I nearly had the privilege of working with Husayn Kassai. But it was not to be. I really hope some of those listening to this podcast do. This amazingly disruptive entrepreneur, the son of an Iranian father and English mother, fled Iran to land in the UK’s second city and its rainiest, Manchester. Since landing a couple of decades back Husayn has achieved more than most of us do in a lifetime already. 

The firm Husayn co-founded, Onfido, achieved the highest valued AI exit the UK has seen to date  in 2024, on its exit to US cyberfirm, Entrust, realising a whopping $650 million. Now, money is not everything and so just to put this into context, this payoff was some 30% higher than the much-lauded DeepMind sell-out to Google. This is an European entrepreneur who has ‘Been there, done that’.

While the ‘loss of DeepMind’ had many in the UK wailing about Europe’s lost gem, the nation  has kept Husayn. He’s staying right here in the UK with his family and recently launched the London AI Hub. Showing his respect to his alma mater, Husayn and co. also returned £4m to Oxford University’s endowment fund – its most successful venture investment. This, despite the fact he dropped out…Sound like Gates and Zuckerberg much?

The UK’s ‘unfair advantage’

Like me, Husayn rates London highly. So much so he is building his next Category-defining play, Quench.ai, which he describes as ‘narrow AI’, right here in West London. If you are at all interested in Category Design, you could do much worse than listen to the reasons why he believes the UK and Europe is the right place to launch the next AI category leader. 

From our perspective, as industry commentators, we agree.

1. The UK’s history of deep era-defining technology invention and adoption – textile machinery, steam engines, railways, steelmaking, synthetic dyestuffs, nuclear physics, computing, jet engines, jet airliners and supersonic civil flight, oh and the world wide web, AI, advanced materials and fintech. The list goes on
2. Trend/Category creation– not just in technology, but combined with a rich history of literature, music, fashion and art. 
3. The UK’s ‘Internationalist’ attitude –  with its financial hub of the City. Our ports, airlinks and our cultural melting pots
4. Smart immigration – invasion by the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans, then Huguenots, Jews, Indians, Irish and Caribbean, more recently Africa and Middle East. Those who strive for more end up on our shores and deploy our talent. How can the US compete with this any more?
   
5. It all starts with education – Unlike the USA, the UK and Europe’s economies have prioritised, free education at all levels. Given the point Husayn makes about education, we want to

The details of the last point are really what stands out to me from this amazing journey.

1. An Iranian father and English mother who put a premium on his education on his arrival in the UK aged ten 
2. Kind teachers (Mrs Salvatore) who focused on bringing Husayn and his siblings up to speed on English – in her own time
3. Bursaries to Oxford to level up his chances
4. No strings attached funding of a meagre £12,000 with the freedom to pivot and make the usual Product Market Fit mistakes
5. Avoiding the pull of the US and the saccharine of over-raising with VCs
6. Slower, deliberate growth in the PMF phase and then scale up at pace

What is most exciting for us all watching is that these very same lessons will be invaluable in the future as the London AI Hub takes off and Quench brings its offerings to market. Despite all the hype and scepticism, individual stories, like Husayn’s mean, when it comes to AI, the UK is very OK.

Listen to Episode 42 of The Difference Engine: The visionary behind the UK’s biggest AI exit ($650 million): Interview with Husayn Kassai here.