Workshop In 2 weeks
November
Thursday
17:30–20:00 2026 · London time
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Every AI founder’s nightmare: OpenAI or Anthropic ships a new feature in ChatGPT or Claude that wipes out your product overnight. Thin “AI wrapper” products built on top of large language models are easy to build, and just as easy to replace.
Investors know it too. Before anything else, VCs now ask one question: what is your AI startup’s moat? The answer lies in proprietary workflows, niche data, deep industry integration and the kind of trust that general-purpose AI struggles to earn. Get that right and AI becomes a lasting advantage. Get it wrong and your product becomes a free feature inside someone else’s platform.
Join us for the second Founders & AI session, a founder-focused startup event in London at The Brew, Shoreditch (Old Street): a fireside chat featuring Cien Solon (Founder & CEO, LaunchLemonade), Ajit Barik (Founder & CEO, HyphenOne and Wyzr) and Anurag Jain (Founder, Digital Back Office and Dataflow).
What we’ll discuss
The AI wrapper trap: why products built on ChatGPT or Claude are easy to copy, and how to avoid becoming a feature in someone else’s platform Where real moats come from today: proprietary data, workflows, deep industry integration and customer trust Why trust, governance and verifiable AI win in regulated industries like fintech Owning versus renting AI: when to fine-tune open-weight models and when to pay for an API How investors now judge whether an AI startup is defensible
What you’ll take away
A practical framework for testing how defensible your AI product really is Clear guidance on what to build in-house and what to buy or rent Real lessons from founders building AI in finance and regulated markets Live founder demos with direct feedback from the speakers Time to ask questions and connect with founders, operators and technologists building with AI in London
Live Founder Demos This time, we’ve set aside 10 minutes for live founder demos. If you’d like to show what you’re building, apply through the demo application form (https://forms.gle/jhSSoswJ7nJSWZ5N9). From the applications, we’ll select a few founders to demo on the night, and we’ll personally invite those selected so they have time to prepare. Application deadline: Sunday, 22 November
Date, Time and Venue Date: Thursday, 26 November 2026 Time: 17:30 to 20:00 Venue: The Brew Shoreditch, Eagle House, 163 City Road, London EC1V 1NR (https://share.google/PU1YqiVJeOK7yHnRy)
Run of Show 17:30 to 18:15 Registration, drinks, food and founder networking 18:15 to 18:25 Welcome and quick introductions around the room 18:25 to 19:10 Fireside chat with Cien Solon, Ajit Barik and Anurag Jain 19:10 to 19:20 Live founder demos, with feedback from the speakers 19:20 to 19:40 Open Q&A focused on building a defensible AI product 19:40 to 20:00 Curated founder networking
About the Speakers
Cien Solon, Founder & CEO, LaunchLemonade Cien is the Founder & CEO of LaunchLemonade, home to AI agents you can trust. She brings over a decade of experience in financial services and fintech, building products used by millions and leading teams of up to 100 engineers. LaunchLemonade helps regulated businesses build AI teammates across multiple models, with control over data, tools and human approvals.
Ajit Barik, Founder & CEO, HyphenOne and Wyzr Ajit is a London-based founder and former Deutsche Bank trader, building AI agents that can be trusted in finance. His company HyphenOne, part of Wyzr Fintech which he founded in 2020, builds verifiable, auditable AI for credit underwriting, due diligence and financial reporting for private credit, private equity and finance teams.
Anurag Jain, Founder, Digital Back Office & Dataflow Anurag brings the technical lens: where real defensibility comes from in an AI product, when fine-tuning smaller open-weight models pays off, and what founders should understand before betting their engineering time on a platform they don’t control. With 25+ years in the industry, he helps startups and scale-ups turn data into decisions and AI ideas into measurable outcomes.
Limited places. Register now. Seats are capped to keep the conversation focused and personal. Free to attend. If you’re building with AI and want a business that lasts, secure your place before it fills up.
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Shoreditch, London
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