How the UK’s coolest coffee brand is using AI to brew up success

Nowadays, technologies like the internet, emails and even instant messaging are crucial tools in business. They make life easier and enable us to work more efficiently. AI has the potential to power an even bigger transformation than all of those technologies, stimulate growth and drive a productivity boost that could be worth £198bn to SMBs across the country by 2030. But we can only unlock these benefits, if we get into the habit of using it. Google, Enterprise Nation’s network of small businesses, and Behavioural Science expert and LSE Associate Professor, Dr Grace Lordan are working together to understand whether the principles of behavioural science could be this catalyst for nationwide change.

This 3-month pilot programme will encourage the workers at Grind and across Enterprise Nation’s network of SMBs to take part in AI training challenges that encourage them to use AI tools like Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, to quickly write up product descriptions, kick off a first draft of an email to a loyal customer, or even help streamline the onboarding process for new hires. Or explore whether Notebook LM’s audio overview feature could help create a podcast to teach them a new skill. This initiative is designed to get everyone to start thinking ‘Could AI help with that’? The pilot does this by:

• Encouraging teams to start small and gradually build their AI skills
• Leveraging the power of repetition and reinforcement with regular reminders
• Creating a supportive community of AI super users who encourage a culture of experimentation with hands-on group workshops and lunch and learn sessions.

Ultimately, this pilot is about more than technology; it’s an investment in people that will equip them with skills that future proof their roles and in turn give the UK’s businesses a competitive advantage. The learnings from this pilot are set to spread beyond these sites and benefit over 16 million people employed by the nation’s SMBs, empowering more businesses to thrive in the age of AI. We're excited to see what the future holds and to share our learnings along the way.

Editor's note: Hear from CEO and founder of Grind Coffee, David Abrahamovitch.

We know the difference that coffee makes to a person’s day. Whether it’s flat whites with friends or an espresso that fuels the morning commute, we’re roasting and serving thousands of cups every day from our London roastery and cafés — and helping tens of thousands more make better, more sustainable coffee for themselves at home. Bringing this to life requires a small army across London and beyond — driving electric vans, tasting and roasting beans, answering customer enquiries, developing new products and — of course — making coffee. We’re excited to be working with Google to uncover the different ways that AI will help all of these people do their best work at Grind.

Like all businesses, we already work with a lot of apps and software — but as a general purpose technology, we believe AI can support the breadth of our growing business in a lot of new ways. This presents an opportunity to transform ways of working across almost all of the varied roles at Grind, but we can only unlock this potential when our teams are empowered with the skills they need to discover their own helpful and unique use-cases.

Analysis from Public First reveals that AI-powered tools could help the average UK SMB to boost their productivity by 20% — effectively adding a digital employee to every team of five. This will be a game changer for challenger brands like Grind and independent businesses across the country. We’re really excited to use AI to level the playing field.