10112529PRODIGY - PB (Problem Resolution using Data Intelligence by Project Brains)ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKSkills drive the modern economy, yet 87% of UK businesses face skills shortages (McKinsey) to the tune of 2.5 million workers (L&WI) driving productivity challenges in the UK economy. For SMEs, skills issues start very early in the cycle, namely when they identify their business needs. SME managers and startup founders often lack specialised knowledge outside their core domain. They also lack extensive HR support. So they end up using generic job descriptions and attract mid-level, rather than specialist, talent. Failed recruitment costs the average UK SME ~£125k annually (Oleeo). We see so many recruitment platforms with CV matching algorithms, but no demand side support. So at Project Brains, we launched an MVP focussed on precise needs definition. It has now been used by 50+ businesses to define needs well and then match to 250+ fractional specialists registered with us. Using this, we have generated over £1mn of value to date. With innovation funding, we will rapidly scale by automating needs definition using "few-shot learning" algos trained on our ever expanding dataset using Large Language Models (LLMs). Our game-changing, demand-side innovation is differentiated from existing supply-side incumbents. Our recent survey of 100 UK executives confirmed the market - 89% valued skills-based hiring, yet 68% were neutral-to-dissatisfied with current methods, and 92% wished to use AI in this area (Q2 Appendix). Our growth will be through scaling in the UK, appended by international expansion through licensing partnerships. Our revenues-to-date from the MVP, and further validation through the recent survey, gives us confidence about the market demand and our ability to deliver. Overall, we bring faster results and reduced costs & risks to UK SMEs while creating valuable opportunities for skilled UK workers. Smart Grant will catalyse our unique solution to power the UK economy and build a British responsible AI champion.