Episode 163: From Guinness Price Pub Calls to Business Model Change: AI Agents in Practice with Matt Cortland
Gaule's Question TimeShow Notes
In this episode of Gaule’s Question Time, Andrew Gaule speaks with AI engineer Matt Cortland about the Guinness Index, a project that used an AI voice agent to call pubs and collect the cost of a pint of Guinness.
Matt explains how the project worked, what the data showed and why voice AI opens up new possibilities for research, pricing and hard-to-reach information. Andrew and Matt also explore broader corporate use cases, including investment screening, software development, APIs, business model change and the need for human oversight.
Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Matt Cortland and the Guinness Index 01:00 How the AI voice agent collected Guinness pricing data 02:00 Scale, response rates and public reaction 04:30 Voice AI as a tool for research and local availability 06:30 AI for work that was previously too costly 08:30 Matt’s broader AI consulting and workflow projects 10:30 AI in investment screening and business model change 13:00 Context, APIs and market insight 15:00 Safety, bias and human oversight 18:00 How AI is changing software development 21:00 Why human expertise still matters 23:00 Anthropomorphising AI and closing reflections
If you are leading AI strategy or implementation, identify one process where AI agents could create better data, reduce manual effort or change the economics of the work. Contact Andrew Gaule to discuss a practical pilot.
More Podcasts on Gaule's Question Time on Apple, Spotify etc https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gaules-question-time/id972450965
Videos on Purpose to Performance Channel https://www.youtube.com/@P2PfromAimava
More from Gaule's Question Time
AI is rapidly moving from a tool used by individuals towards becoming part of the workforce.
What turns an AI experiment into useful organisational change?
In this episode of Gaule’s Question Time, Andrew Gaule speaks with Devendra Sharma, Chief Data and AI Officer at Exadel, about the practical realities of implementing AI in organisations. They discuss why AI is not magic, why data and inputs matter, how leaders should identify use cases, and why organisations need to redesign processes before applying AI. The conversation also covers governance, compliance, agentic AI risks, human in the loop review, knowledge management and software development.
What does AI change for leaders, teams and service models? In this conversation, Andrew Gaule speaks with Cilla McKay about AI as a leadership and change challenge, not just a technology decision. They explore North Star thinking, human centred design, AI literacy, psychological safety and how to redesign work around human and AI collaboration.
What does practical AI implementation actually look like inside a business? In this episode, Andrew Gaule speaks with Jamie Claret about how AI adoption is changing, why digital transformation often stalls, and where intelligent automation is already delivering measurable value. The conversation covers operational use cases, adoption barriers, business model implications and what leaders need to do differently if they want results.