We shipped the PI Events App two weeks ago. Here is where it is now.
That is the whole post in three lines. The rest is why those numbers matter more than another AI demo.
Why these three numbers, in that order
Downloads are the easy number. They tell you people found the app, thought it might solve something, and committed enough to install it. 750 in two weeks for a niche professional app is a strong signal that there was a real gap waiting to be filled.
Requests are the number that counts. Fifty people downloaded the app, opened it, and used it for the thing it was built to do — request British Sign Language interpreter coverage for an event. A download is a maybe. A request is a yes.
Confirmed bookings are the only number that finally matters. That is revenue moving through the system. Interpreters paid. Deaf audiences getting access to events they otherwise might not have had.
A download is a maybe. A request is a yes. A booking is the thing the whole app exists for.
Why this is the post worth writing
Most of the AI story right now is demos. Slick videos. Threads about prompts. Funding rounds. What you do not see as often is a small business actually shipping the thing, getting it in front of real users, and watching real money move through real workflows in real weeks.
Performance Interpreting is a family business. My wife Marie founded it. I built the technology. It is not a venture-backed AI startup with a 12-person product team. It is a UK BSL interpretation agency with a clear problem — getting interpreter coverage organised for events is harder than it should be — and now, an app that takes friction out of that loop.
The PI Events App did not need a billion-dollar model to be useful. It needed to be built, shipped, and put in front of the people who would actually use it.
What "AI for small business" actually looks like
When I tell people I use AI to build operational tools, the picture they have in mind is usually wrong. It is not a magic robot doing the work. It is a small business owner using AI to move faster — designing the data model, writing the code, drafting the copy, debugging the launch — and then putting the result in front of real users to see what they do with it.
Two weeks in, what real users are doing is downloading it, using it, and starting to book through it. That is the proof. Not a demo. Not a thread. A live app, with requests landing and bookings being confirmed.
What is next
We are listening. Two weeks of usage data is a small but real signal about what people need first. The next round of changes is being shaped by what the 50 requests actually looked like, and what got in the way of more of them being made.
If you run a venue, festival, tour, or production company that needs BSL interpreter coverage — the app is live. If you are a small business owner wondering whether AI can really help you ship something useful for the people you serve — this is one small data point that says yes.
See the project
The PI Events App is the first piece of a wider build for Performance Interpreting. See what's live, who it's for, and what's still in progress.
View the Performance Interpreting project →