# Interview Research Pack: 1956 Individuals / SKC Studios

*Prepared: 25 March 2026*

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## 1. Company Overview

| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Product/Brand** | 1956 Individuals |
| **Parent Company** | SKC Studios Limited (Companies House #12042744) |
| **Location** | The EpiCentre, Enterprise Way, Haverhill Research Park, Haverhill, CB9 7LR, UK |
| **Founded** | 2019 (as SKC Games Studio; pivoted to enterprise AI) |
| **Employees** | ~25 |
| **Email** | hello@skcstudios.uk |
| **Phone** | +44 7494 209807 |
| **CEO** | Asa Burrows |
| **Backing** | SoftBank Robotics / SoftBank AI |

### History

SKC Studios started life as **SKC Games Studio** in 2019, building game worlds with emotionally intelligent NPCs. As the AI technology matured, the team recognised its potential beyond gaming and pivoted into enterprise — creating the **1956 Individuals** platform. The name "1956" likely references the **Dartmouth Conference** (1956), widely regarded as the founding event of artificial intelligence as an academic field.

The company was the **very first tenant** at The EpiCentre innovation hub in Haverhill and has grown from a small games studio to a ~25-person company expanding across the UK, Middle East, and Americas.

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## 2. What They Do

1956 Individuals builds **conversational AI avatars** — lifelike digital characters that visitors/users can talk to in natural language. Their philosophy is *"AI with heart"* — combining emotional intelligence with ethical, human-centred design.

The platform enables organisations to:
- Deploy AI avatars that **converse naturally in 100+ languages** with automatic language detection
- **Integrate with existing systems** (CRM, backend tools) to trigger workflows, pull data, and update records
- Capture **real-time interaction analytics** via their CMS
- Scale engagement across museums, healthcare, retail, hospitality, and tourism

### Key Differentiator

They're **not a chatbot company**. They position themselves distinctly — every avatar starts with a hand-drawn character by award-winning artists, then is brought to life by the development team. The gaming heritage gives them a craft approach to character design that most AI vendors lack.

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## 3. Product Lines

| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| **Legends/Icons** | Historically accurate characters grounded in documented sources (e.g., Alan Turing, Queen Eleanor of Castile) |
| **Personas** | Bespoke brand ambassadors and service agents tailored to a client's brand |
| **Originals** | Ready-to-deploy characters — off-the-shelf for pilots and events, or customised exclusively for a client |

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## 4. Key Clients & Case Studies

### Bletchley Park — AI Alan Turing
- Interactive, unscripted conversations about Turing's life, codebreaking, and legacy
- Developed in collaboration with **Turing's family** and the **Archive Centre at King's College Cambridge**
- Provides historical context and answers visitor questions

### Leeds Castle — AI Queen Eleanor of Castile
- Described as the **"world's first environment-aware historical AI avatar"**
- Transforms heritage interpretation with factual, engaging storytelling
- Environment-aware = responds to context of the physical space

### Museum of the Prime Minister — AI William Gladstone
- Conversational avatar exploring Gladstone's leadership, political legacy, and documented controversies

### Modality Partnership (NHS) — Digital Front Door
- One of the UK's largest GP super-partnerships
- Multilingual patient guidance to reduce delays and improve access
- Governed to NHS data protection and cybersecurity standards
- Frees clinicians to focus on care

### Internal — AI Zoe Starling
- 24/7 AI sales team member operating across multiple sectors and geographies

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## 5. Certifications & Compliance

- **ISO 9001** — Quality Management
- **ISO 14001** — Environmental Management
- **ISO 42001:2023** — Artificial Intelligence Management Systems (AIMS)
- **ISO 27001** — Information Security
- **Cyber Essentials Plus**
- GDPR compliant
- Follows **Microsoft's Responsible AI Standard** and **IEEE principles for Autonomous Intelligent Systems**

This is a strong compliance posture — particularly ISO 42001 (relatively new, specific to AI) which demonstrates they take AI governance seriously.

