Taking role play to another level, the new initiative of an Edinburgh-based start-up is attracting a lot of attention and excellent prospects for UK growth.
Aimed at transforming business training in critical decision-making, new company Games Without Frontiers has invested £500,000 in the scheme. This has resulted in the formulation of an Artificial Intelligence powered training and development ‘game’, which allows players to experience a series of simulated scenarios based on the real challenges of managing an expanding business. In response, Brittain’s Managing Director Julia Haviland said:
“It is a fascinating concept and one that could have a really positive impact on the skills and confidence of employees and on business growth.”
Going on to discover how the idea was developed by corporate trouble-shooter Tim Dew, business simulation expert Stuart Laing and former Skyscanner technical manager Mike Perrin, Julia continued:
“Experiencing ‘what if?’ scenarios means players can develop skills and learn critical business lessons, without any of the potentially damaging consequences that a real situation might entail.”
Entitled The Rocket Game, this is believed to be the first ever AI-enabled business training game. Further games are in development, with the objective being to produce games to suit a broad range and scale of businesses.
“It is generally agreed that SMEs account for approximately half of the UK’s GDP. If these businesses were to improve their performance even marginally, the effect on the economy could be dramatic,” observed Julia.
With participants divided into teams and assigned different company roles, Rocket will offer a day-long experience costing around £5000 (for a team of between 5-12 participants). Available from mid-September, Julia acknowledges that not everyone will have a training budget that can meet the price tag.
“But the fundamental idea, even a very small scale in-house ‘What if?’ scenario game would, I believe, be extremely worthwhile,” said Julia.
