Ask Bob
Operational AI for real-world businesses
Bob helps teams find what is true across the systems they already use: documents, spreadsheets, email, finance records, shared drives and the knowledge sitting between them.
Start DiscoveryNot Another AI Bollocks
Bob is here to make operations clearer. It should show its working, separate fact from inference, and help people make better decisions without pretending the machine is in charge.
Connectors and capabilities can grow without turning the product into a monolith.
People see the operational truth that fits their permissions, responsibilities and context.
Sources, confidence and reasoning stay visible so users can trust, challenge or correct Bob.
Discovery Mode
Discovery Mode is the calm first step: map systems, surface knowledge sources and identify operational gaps before indexing, automation or deeper platform work.
Bob in Discovery Mode
A simple V1 demo of how Bob starts carefully: connect, observe, and wait for human approval before learning from any source.
A fictional operations connector is installed with read-only discovery permissions.
No indexing yetBob detects candidate sources such as shared drives, finance records, mailboxes and spreadsheets.
Provenance visibleA person reviews the synthetic discovery list and chooses which sources are trusted.
Customer controlledAsk Bob
Bob answers from approved operational sources, separates facts from assumptions, and shows when a person should review the result.
Facts: The signed agreement is in SharePoint. An Outlook thread asks for a purchase order number. Sage shows the account on finance hold.
Reasoning: The installation appears blocked because the PO number has not been supplied and finance has not released the account.
Assumption: The latest email thread is the active blocker. Ask operations to confirm before updating the customer.
Facts: The newest approved file is stored in the Sales Operations SharePoint site and was linked from the CRM pricing note.
Reasoning: It has the latest modified date and matches the approved naming pattern used by the commercial team.
Assumption: No assumption needed, but older copies should remain read-only to avoid confusion.
Facts: The CRM renewal view lists eight accounts this month. A spreadsheet maintained by account managers lists nine.
Reasoning: One customer appears in the spreadsheet but not the CRM view, so the renewal list is not fully aligned.
Assumption: The spreadsheet may include an informal renewal extension. Sales should approve the final list.
Facts: Sage records the invoice as rejected. Outlook contains a supplier email requesting a corrected billing address. The contract PDF shows the older address.
Reasoning: The rejection is likely due to an address mismatch between the invoice and supplier records.
Assumption: The supplier email is the rejection reason. Finance should confirm before reissuing.
Bob explains the mess
A static answer built from the synthetic BLLB LTD demo data. Bob shows the operational trail before suggesting what to do next.
The install appears blocked because the PO number has not been supplied. There may also be a duplicate CRM record that should be reviewed before proceeding.
Rows CUST-1001 and CUST-1005 show ABC Ltd / ABC Limited with matching Leeds details and duplicate-risk notes.
Needs reviewINS-2401 is blocked, high priority, has no owner and notes: "No PO; finance hold".
ConfirmedFinance and sales emails state that ABC Ltd cannot be released until the PO is issued.
LikelyINV-9104 is on hold with the note: "No PO reference on invoice".
ConfirmedWhat Bob knows
Bob separates facts, assumptions and operational history. Memory builds over time, but every item keeps a source, status and confidence level.
Install INS-2401 is blocked. Operations notes say "No PO; finance hold".
CRM contains ABC Ltd and ABC Limited with the same town, account manager and renewal date.
Hartley & Co Kitchens has a pricing exception noted outside CRM, so the account needs human review before renewal terms are sent.
Pembroke Print Services should not renew automatically while invoice INV-9033 remains disputed.
Silver Birch Nursery shows Steve as owner, but the email thread says ownership was not formally handed over.
Initial assumption: install delayed due to stock shortage.
Updated conclusion after email review: missing PO number.
Operational Relationships
Instead of drawing a noisy graph, Bob explains why two pieces of operational information belong together and where each link came from.
Primary customer record for the blocked Leeds install. Bob links related records only when the source trail is visible.
Why linked: ABC Limited shares the Leeds location, account manager and renewal date with ABC Ltd.
Uncertain link: ABC Limited may match ABC Ltd based on VAT number and postcode.
Why linked: The mailbox subject names ABC Ltd and finance says the account cannot be released without a PO reference.
Why linked: INS-2401 names ABC Ltd, shows status as blocked and notes "No PO; finance hold".
Why linked: Aged debtors shows INV-9104 for ABC Ltd on hold because there is no PO reference on the invoice.
Why linked: The install board assigns Ravi Singh as engineer, but the owner field is blank, so ownership still needs confirmation.
Why linked: Pricing files are relevant because duplicate customer and install records should be checked before commercial notes are updated.
Discovery Report
Bob discovers first. You decide what he learns from.
Candidate workspaces found from connected Microsoft 365 metadata.
System presence inferred from approved connector settings.
Files look customer-related, but need a human to confirm their role.
Mailbox source confirmed as relevant for sales operations review.
Document count grouped by source so teams can approve scope gradually.
Bob can flag the overlap, but people decide which list is trusted.
Trust first
Private Pilot
AskBob is currently in early development. Private pilots will start small: one controlled data source first, clear source provenance, confidence labels and human approval before Bob learns from anything.
There is no public launch yet. The pilot is for teams who want to understand their operational data before they automate around it.
Private pilot requests are not submitted yet — this is a visual placeholder.