Edinburgh-based data innovation organisation Smart Data Foundry is relaunching its synthetic data platform, ‘Aizle’, alongside a new stand-alone website to facilitate plans for future expansion and diversification.
The relaunch follows a period of sustained growth for Smart Data Foundry, which has seen its client base and team expand in line with the growing demand for its services.
Created in 2023, Aizle has grown from a small research initiative employing two data scientists to a 15-strong division with enterprise clients including NatWest Group, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), TISA and the Department for Business and Trade.
Aizle leverages AI simulation to generate complex and large synthetic datasets without the need for real data. This provides data where real data is unavailable, inadequate, biased, or compromised by privacy issues.
David Tracy, head of data products at Smart Data Foundry, said: “Interest in Aizle’s capabilities has soared, making it the perfect time to build a new brand and website to showcase its potential. The market is starting to recognise that agent-driven synthetic data is not just hype but a proven, trustworthy vehicle for driving innovation and advancing AI initiatives.”
By providing synthetic data, Aizle enables innovation in areas previously considered too difficult or expensive to explore.
Aizle currently provides synthetic data to financial organisations for uses such as testing a prototype technological solution, training AI and generative AI models, or powering sandboxes to support innovation initiatives, with ambitions to develop into new markets like energy, SME finance, home buying and telecoms.
“We are passionate about the opportunities synthetic data offers for unlocking innovation and disrupting the status quo. It benefits not only large enterprises but also empowers start-ups and SMEs. These smaller organisations, which might struggle to afford or access the necessary data, can now compete on a level playing field with major financial service institutions,” Tracy explained.
A ‘safer way’ to test new applications
Aizle uses AI technology to simulate the activities of synthetic people and businesses within a customisable framework of behavioural rules and patterns. This generates data about people’s jobs, spending, and financial relationships; about businesses’ bills, cash flow, and obligations; and links all of this to the big problems to solve like fraud scams, environmental impact, ethics, and data privacy.
David Tracy is also a member of the FCA Synthetic Data Expert Group and explained why the regulator sees value in synthetic data: “Regulators like the FCA and Information Commissioner’s Office are convening cross-industry experts and driving the conversation on how personal data is used.
“They are encouraging the firms they regulate – like banks, energy providers, and telecommunications companies – to minimise the use of real data and use synthetic data instead, as it can be a faster and safer way to effectively test new applications and AI initiatives.”
Recent Aizle projects have included working with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to innovate in the area of Authorised Push Payment Fraud.
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