What a room full of businesses taught us about AI at the West Wiltshire Business Expo
Jess and Dan at the West Wiltshire Business Expo, The Civic, Trowbridge.
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Last week we spent the day at the West Wiltshire Business Expo at The Civic in Trowbridge, and what a day it was. We met so many lovely people: business owners, makers, advisers and organisers, all with a story to tell and all keen to help each other grow.
We joined the AI workshop, and the most striking thing was the room itself. It was full. A room full of people who want to adopt AI, ask good questions and work out what it really means for their business. A year or two ago, that conversation would have been half the size.
A chatbot and an AI agent are not the same thing
One of the key ideas from the workshop was the difference between a large language model (the "brain" behind chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude) and an AI agent. It's something we feel very strongly about, because it changes what's possible.
A chatbot
You type a question, it gives you an answer. Useful, but you still do the work: copying, pasting, checking and stitching it all together.
An AI agent
Uses that same "brain" as a tool, then actually does the job: builds the workflow, writes the code, makes the website, sets up the system, and reports back.
Used this way, AI stops being a clever chat window and becomes a team of tools working for you. With an agent you can create:
- unique workflows that fit the way your business actually runs;
- software and websites, without writing a line of code yourself;
- management systems, CRMs and dashboards built around your customers.
And you don't need to know how any of it is built. You simply talk to your agent, conversationally, from your phone. Send a voice note on the way to a meeting, and the work is done by the time you arrive.
Getting even better results
Once you're comfortable, you can take it further. Reverse prompting means asking the agent to question you first, so it fully understands what you need before it starts. Cross-referencing means having the work checked against other sources, or a second AI, so you can trust what comes back. Small habits like these turn good results into great ones.
Want to learn how?
This is exactly what we cover in our two-day training course: how to build, use and improve your own AI agent, with no technical background needed. You own everything you build, and you're not tied to one AI company.
See the two-day courseGet in touchDragons' Den: Wiltshire entrepreneurs pitching
One of the highlights was the Dragons' Den, sponsored by SWIG Finance. Wiltshire entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of "dragons" for advice and feedback: Carey Tesler (Chair, Trowbridge Chamber), Nick Jenkins (BBC Dragon and founder of Moonpig), Monty George (co-founder, Furniturebox) and Joanna Jensen (founder of Childs Farm and angel investor).
The pitches, and the £1,000 SWIG Finance prize for the Dragons' Den entrepreneurs.
It was genuinely inspiring to watch people stand up and share their ideas with such passion. And it made us think: every one of those businesses could use AI to move faster, reach more customers and do more with less. We really do believe AI can help everybody.
Thank you, Trowbridge
A huge thank you to everyone who put on the day, and to everyone who stopped to chat with us. We made some really great connections and learnt a lot. We'll see you at the next one!
Jess and Dan, ThinkQuantum