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## 6. Investment & Expansion

- **Backed by SoftBank Robotics / SoftBank AI**
- Active fundraising via the Investment Index platform
- Targeting **Middle East** expansion (showcased at IAAPA Middle East 2026)
- Listed on **Microsoft AppSource** as a verified web app
- Member of **IAAPA** (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions)
- Connected Innovation network member

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## 7. Awards & Media Coverage

- **Business Weekly Awards** — AI Innovation category winner
- **Alan Turing AI Innovator Award**
- Featured on **BBC News**, Cambridge Independent, Business Weekly, blooloop, Museums + Heritage

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## 8. Technology Background

### Likely Technology Stack

Based on what's publicly known about the product, the following technologies are almost certainly in use:

#### Core Conversational AI
- **Large Language Models (LLMs)** — likely using OpenAI (GPT-4/o series), Anthropic (Claude), or similar for natural language understanding and generation. Enterprise platforms often use multiple providers.
- **Speech-to-Text (ASR)** — services like Whisper (OpenAI), Google Cloud Speech-to-Text, or Deepgram for transcribing spoken input in real time
- **Text-to-Speech (TTS)** — services like ElevenLabs, Azure Neural TTS, or Google Cloud TTS for generating natural-sounding avatar speech
- **Natural Language Understanding (NLU)** — intent classification, entity extraction for routing queries and triggering workflows

#### Avatar & Visual Technology
- **Real-time character animation** — likely Unreal Engine or Unity given the gaming heritage, with real-time facial animation driven by audio/emotion
- **Facial expression recognition** — detecting user emotions (via camera) to adapt avatar responses (Microsoft Azure Face API, or similar)
- **Character rendering** — 2D/3D character art, likely using tools like Unreal Engine MetaHuman, Unity, or custom WebGL/Three.js for web deployment

#### Backend & Integration
- **APIs and webhooks** for connecting to client systems (CRM, databases, NHS patient systems, etc.)
- **CMS platform** — their own content management system for configuring avatar knowledge bases, monitoring interactions, and analytics
- **Knowledge bases / RAG** — Retrieval-Augmented Generation to ground avatar responses in verified client content (especially for historical characters)

#### Multilingual
- **Automatic language detection** from speech input
- **Real-time translation** — either via the LLM's multilingual capabilities or dedicated translation APIs (DeepL, Google Translate API)

#### Deployment
- **Cloud hosting** — likely Azure (given Microsoft partnership, AppSource listing, and responsible AI alignment)
- **Hardware kiosks** — for physical installations in museums, healthcare settings, etc.
- **Web-based** — via Microsoft AppSource and web deployment

#### Security & Compliance
- **ISO 27001-aligned** infrastructure
- **End-to-end encryption** for conversations
- **Consent management** — opt-in data collection, clear AI disclosure
- **GDPR-compliant** data handling

### How It All Works Together

1. **User approaches the avatar** (kiosk, web, mobile) and starts speaking
2. **Speech-to-Text** converts their voice to text, with automatic language detection
3. The **LLM** processes the text, pulling context from the **knowledge base (RAG)** to generate a relevant, accurate response
4. **NLU** identifies intents — if the user needs an action (book appointment, get directions, update records), a **workflow is triggered** via API integration
5. The **LLM response** is converted to speech via **Text-to-Speech**, while the **avatar animation system** generates matching facial expressions and lip movements
6. If a camera is present, **facial expression recognition** may adapt the avatar's emotional tone
7. **Analytics** are captured in the CMS for the client to review interaction patterns and insights

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## 9. Interview Talking Points

### Things That Set Them Apart
- **Gaming heritage** — they think about characters, narrative, and emotional connection, not just AI plumbing
- **Ethics-first approach** — ISO 42001, AI disclosure, consent management
- **Heritage sector credibility** — Bletchley Park, Leeds Castle, Museum of the PM
- **Healthcare work** — NHS/Modality Partnership shows they can handle regulated, high-stakes environments
- **Multi-BAFTA creative team** — serious artistic talent, not just engineers

### Growth Indicators
- Expanding internationally (Middle East, Americas)
- SoftBank backing
- Growing team (~25 and hiring)
- Multiple sectors: heritage, healthcare, retail, hospitality, tourism

### Potential Questions to Ask Them
- What's the tech stack behind the avatars?
- How do they handle knowledge base accuracy for historical characters?
- What's the deployment model — cloud, on-premise, hybrid?
- How do they manage latency for real-time conversational experiences?
- What's the roadmap for the platform?
- How does the gaming background influence their approach vs. pure AI companies?

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*Sources: 1956individuals.ai, The EpiCentre case study, Business Weekly, Connected Innovation, IAAPA, Retail Technology Show, Companies House*
