Elio Networks expands into Cork just as clients reckon with AI’s opportunities

“The company has always recognised Cork as an exciting opportunity. We were focused on the Dublin market at first. Last year, we did a soft launch in Cork to test the market. That has already been a success,” David Russell, chief executive of Elio Networks, told the Business Post.

The business is making the expansion at a time when many of its customers are struggling to get to grips with the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). This is an area where, Russell said, connectivity will be crucial.

“Connectivity is so important to businesses, you cannot do without it. For those with a good AI strategy or who want to implement one, they know they can’t do without it. It’s changing the conversation with our customers,” he said.

“We are now having daily conversations about scaling up connectivity greater than ever

before. The focus on AI, machine learning, and digital transformation, also means people know they need more than one connection. If a primary connection goes down, they know they need a failover to a backup with the necessary robustness to carry on the business.”

The scale and nature of the impact of AI on businesses often gets confused, according to Russell. He cited recent comments made by Prof. Abeba Birhane, who sits on the UN’s advisory body on AI governance, on the Elio Business podcast.

AI is not a replacement for people, it’s about finding ways to use it to help staff

“All AI is human through and through. Even though AI is presented as something that

teaches itself, it’s a misconception. From the data we use to train AI to the models

themselves, there have to be people all the way through,” Birhane said.

“All these impressive looking amazing technologies like Dall-E are very brittle. They are very prone to errors and failure. It’s important to show the drawbacks and failures in such

systems to counteract the excess hype.”

Russell said that arguments Birhane makes show there is a need for cool heads when it

comes to addressing AI.

“It’s not a replacement for people, it’s about finding ways to use it to help staff. There’s a lot of buzz and excitement around it but it needs to be part of an overall strategy to grow and improve a business.”

Knowing the limitations is one thing but understanding what benefits actually exist is another matter entirely.

“It’s challenging for companies to get through the noise and understand the difference

between AI, automation and an algorithm. There’s a growing groupthink that AI should

become part of everyday activity in a company,” Russell said.

“Although there have been huge advances, it’s still in the very early stages. Everyone is

being pressured to believe they should have an AI strategy. That can be confusing and lead businesses to lean into AI earlier than they should.”

For Russell, any growth for his business will be people led but he believes that AI will come to play a role in aiding it.

“It is going to make businesses more efficient. Roles will be replaced in due course. It will help us be a more effective business, particularly in dealing with more menial tasks. Some of that will be simple automation, some will be AI,” he said.

“For us, the focus is on finding ways to improve our customer journey and their communication with us. That said, at this time we are very much customer focused. When you call Elio Networks, you are going to get a person answering.”