https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ Plain-English briefings on software, AI and security for small businesses. Written in Horsham, West Sussex. en-gb Inferred Ltd hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-workflow-review-checklist/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-workflow-review-checklist/ Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 New Pax8 and IBM research raises a practical question: who checks the AI your business relies on? Eight checks and a review record to use before launch. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/what-does-bespoke-business-software-cost/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/what-does-bespoke-business-software-cost/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Our published prices, what the starting price actually buys, the six things that make a build cost more, and five questions to ask about any quote. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/who-maintains-bespoke-software/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/who-maintains-bespoke-software/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Supplier dependence is a fair worry. Five questions to ask before you commission anything, what you receive at handover, and what optional support does and does not cover. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/when-to-replace-business-spreadsheets/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/when-to-replace-business-spreadsheets/ Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The file opens. The formulas work. Yet three people stop to answer one customer question. How to tell when your business has outgrown its spreadsheet, and choose the smallest change that solves the problem. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ico-agentic-ai-call-for-evidence/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ico-agentic-ai-call-for-evidence/ Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The ICO opened a call for evidence on AI agents on 8 October, a week after becoming the board-led Information Commission. Its questions are the ones a customer or auditor could ask you: what the agent can reach, who is responsible, whether it decides things about people and whether you can show what it did. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-stock-answers-business-records/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-stock-answers-business-records/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 AI can help answer questions about stock and orders. A useful answer starts with reservations, damaged items and current records. What this week’s UiPath and Snowflake announcement means for a smaller business. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/barclays-ai-email-workflow-small-business/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/barclays-ai-email-workflow-small-business/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Barclays is using AI to help process incoming emails. For a smaller business, the useful question is what happens to the next enquiry: who checks it, what gets copied, and whether the next person has enough information to act. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/access-database-support-ends-13-october/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/access-database-support-ends-13-october/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Office 2021 and Access LTSC 2021 lose Microsoft support on 13 October. Your database may open the next morning as if nothing happened, which is why this is easy to ignore. What the date changes, and when to replace the database rather than just upgrade Office. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/international-security-expo-2026/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/international-security-expo-2026/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 We spent a day at International Security Expo and International Cyber Expo at Olympia. Almost every stand was about deciding where the boundary is and watching it, and many now carry an AI layer that was not there before. Two plain questions to ask any supplier about it. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-can-see-your-business-data/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-can-see-your-business-data/ Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The next AI risk is not a chatbot saying the wrong thing. It is a useful tool being given access to the right data and the wrong authority. Before you connect an AI to your inbox, files or accounts system, check what it can read, what it can change and who can see what it did. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-real-cost-of-the-microsoft-365-packaging-update/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-real-cost-of-the-microsoft-365-packaging-update/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Microsoft folded a year of AI and security features into new M365 suites, and renewals will carry bigger bills. The trick isn't just the price hike: Copilot costs scale with headcount, not usage, locking businesses into a recurring expense with no ceiling. A plain-English look at what to check before you sign for another term. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/google-pics-workspace-business/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/google-pics-workspace-business/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Google Pics is rolling into Workspace as a new AI image creation and editing tool. Useful, certainly — but it is also a good example of how shadow AI can arrive through software a business has already approved. Five checks to make before people start feeding it company material. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/three-ai-services-switch-off-this-month/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/three-ai-services-switch-off-this-month/ Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Three AI services stop working before the end of August and a much bigger group follows in October. The names mean nothing to most businesses, which is the problem — they are the engines underneath tools sold under friendlier names. One email to whoever built yours. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-price-cut-that-isnt-yours/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-price-cut-that-isnt-yours/ Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 OpenAI cut one of its model prices by 80% three weeks after launching it. That is a genuine cut — to the metered wholesale rate a developer pays, not to the per-seat licence most firms actually buy. What changed, what didn’t, and when renting is still the right call. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-fence-that-wasnt-there/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-fence-that-wasnt-there/ Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Anthropic says three Claude models broke into the real systems of three companies during safety testing. The headlines went with “AI escapes”. What actually happened is duller, and far more useful to a business about to be sold an AI that acts rather than answers. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-deadline-nobody-told-you-about/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/the-ai-deadline-nobody-told-you-about/ Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Europe's AI rules were delayed — except the transparency layer, which starts on 2 August. What Article 50 asks for, whether a UK business is caught by it, and the short piece of admin that answers it. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/rogue-ai-the-bit-nobody-mentioned/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/rogue-ai-the-bit-nobody-mentioned/ Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 We now know whose models broke into Hugging Face. But the part worth your time is what happened next: the defenders' own AI refused to help them clean up. What that does and doesn't mean for a normal business. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-chats-on-google-what-actually-happened/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/ai-chats-on-google-what-actually-happened/ Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Shared AI conversations became findable in search results this weekend. Not a hack — a share button. What it means for anyone whose team uses AI, and the one line your policy is probably missing. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd) https://inferred.co.uk/blog/rogue-ai-what-actually-happened/ https://inferred.co.uk/blog/rogue-ai-what-actually-happened/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An AI “went rogue” and hacked another company. It isn't science fiction — but it isn't quite what the headlines suggest, either. The plain-English version, and the one question worth asking about any AI system. hello@inferred.co.uk (Inferred Ltd)