Where the name comes from.
It started as my initials — here's what it's grown to mean.
The triangle — three disciplines
AI & NLP, Data Science and Engineering — the three disciplines this practice runs on.
The axe — the build
The engineering and craft that turns the ideas into something real.
The hull — Digital
The delivery — the services this practice actually runs, built on the two letters before it.
The sail, the axe, the boat — built to navigate the sea of data.
Dr Ahmed Younes
Founder · AI Engineer, Data Scientist & NLP Researcher
Who we are
NLP researcher. Data scientist. Hands-on builder. Delivery that lands on time.
AYD is led by Dr Ahmed Younes, who works at the intersection of natural language processing, data science and engineering — combining doctoral research depth with production building and strategic consultancy.
I've delivered for organisations including the Gates Foundation, FCDO, ISD, BBC Monitoring and Ofcom, spanning government, nonprofit, media and technology — and guided professionals across 50+ organisations in putting AI and data science to work.
How we work
You'll see the whole system before you pay for a slice of it.
Most quotes work backwards from your budget. We work forwards from the problem. First we design what the right answer actually looks like — the full system, properly specified. Then we sit down together and cut it to what you can spend this year.
For example
You want a call assistant, and your customers speak four languages. We design it for four. If this year's budget covers one, we build one — properly, so it works from day one — and the other three stay in the design, costed, ready for when you are.
The price moves with the scope. The standard doesn't move at all. What we hand over is finished work, not a cheaper version of finished work.
So you end up with two things a fixed quote never gives you: something that genuinely works now, and a clear picture of what you've chosen not to buy yet.
We eat together.
Work rarely arrives on its own. Someone mentions us in the right room, at the right moment. In most firms that person gets a thank you. We'd rather they got paid.
So — introduce us to someone, and if it becomes a project, 10% of the fee is yours. Paid when the client pays us. No forms, no partner programme, no small print.
Make an introduction →