What we build
Synthetic Futures develops AI-powered tools, synthetic personas and digital products that help people and organisations explore ideas, test possibilities and make better decisions.
From business innovation and customer insight to personal AI assistants, the products are designed to make advanced AI practical, inclusive and human-centred.
What frustrates her
- Three systems that nobody keeps up to date
- Every improvement lands on her desk to run
“I have been sold time savings before. What I have never been shown is who actually does the work.”
A persona is generated from what the user describes, then interviewed.
Best in Track, IEEC 2026
Synthetic Customer Persona
Interview a fictional customer who pushes back, then take a debrief and a set of questions into a real conversation.
In development
Ferret
Evidence-based competitive analysis that separates what is known from what is inferred, and shows where the gaps are.
In development
Architect
An AI system design tool that works out which approach fits a problem, including when the answer is no AI at all.
In development
Personal AI assistants
Tools built around how a particular person actually works, rather than around a general-purpose chat window.
A customer who does not simply agree
Most feedback on an early idea is too polite to be useful. The persona is not.
You
It cuts the weekly admin down to about ten minutes.
The persona
Ten minutes doing what, though. We already pay for two systems that each save us ten minutes. The problem is that nobody keeps either of them up to date, and I do not yet see why yours would be different.
From a rehearsal with a synthetic customer.
Who it is for
Founders, students, educators
Licensed to
Universities, accelerators, training providers
Term
Twelve months, sized by participants
Access
Shared cohort code, no accounts
What people say after using it
Sixteen founders, business managers and enterprise educators tried the Synthetic Customer Persona and completed a feedback survey. All sixteen rated it very or extremely useful, all sixteen said the persona felt like a realistic customer, and all sixteen said they would use a tool like this again.
“The synthetic user was very believable and it was extremely helpful in challenging my innovation pitch. It really caused me to think about how I could change my position to meet its needs.”Business owner, professional services
“The persona we generated was very close to a typical client we face. They had very realistic arguments and points of understanding.”Tech consultant, compliance services
“In a safe and realistic environment it gave me a real opportunity to answer questions about my innovation.”Aspiring entrepreneur, medtech
“The engagement helped me see some holes in my thesis and rethink the service.”Enterprise educator, professional services
Feedback survey of 16 participants, 2026. Responses were anonymous and are quoted by role and sector only.
Dr Kadja Manninen
Synthetic Futures is led by Kadja, who works at the intersection of AI, innovation and small business, with a focus on turning emerging technologies into practical tools and new ways of working.
She is an academic in digital innovation, with experience of leading AI accelerators supporting small businesses across multi-university partnerships. Before academia, she worked as a contemporary circus artist, and that creative background continues to shape how she approaches experimentation and design.
Research behind it, practice in front of it
The work sits between research and delivery. It is grounded in academic research on innovation adoption and human-computer interaction, and built for people who have a cohort starting on Monday.
The tools are in use with small businesses and university programmes, and an independent evaluation is under way.
Talk to us about a cohort
Annual licences for universities, accelerators, training providers and innovation programmes, sized by the number of participants.