We spoke with two UTS startup founders to explore how AI is central to their success, as well as some common pitfalls to avoid when adopting this technology. Murray Hurps, Director of Entrepreneurship at UTS, also shares his insights on AI's impact on the future of the startup ecosystem.
How is artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping the startup landscape? What opportunities is it creating for startups to scale, innovate and grow? For some startups, AI is at the core of their business model. JurisTechne, a legal tech startup, is creating its own advanced AI algorithms to assess litigation claims and extract insights from case outcomes.
Mona Chiha, JurisTechne founder
Their proprietary, one-of-a-kind AI technology analyses vast amounts of legal data rapidly and provides important insights for case evaluation and decision-making.
“By using AI, we’ve streamlined complex legal processes and pioneered a new field: Algorithmic Law, which enhances traditional workflows, and delivers unmatched accuracy and efficiency,” says JurisTechne founder, Mona Chiha.
Similarly, MySocial.ai helps businesses manage their social media presence through AI-driven content creation, scheduling and reporting. The business embraced AI early on, which allowed them to quickly expand their customer base and solidify their market position.
Integrating AI into daily operations
At JurisTechne, AI is integral to their operations, enabling greater speed and accuracy in assessing litigation claims. This means they can offer clients valuable, data-driven insights to guide their legal strategies, saving both time and money compared to traditional methods. But AI does more than just automate tasks — it's a strategic partner, helping legal practitioners stay innovative and ahead in the legal tech landscape.
Vinnie Romano, MySocial.ai founder
MySocial.ai founder, Vinnie Romano, explains that they use AI for internal operations and client experience. Internally, AI automates tasks like notetaking, content generation and brainstorming. For clients, AI analyses social media performance, builds online personas and creates tailored content.
They use a ‘human assisted work’ model that lets AI create the initial content, which is then fine-tuned by humans for a personalised result.
Vinnie explains that while human oversight remains important, AI helps MySocial.ai’s team focus on their strengths and high-value work, leading to better client engagement.
Maximising opportunities for growth
AI helps startups do more with fewer resources, keeping them agile and lean by cutting overhead costs and reducing the need for certain roles.
At MySocial.ai, Vinnie shares how AI fuels their creativity, offering fresh ways to challenge their thinking by instantly providing new perspectives — whether through text, images, videos or even rapid prototypes with code they can experiment with.
For JurisTechne, AI has been a major driver of growth and innovation. They’re not just adapting to the future of work — they’re actively shaping it by creating the new role of Algorithmic Law.
“AI empowers our legal professionals with tools and resources precisely tailored for modern litigation, maximising operational efficiency and enabling us to grow and serve more claimants,” Mona says.
At MySocial.ai, scalability is one of AI’s biggest strengths. By automating manual tasks, they can serve more customers without increasing costs, giving them more time to focus on customer solutions and innovation.
Murray Hurps, Head of UTS Startups, believes AI will create exciting growth and opportunities for startups. As AI tools become more reliable and affordable, setting up e-commerce stores and automating business processes will become much simpler. This change is likely to spark a rapid wave of new AI-powered businesses.
“Browser automation in particular is getting very exciting, as the quality of work is rapidly improving while costs are falling. In the next six months, I believe we’ll see a stepchange in AI-enabled entrepreneurship, along with the rise of new forms of Artificial Entrepreneurship,” he says.
The pitfalls of AI adoption
Despite its advantages, AI adoption comes with challenges. Mona points out that developing and training AI models requires significant resources, and if the data isn’t ethically sourced and curated, biased outcomes can happen. The rapid pace of AI development also requires continuous learning and adaptation, which can strain startup resources.
Vinnie shares similar concerns and says, “The quality of AI-generated content is only as good as the data it’s trained on.” He also emphasises that "AI is a thought starter, not the final product. You always need to check its output."
He also notes the rising costs of AI and machine learning developers, along with increasing scepticism about AI-generated content due to quality issues.
"People are growing tired of AI-generated content, mostly because many don't proofread what the AI produces,” he says.
“There's also a fear that we'll reach a point where AI just talks to AI, leaving humans out of the equation. While this presents a challenge for businesses like ours, it also creates a huge opportunity to differentiate ourselves.”
Mona stresses the importance of ethical AI use, urging startups to ensure their models are transparent, accountable and free from bias. She recommends frameworks like the NSW Artificial Intelligence Assessment Framework to guide ethical AI adoption. Regular audits and a commitment to ethical practices are crucial for responsible implementation.
Vinnie adds: “Technology should never be the focal point — the customer and their challenges should be. AI is great for delivering value faster and better, but if it doesn’t add real value, customers won’t care how much AI you have.”
Murray also highlights that, with the rapid advancement of AI technology, companies need to adapt quickly to stay competitive. Startups that used to grow at a steady pace now have to scale faster to avoid getting left behind. While they may find it easier to turn a profit in this fast-paced landscape, they also need to keep up with the constant changes around them.
Looking ahead, we can expect a trend of AI-generated products flooding the market. This presents a chance for human-created products to differentiate themselves, particularly for consumers who value personal interactions over AI efficiency.
AI is transforming the startup landscape, offering opportunities for efficiency, scaling and innovation that we have never seen before. Startups like JurisTechne and MySocial.ai show how AI, when used thoughtfully, can be a game-changer. However, successful AI adoption requires balancing the technology’s potential with careful oversight, ethical practice and a focus on delivering real value to customers.