get certified through a programme like ours, or set yourself 5–10 mini-projects. Start with the five tasks you dislike most—accounts, job specs, whatever. Try AI for all five. It’ll be brilliant at one, bad at another, okay at the rest.
Next, pick five things you think AI can’t do. Try them anyway—prototyping, data analysis, image analysis. You may be surprised.
The key is action. Don’t get paralysed by options. Start simple, start practical, solve real problems—and repeat the experiment six months later to see how far AI has come.
PAIR offers masterclasses to help individuals and organisations harness AI for practical, everyday applications. Learn more about their approach to human–AI collaboration on their website, follow them on Instagram, and connect with PAIR on LinkedIn. You can also try their free introductory course to start building applied AI skills today.