Revolutionizing web automation: Mattias Arro's entrepreneurial journey with UXO.ai

UXO.ai's origins can be traced back to Mattias's years of experience in machine learning and web development. Having encountered numerous scraping projects that often turned into overwhelming messes, he recognized the need for a better solution. This realization, coupled with his desire to build useful and profitable products, laid the foundation for UXO.ai.

"What has kept me interested in technical work over the years was the ability to build things which are useful, which is a great source of motivation in itself," Mattias explains. "Useful things can be turned into profitable businesses, which only adds excitement."

At its core, UXO.ai aims to revolutionize the way users create web automations and scrapers. Leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, the platform allows users to generate automations from simple English descriptions of what the programme should do. This innovative approach streamlines the process, reducing the time and effort required compared to traditional methods.

Importantly, UXO.ai's automations are universal, capable of working across all websites thanks to an AI layer that unifies different website formats. This versatility sets UXO.ai apart from traditional solutions, and offers users more control, visibility, and convenience compared to purely GPT-based solutions.

EIT Digital Master School's Influence Mattias's entrepreneurial journey was undoubtedly shaped by his time at the EIT Digital Master School. While he acknowledges that he would have likely pursued entrepreneurship regardless, the programme's emphasis on entrepreneurship reinforced his mindset of constantly considering whether a problem could be tackled as a business opportunity.

For Mattias, one of the most rewarding aspects of running his own company is the freedom to make decisions without the constraints of appearances or external pressures. At UXO.ai, the team can prioritize tasks based on their importance rather than adhering to conventions or expectations.

"You do very few things just for appearances," Mattias notes. "Naturally, we can nap whenever we feel groggy and skip meetings we feel are not useful. In most consulting gigs, I've felt the need to 'show my work' by making incremental changes which clearly demonstrate progress – even if it's a slower way to reach the end result. We don't do that in UXO."

This level of autonomy and honesty fosters an environment where the team can pivot or start fresh when necessary, without the constraints often faced in larger organisations or client-based projects.

Despite the rewards, running a startup comes with its fair share of challenges. Mattias candidly acknowledges the technical and human resources-related setbacks that consumed valuable time and resources. Additionally, the release of ChatGPT made some of UXO.ai's earlier work obsolete, lowering the barrier to entry and creating a perception of slow progress.

"Keeping focus is also not straightforward, since at an early stage, many things need to be done, and it's hard to tell which is more critical," Mattias explains. "Networking and doing customer validation calls with prospects is something pretty much every investor will advise you to do, so I did that and thereby delayed the MVP. But ultimately, you won't know if someone will buy your offering before you give them a real chance to buy it."

Reflecting on his journey, Mattias emphasizes the importance of trusting one's instincts, prioritizing the minimum viable product (MVP), and then conducting dedicated customer interviews to inform future direction.

Mattias's advice for aspiring student entrepreneurs stems from his own experiences navigating the entrepreneurial landscape. He emphasizes the importance of mindfully evaluating the source and relevance of advice received, as well-intentioned yet contradictory guidance can lead to inaction and uncertainty.

Mattias recommends working for a few years in different types of companies, such as corporations and startups, to gain exposure to various work cultures and problem spaces. This exposure can provide invaluable technical skills and uncover potential B2B ideas with higher chances of success compared to consumer-facing ventures.

While B2C ideas should not be completely disregarded, he cautions against pursuing "made-up" concepts and stresses the importance of gathering accurate feedback from potential users. Ultimately, he advises focusing on B2B opportunities rooted in real-world exposure and challenges encountered during previous professional experiences, as these tend to offer more solid foundations for successful entrepreneurial endeavors.

In the long term, Mattias envisions expanding UXO.ai's intelligent and controllable automations beyond the web, bringing this robotic process automation (RPA) tool to knowledge workers and smaller firms at a lower price point.