About us
25+ years of getting technical projects delivered. AI is just the newest tool in the bag.
Barely Artificial is two people, not a faceless agency. Here's who you're actually talking to.
Paul O'Brien
Paul has spent more than 20 years in project management and technical delivery, mostly in broadcast and IP video and media technology. That work put him in front of demanding clients, including major broadcasters and household entertainment names, where "it didn't work" was never an acceptable answer.
Before Barely Artificial, he led practical AI adoption inside an operations group, building tools that supported real customer intelligence, project review and production workflows. Not pilot projects that quietly died. Things people actually used, every day.
Steve Beckett
Steve leads business development at Barely Artificial. He's usually the first conversation a new client has, and the one making sure a job lands with the right arm of the business.
Before Barely Artificial, Steve built up a wealth of experience across a range of industries, in senior management roles and running his own businesses. His first instinct is always a practical, real-world solution for the business.
Why it exists
Time to tick off the list.
After 25+ years in broadcast technology, Paul decided it was finally time to do the one thing that had always been on his list: start his own company.
Two years spent working hands-on with AI, watching what it could genuinely do for a business, made the timing obvious. Barely Artificial takes everything he learned delivering for some of the world's best-known broadcast and media names, adds a serious set of AI tools, and puts both to work for SMEs instead.
Proof point
Barely Artificial was built using the same approach it sells.
The brand, the documents, the service model, the content plan and this website were all built with AI as a working partner, Paul directing, checking and improving every output rather than accepting the first draft.
That's the model on offer to clients too. AI handles the heavy lifting. A human who knows what "good" looks like keeps it honest, useful and fit for purpose.
(Specific build-time and delivery figures, the IPV proof point and similar stats, go here once confirmed. Real numbers only, no rounding up for effect.)
Grounded, not remote
Nottingham born and based.
Barely Artificial operates out of West Bridgford, Nottingham, and works across the East Midlands and beyond. Face to face when it helps, remote when it doesn't need to be anything else.
West Bridgford, Nottingham
East Midlands, UK
Want to talk to us directly?
Every discovery call is with one of us, not a salesperson.