When Bryan Himsworth launched EmpowerAI Solutions, it wasn’t driven by a love of technology for its own sake, but by a simple frustration shared with almost every small business owner he met.
He recalls, “People were losing work they’d already earned. “Not because they weren’t good at what they did, but because they couldn’t pick up the phone or reply fast enough.”
After 20 years working in business improvement and customer service consultancy, Bryan had spent enough time watching great local companies struggle with the daily juggle of running a business and keeping up with calls, messages, and emails.
In many cases, there were no receptionists or admin staff—just busy people doing their best to serve customers.
But in today’s world, customers have little patience for delays.
“Most of us don’t wait anymore,” Bryan explains. “If we call a business and get a voicemail, or we’re told to press one for this, two for that, or that we’re number 11 in a queue, we often just hang up and try someone else.”
That growing intolerance for poor or slow service is costing small firms dearly. According to Bryan, missed calls and long response times are among the biggest hidden causes of lost revenue for local businesses.
“It’s not because people don’t care,” he says. “It’s because they’re stretched.”
This problem became the foundation of EmpowerAI Solutions, an Ipswich-based company Bryan founded to give small businesses a gentle, human-centred introduction to artificial intelligence.
“AI can sound daunting,” he admits, “but at its heart, it’s just a way to make sure your customers get the service they deserve—instantly, every time.”
The Idea: A Helpful Digital Colleague
Rather than creating futuristic chatbots or faceless automation, EmpowerAI focuses on practical, everyday support. The company’s flagship product is an AI Call Assistant—a digital team member that answers phone calls in a natural, human-sounding voice and helps callers quickly get what they need.
Unlike traditional call systems that feel robotic or menu-driven, the AI assistant speaks conversationally, can handle multiple simultaneous calls, and is fluent in several languages.
It can book appointments directly into a business’s calendar, send follow-up information by text or email, answer common questions, and even transfer a call to a human colleague if the customer asks.
“The idea was never to replace people,” Bryan says. “It’s to support them—to give them back the time and focus they’ve lost to admin.”
All conversations are fully recorded for transparency and training purposes, and the system is GDPR-compliant, allowing the business to keep control of call data and scripts at all times.
“Everything it says and sends can be reviewed, changed, or personalised by the business,” Bryan explains. “They stay in charge—the AI just takes care of the repetitive work.”
The journey
EmpowerAI began as an experiment. Bryan started working with a handful of local firms—a builder, a hair salon, and an independent veterinary practice—to test the idea.
The feedback was immediate and encouraging.
“One customer said it felt like hiring a receptionist who never went home,” Bryan laughs. “Another told me they’d gained three new jobs in the first week because every call was answered straightaway.”
Word spread quickly. The tool appealed to tradespeople, small clinics, and multi-site service businesses—anyone whose calls often came in while staff were with customers.
What made it work was its simplicity: no complex setup, no technical jargon, just a quiet digital helper that sounded friendly, remembered details, and never missed a call.
Bryan deliberately kept the pricing straightforward. At £350 per month, each AI assistant costs less than £1 an hour—far cheaper than hiring, but designed to sit alongside real people, not instead of them.
“For most owners, it’s not about cutting staff costs,” Bryan says. “It’s about freeing their team to focus on what humans do best—the empathy, the problem-solving, the personal service.”
Changing perceptions of AI
Bryan is open about wanting to change how people think about artificial intelligence.
“When people hear AI, they often imagine something cold or complicated,” he says. “But in reality, it can be warm, useful, and surprisingly personal.”
By starting with voice and natural conversation, he believes he’s found the easiest route for businesses to begin their AI journey.
“We all know how to talk,” he says. “So, if you can speak to an AI that listens properly and helps you, it doesn’t feel like technology—it just feels helpful.”
He points out that for small business owners, especially in East Anglia where many firms are independent and locally run, embracing technology can feel intimidating.
“I wanted to create something that felt safe—where people could see the benefit immediately and still feel in control.”
Giving time back to business
Beyond the technology, the heart of EmpowerAI’s story is about time. Bryan talks passionately about how many entrepreneurs find themselves working evenings and weekends just to catch up on admin.
“They start a business for freedom and end up trapped by the very thing they built,” he says. “If AI can help give them their evenings back, that’s a win in my book.”
Each AI assistant can also help companies scale more easily. Because it can handle unlimited simultaneous calls, a small business can grow without worrying about being overwhelmed.
“It levels the playing field,” Bryan adds. “A one-person business can suddenly offer the same responsiveness as a national brand.”
A Suffolk success story
Based in Ipswich, Bryan is proud that EmpowerAI is a Suffolk-born business serving a national need. He collaborates with local creatives, developers, and voice artists and plans to keep growing within the region.
“There’s something special about building technology in a place that values community,” he says. “We’re using cutting-edge tools, but the goal is simple—to help people, locally and beyond.”
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, Bryan remains committed to keeping it grounded in human values.
“I never want it to feel like a gimmick,” he says. “It should feel like a helping hand.”
About the founder
With a background in business improvement and systems thinking, Bryan helps small companies harness AI to enhance customer service, efficiency and work-life balance.
