How Downing moved from AI intent to execution
Downing, a multi-asset-class responsible investment manager, wanted to grow without growing headcount one-for-one. Inference Group used AI to find exactly where that was possible, and trained Downing's people to build it.
teams interviewed across the business
people at the firm-wide AI training
AI opportunities identified
prioritised into a categorised roadmap
What Downing wanted
Downing is a responsible, multi-asset-class investment manager, investing primarily across renewable energy, infrastructure, healthcare and education. The question it brought to us was about growth: if the business scaled quickly, how could it do so without a one-to-one increase in headcount?
Put simply: where, specifically, could AI let teams grow their output without growing the team? The goal was to move Downing from AI intent to execution.
What Inference Group did
We ran Control Tower interviews across 12 teams with 35 participants, held two AI Champion training sessions on the art of the possible, and delivered a firm-wide AI training attended by 160+ people. Using AI, the interviews and workshops were rapidly assessed against a large repository of what works, surfacing over 150 opportunities.
Very few were ruled out. The opportunities were deduplicated and turned into a prioritised roadmap, organised by who could deliver each one, so value could start flowing immediately rather than waiting on a single big programme.
Where it landed
We trained AI Champions who went on to train their own teams, picking off the low-hanging fruit and starting to build a self-driving company: one where AI makes teams more productive and frees their time for value-adding work, not the slow, repetitive manual tasks.
A roadmap organised by who can deliver
The point of the roadmap is not just what to build, but who builds it: so no matter your internal capability or budget, there is a path to AI in production that pays back.
Opportunities Downing's own trained AI Champions can build now, with growing knowledge and supporting tools.
Opportunities that need engineering support or touch the wider architecture and systems.
High-impact projects that benefit many across Downing, needing specific skill sets and sometimes a buy-or-build decision.
Baseline enablers other work depends on, such as data integration and governance like an AI policy, sequenced by Downing.
“Working with Inference Group gave us the clarity and momentum we needed. Their expertise helped shape our AI roadmap and set us up for long-term success. We're already seeing the benefits as our teams turn strategy into real delivery.”
Control Tower interviews across 12 teams, two AI Champion training sessions, and a firm-wide AI training attended by 160+ people. Using AI, the interviews and workshops were rapidly assessed and turned into a prioritised, categorised roadmap of where AI creates efficient growth.
Find where AI grows your business without growing the team
A 30-minute scoping call with the Inference Group team.