The AI Hype is Over. What Now?

By George Toursoulopoulos,CEO of Synetec

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The AI conversation has moved on. What was once headline-grabbing speculation is now turning into practical value. But only for businesses that know where and how to apply it.

If your organisation is still unsure how to extract meaningful return from AI, you’re not alone. AI has followed a well-documented path, as illustrated in Gartner’s Hype Cycle, from inflated expectations to widespread disillusionment. In 2025, however, many companies are finally emerging onto the Slope ofEnlightenment, where tested, real-world applications are beginning to scale.

And I’ll be honest. That’s where things get exciting. I’ve spent enough years in tech to recognise the pattern. Every few years, something comes along that promises to change everything. And AI? It’s already changing things. Just not always in the way people expected.

Forget robot CEOs or fully autonomous workforces. The real wins we’re seeing right now are far more grounded and far more valuable. At Synetec, we’re working with clients to deploy their own private ChatGPT models in days, not weeks. Built around your internal data. Private, secure and actually useful.

Imagine asking your AI assistant a question and getting a response tailored to your business, your data, and your specific context. With Synetec PrivateGPT, that’s not just possible. It’s standard. Our solution brings voice-controlled, natural language AI into your business in days, delivering a seamless user experience without the wait.

Speak or type. The choice is yours. Synetec PrivateGPT adapts instantly to the way your teams work, whether they’re dictating investment analysis on the go, asking for compliance updates during meetings, or inputting detailed prompts at their desks.

The result? Hands-free efficiency, faster task completion, and more intuitive engagement, all within your secure, private environment. The dual input approach speeds up workflows, reduces friction in daily operations, and increases adoption across teams with varying tech confidence. No steep learning curve. No integration delays. Just smarter, faster communication with AI, from day one. With Synetec PrivateGPT, your team can communicate almost instantly.

This is what practical AI looks like. And it doesn’t stop there. We’re seeing seriousROI in areas like:

• AI-assisted decision-making – because no one has time to wade through spreadsheets anymore. We want insights, not spreadsheets.
• Business intelligence and automation – especially in heavily regulated sectors like finance and insurance, where efficiency and risk reduction matter, it can bring data to life
• AI co-pilots for finance, HR, and development teams – tools that genuinely accelerate productivity without replacing the humans at the heart of it all.

The stats back it up. PwC estimates AI will inject £232 billion into the UK economy by2030. McKinsey says AI adopters in 2024 cut operating costs by 20% and grew revenue by 10%. But here’s the thing those headlines miss: those gains don’t come from off-the-shelf AI tools. They come from smart integration, trusted partners, and building solutions that are fit for purpose.

That’s where we come in. Our job at Synetec is to meet you where you are on what Gartner calls the Hype Cycle, whether you're climbing out of the Trough ofDisillusionment or just putting together your first AI use case. We don’t do gimmicks. We build systems that scale and software that sticks, yet grows with your needs

So, if you're tired of being sold the future and ready to start delivering results, we should talk. Let’s make AI useful.