‘AI should take away the grind, not the human element’
One step at a time, Westport entrepreneur helps small Mayo businesses embrace AI
In a small office in the West of Ireland, Ann Marie Gavin is building technology she believes could change how Irish businesses work — not by replacing people, but by giving them back their time.
In a workshop, on a building site or behind a desk late in the evening, the same problem kept appearing for Ann-Marie. Tradespeople were spending hours writing quotes by hand after long days on the road. Small business owners were buried in admin. Teams were stuck doing repetitive tasks instead of the work they were actually skilled at.
For the Westport native, those frustrations became the starting point for a new Mayo-based tech company with ambitious plans.
Ann Marie founded AMG Optimus Ltd, a company focused on helping businesses use artificial intelligence in practical, accessible ways.
“I love seeing businesses thrive,” said Ann-Marie. “I’m always looking at processes and asking: where is the waste here, where is the bottleneck, and how can we make this easier for people?”
Her latest product, Optimus QPI, was born from a problem she saw repeatedly among Irish tradespeople: too much time spent on paperwork.
“I was working with trades people and they were all having the same problem,” she explained. “They were finishing work at six and then going home to spend their evenings writing quotes, forgetting VAT on invoices, etc. It was all creating delays, stress and cashflow problems.”
With a background in pharmaceutical business operations and process improvement, Ann-Marie spent years studying how businesses function — and more importantly, identifying where time, money and energy are being wasted.
“I’ve always had a passion for solving problems,” she explained. “I love looking at something and thinking, ‘How can we streamline this? What can we remove? How do we give people back time for the creative work instead of the mundane work?’”
That mindset led to the development of Optimus QPI, an AI-powered voice-to-text app, designed specifically for tradespeople and small businesses. Users can speak directly into the app while on site, and the software generates quotes, invoices and materials lists automatically.
“You just log in, press quote or invoice, and speak what you need,” she said. “The app rewrites it professionally, creates the document, and then you can send it by email or WhatsApp. But there’s always a human in the loop. The person creates it, approves it and sends it.”
While artificial intelligence is often framed as a threat to jobs, Ann-Marie is keen to make AI feel approachable — especially for smaller businesses that may feel overwhelmed by it.
“A lot of people hear ‘AI’ and immediately think jobs are disappearing,” she said. “But I genuinely believe AI makes jobs better, not fewer. Businesses are spending huge amounts of time every week on repetitive tasks that machines can handle faster and with fewer errors. That frees people up to do the work that actually needs human thinking.”
That philosophy is central to how AMG Optimus works with clients. Rather than overhauling entire systems overnight, the company introduces AI gradually and practically.
“We don’t come in and frighten people,” she said with a laugh. “We identify one opportunity where AI can help, implement that safely, and build from there. It’s always human-led.”
The company itself is also growing steadily. AMG Optimus has received support through Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme and InterTradeIreland, while Amazon Web Services has provided substantial cloud infrastructure support to help scale the business.
Gavin recently secured a place on Phase Three of the competitive New Frontiers entrepreneurial accelerator programme — something she describes as a major milestone.
“It’s meant everything,” she said. “The support available here in Mayo is incredible — from the Local Enterprise Office to the iHub in Castlebar and the Westport Chamber of Commerce. There’s a real ecosystem here helping businesses grow.”
Despite working in a sector often associated with Dublin or Silicon Valley, Gavin is determined to build her company in Mayo. Though the company operates from the iHub in Castlebar, Westport remains at the heart of the vision.
“When people think of tech, they think of Dublin or Silicon Valley,” she said. “But we’ve got the talent here in Mayo. We’ve got engineers, skilled people, support networks and a fantastic quality of life. Everything we build is developed here in Mayo.”
Looking ahead, Ann-Marie hopes to grow the company internationally while keeping its roots firmly in Mayo.
“My vision is to build our headquarters in Westport, create jobs here and help Irish businesses compete globally,” she said. “This technology should be accessible to everyone — especially small and medium businesses, because they often need the support the most.”
For Gavin, the future of AI in Ireland is not about replacing people, but empowering them.
“The businesses that will thrive over the next decade are the ones that use AI to strengthen their teams,” she said. “This technology should take away the grind, not the human element.