Atheni secures £350K to help teams use AI more effectively

Atheni, an AI
adoption company, has raised £350,000 to further develop its platform designed
to help organisations use AI more effectively across their workforce. The
company is backed by angel investors, including Alex Chesterman OBE and is
supported by Innovate UK.

Founded by Mackenzie Howe and Louise Ballard, Atheni was developed through two years of client work
before raising external funding. During that time, the company refined a
methodology focused on embedding AI guidance directly into day-to-day workflows
rather than relying on standalone training sessions or workshops.

The funding will
support the rollout of the Atheni Accelerator, a browser-based platform that
provides employees with personalised, role-specific guidance for using AI tools
such as ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot within their daily work. The platform is
also designed to help organisations measure whether AI capability and practical
adoption are improving across teams.

Although access to
AI has become more widespread, many organisations are still working to achieve
meaningful adoption. According to the company, employees often remain limited
to basic use cases and lack support in applying AI to improve decision-making,
critical thinking and work quality.

Over the past two
years, Atheni has tested its approach across sectors including further
education, executive education, manufacturing, financial services and private
equity. The company says it has consistently achieved adoption rates above 90
per cent within 90 days of implementation.

“Most AI startups
are building better tools. At Atheni, we are building master craftspeople.
Organisations can tell you how many people have access to AI, but not whether
anyone is using it to think more clearly, challenge assumptions or do work they
couldn’t do before. That is the gap. Atheni measures it and shows organisations
how to close it,

said Mackenzie Howe.

Louise Ballard explained that while many organisations already have
access to advanced AI tools, most employees are still using them in limited
ways. She said Atheni is focused on helping people unlock the broader potential
of AI within the work they already do.

Atheni
is currently rolling out the platform with existing clients ahead of a planned
future funding round to support broader expansion.