Aston University, based in Birmingham, UK, has confirmed that a new AI research platform built by its master’s students is now in active use at global consulting firm AlixPartners. This tool is designed to increase the depth and accuracy of insights provided to consulting teams while reducing the time spent on business intelligence research.
Aston University focuses on applied research and industry projects, and its Design Factory Birmingham unit is used as a testing ground for prototypes and pilot collaborations. AlixPartners works with companies around the world on complex business challenges, and this is the company’s first formal collaboration with a university.
The partners say the platform was developed to demonstrate how generative AI can move beyond experimental pilots to routine research tasks for client operations.
Generative and agentic AI used to analyze large document sets
The system combines generative AI and agent frameworks to collect, evaluate, and analyze information across sectors and companies. Initially built around the retail sector, it builds and manages large databases by aggregating material from articles, PDFs, and thousands of web documents, with built-in reliability and accuracy scoring to monitor the quality of results.
The project was developed by master’s students based at Aston’s Design Factory in Birmingham. This is positioned as a step toward using AI agents to handle the repetitive and document-heavy aspects of investigations, allowing consultants to focus on interpretation and decision-making rather than basic information gathering.
Professor Kate Sugden, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said: “This initiative has provided MSc students with valuable hands-on experience in emerging technologies, while collaborating with industry experts. They will be working with agent AI and prompts to automate and enhance research processes. “We have gained practical engineering expertise. This project also highlights the important role of Aston University’s Design Factory Birmingham as a hub to support the practical application of research and pilot testing with industry customers.”
Partnership for career and skills development
The collaboration will also be used as a skills pipeline for students and graduates who want to work with AI in a commercial environment. Several of AlixPartners’ senior consultants are Aston alumni and have helped develop project briefs and mentor current student teams.
Project Software Developer Sara Ebrahimpour said, “This experience was a game changer. By collaborating with industry leaders on cutting-edge GenAI tools, we learned the value of teamwork and innovation to drive meaningful change. It demonstrated how academic research can directly address real-world business challenges.”
Recent graduate Anusha Kumar emphasizes the speed at which work moves from concept to actual systems. Kumar said, “This collaboration highlighted how powerful partnerships between academia and industry can be. It was inspiring to witness the speed of innovation that turned ideas into tangible outcomes within weeks. This project not only deepened our technical understanding, but also built our confidence in applying AI to solve real-world challenges.”
