Ethical AI and multilingual innovation drive Guildhawk’s global success

Guildhawk, a female-led technology SME based in London and Sheffield, set out to transform from a traditional language service provider into a technology-driven multilingual communications company. With a growing need for secure, accurate, and fast translation solutions in regulated industries, the company aimed to build new digital tools underpinned by cutting-edge AI.

To achieve this, Guildhawk partnered with Sheffield Hallam University through two Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). These collaborations sought to develop secure AI-powered multilingual platforms and advance methods in multilingual dataset labelling using agentic AI, helping address major technical and social challenges in sectors such as legal, mining, construction, and healthcare.

The first KTP enabled Guildhawk to launch GAI Translate™, the world’s first secure AI translation platform specifically built for regulated industries. It featured an industry-first 1-click human review function, balancing the speed of automation with expert oversight. The platform quickly attracted paying subscribers across legal, compliance, mining and finance  sectors and earned Guildhawk the 2025 Market Disruptor of the Year Award at the Security and Safety Entrepreneur Awards.

The second KTP focused on applying agentic AI to develop multilingual dataset labelling techniques – enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of machine learning models used in sensitive domains like law and public safety. The collaboration also strengthened Sheffield Hallam’s capabilities in natural language processing and contributed to its postgraduate research output.

Through these KTPs, Guildhawk has driven forward the UK’s leadership in ethical AI and multilingual communication.

Key impacts include:

• Business growth and global reach: expanded into new sectors and markets, including Southeast Asia
• Technological innovation: developed new SaaS products and advanced AI labelling methods
• Recognition and awards: industry accolades and increased visibility in AI and data ethics
• Talent development: a permanent role was offered to the KTP Associate and SHU graduates were hired into skilled tech positions
• Societal benefit: improved accuracy in multilingual risk reporting and reduced health and safety risks in sectors like construction

In addition, the project has contributed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals through more sustainable data processing and economic inclusion for multilingual workers.