Mick Stevenson
forty years on the tools, then software.

The forty years bit

Four decades across the trades and construction before I wrote a line of production code. On the tools first, then developing property, running buy-to-lets, and a plant hire business. Different jobs, same education: quoting work, chasing payment, managing sites, and doing the paperwork at night because the day was full.

That order matters more than it sounds. Most people selling AI to small businesses came at it from technology and are working out the business bit as they go. I came at it the other way round.

It means when a roofer tells me the phone always rings when he is up a ladder, I am not imagining that problem, I have lived it. When someone says the quote has to go out tonight or the job goes to whoever got theirs in first, I know that is true rather than taking their word for it. When a landlord describes the admin around a portfolio, I have done it. And when a piece of software wants fourteen fields filled in before it will let you save, I know exactly why nobody in a van will ever use it twice.

The software side

Twenty-odd tools, built and running

I have designed, built and deployed more than twenty working software products. Not prototypes, not demos — things that hold real data and get used. That is the second half of why I am worth listening to on this subject: I am not commenting on AI from the sidelines, I am shipping with it and dealing with the consequences.

Everything ships with security by design and UK GDPR compliance built in rather than bolted on: proper access controls, secrets kept out of the browser, inputs validated, dependencies scanned automatically. The standard a large organisation would insist on, applied to businesses that cannot afford a breach.

See how I build, or go and tryPiran, the assistant running for Cornwall Play Safety.

The standard I hold to

Build the most professional, secure product the job deserves. No cutting corners, no shortcuts, no version that is fine for now. If something is worth putting a business through, it is worth building properly the first time.

In practice that means the unglamorous parts get done: access controls that actually control access, secrets kept off the client, every input validated, dependencies scanned automatically, and error monitoring on the tools I build for you. It is slower. It is also the difference between software that works and software that has not failed yet.

I would rather be the one who knows than the one who's finished.

What I won't take on

Financial services, and anything touching medical records. Both sit under regulatory regimes needing specialist knowledge I do not have, and a general-purpose AI tool has no business anywhere near clinical data. I would rather turn the work away than take your money for something I cannot do properly.

The same applies at a smaller scale. If you describe a problem and automation is not the answer, I will say so. If something needs a solicitor or a data-protection specialist rather than me, I will tell you that too. It costs me the odd job and it is still the right way round.

Where to find me

• Email — [email protected]
• Phone — 07501 439406
• LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/mickstevenson ↗
• Based — St Austell, Cornwall

Straight answers

What did you do before software?

Forty years across the trades and construction — on the tools, then developing property, running buy-to-lets and a plant hire business. That is not a marketing line. It is why the tools I build fit how a working business actually runs, and why I can tell when software has been designed by someone who has never been on a site.

You are a registered playground inspector as well?

Yes — RPII-registered Operational Inspector, registration OP11916, which anyone can check on the public RPII register. It matters here because it is the reason InspectVoice exists: I built inspection software for a job I actually do, to a standard I have to stand behind myself.

Are you actually based in Cornwall?

Yes. St Austell. You can ring me, and you can meet me. There is no ticket queue and no account manager up-country.

What do you refuse to work on?

Financial services and anything touching medical records. Both need specialist regulatory knowledge I do not hold, and a general AI tool has no business near clinical data. I would rather turn work away than take it on badly.

Do you only work with trades?

No. Trades are where my background is and where I am useful fastest, but the same problems turn up in cafés, clinics, holiday lets and agencies. If admin is eating your week, the work is much the same.

How many products have you built?

More than twenty live software products. Not prototypes or demos — things that hold real data and get used daily. That is the second half of why I am worth listening to on AI: I am not commenting from the sidelines, I ship with it and deal with the consequences.