GETTING TIME ON YOUR SIDE
Adopting AI tools for a wide range of routine office tasks has the power to make businesses more efficient and buy back valuable time.
That was the key message from Mark Edwards, operations director at Burnley based IT support, telecoms and cyber security provider Seriun.
He told delegates: “AI is moving so fast but the efficiency gains are massive.”
And in a graphic demonstration of the benefits of using the AI agent Microsoft Copilot, he showed how it could drastically cut the time taken up by tasks such as data analysis, creating spreadsheets, report writing, document reading and putting together power point presentations.
Mark told the audience that his examples showed that a business could become at least 20 per cent more efficient and free-up “hours and hours of time” with “little effort” and at a reasonable monthly cost.
He said that when it came to implementing AI in a business ‘mindset mattered’. He told the summit that there was a cultural element to its adoption, adding: “If your team sees AI as a threat they will resist.”
Mark said that businesses should look at the tasks people were carrying out within their organisations and to use AI to “empower staff to be more productive.”
SUMMIT TAKEAWAYS
Jen Darlington, from Bee Seeds: “What surprised me most was how much AI can do, saving 20 per cent of your time. It is something we have to do.”
Bev Wood, who runs a business and works for the University of Lancashire: “Having had a cyber- attack myself last year, it was a case of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. Find out about the support available as an SME and utilise it. You should do your due diligence and homework on your experts.”
Umayr Mir, from Blackburn College: “We were surprised by the number of organisations that are fearful of AI.”
Shirah Bamber, from Shirah Consulting and Preston Innovates: “We are all using AI to a degree, there may be tasks I may not have considered using it for.”
Ben Blackburn from Sales Geek: “Our key actions now are finding the right person to lead on this. You have to make your systems safe, because we can see the opportunities moving forward.”
Mark Edwards
Awards 2026
Venue: Park Hall Resort and Spa
Date: Friday
October 16 2026 Entries open soon
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AI & CYBERSECURITY
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