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There are few businesses that were barely affected by the pandemic and the lockdown it has caused. Some didn’t even survive, however a surprising number of companies used the challenges and difficulties to not only survive themselves, but to help others out as well. Keep on reading to learn which ones they were.
GoSmarter: Automating Operations - link no longer works
- GoSmarter originated from Nightingale HQ. The company helps organizations integrate AI and automation into their operations to save time and money, making them, therefore, more efficient.
- GoSmarter is a set of six AI-powered tools which automate manual tasks and processes. These include, for example, social listening, robotic process automation and invoice processing.
- Founders Steph Locke and Ruth Kearny were aware that many businesses were forced to let employees go, understaffed or simply couldn’t afford this kind of support.
- With the free tool, they hope to help businesses adapt more quickly and efficiently in order to make it through the pandemic.
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FAQs
Why the GoSmarter story was included?
The publication that featured GoSmarter was documenting businesses that had not just survived the pandemic but had actively helped others during it. GoSmarter — then operating under the Nightingale HQ brand — was included because of a specific decision: to make its AI tools free during the crisis, funded by an Innovate UK grant, rather than using the disruption as a commercial opportunity.
That decision reflected the values of the company’s founders. Ruth Kearney and Steph Locke built GoSmarter because they wanted AI to be accessible to businesses that could not normally afford it. The pandemic created an urgent case for that mission. Making the tools free was not a marketing strategy — it was the obvious thing to do given the circumstances and the available funding.
What did GoSmarter do during the pandemic?
GoSmarter’s six free tools launched between July and August 2020, covering social listening, FAQ chatbots, meeting productivity, sales AI, invoice processing, and robotic process automation. Each was designed to be adopted quickly by a business with limited technical resource.
The tools were used by businesses across retail, hospitality, and manufacturing — sectors that had been hit hardest by COVID-19 restrictions and that needed to adapt their operations quickly. For many of these businesses, GoSmarter was their first direct experience of AI as a practical business tool rather than a concept.
What is the longer-term impact?
The pandemic accelerated digital adoption by several years. Businesses that had resisted automation because ‘we’ve always done it this way’ found themselves with no choice but to do things differently. GoSmarter helped some of those businesses make the transition — and in doing so, built a customer base and a reputation that outlasted the crisis.
The GoSmarter platform has evolved significantly since 2020, refocusing on metals manufacturing as the sector where AI can make the greatest practical difference. But the core principle — AI that works for businesses that are not technology companies — has remained constant.