From Horsepower to Human-AI Teams: Polly Shares Her Vision On the Quantum growth podcast 🚀
By Hannah McKernon, Head of Digital Marketing at Maybe*
In a recent episode of the Quantum Growth podcast, host James sat down with Polly Barnfield, OBE , CEO of Maybe*. to unpack the extraordinary journey of an entrepreneur who’s as comfortable managing AI agents as she once was galloping for gold with the British equestrian team.
Polly’s story is one of grit, creativity, and a relentless commitment to solving real-world problems. From philanthropy to e-commerce to now leading one of the UK’s most exciting AI ventures, Polly’s journey has been anything but linear, and that’s precisely what makes Maybe* such a compelling company in today’s AI-driven world.
Grit Over Glamour: The Roots of a Relentless Founder
“I’m unemployable,” Polly quips early in the episode, a wry comment that belies a career spent breaking moulds rather than fitting them. Having earned an OBE for philanthropy and a gold medal in equestrian sport, she credits those experiences for instilling in her two things every founder needs: resilience and systems thinking.
“Riding teaches you how to fall off and get back up again. Philanthropy teaches you that systems can change lives.”
It’s this ethos that underpins Maybe* a platform now helping businesses across the UK and beyond integrate AI into their workflows in a way that’s safe, powerful, and genuinely transformative.
What Is Maybe*?
Maybe* helps businesses build AI agents, powerful, intelligent assistants that can perform repetitive or strategic tasks through simple conversation, not code. In Polly’s words, it's like hiring “the most reliable teammate you’ve ever had”, one who understands your brand voice, your business rules, and your data priorities.
Unlike many AI tools that offer a bit of everything (and often confuse users in the process), Maybe* is focused on unlocking action, not anxiety. Businesses don’t need to learn prompt engineering or complex systems. They just need to talk.
“Grit beats glamour every time.”
“Our mission is to unlock action, not anxiety.”
“Think of AI agents as hiring the most reliable teammate you’ve ever had.”
Built for Teams, Not Techies
Maybe* offers an orchestration layer that chooses the right agent for the right task, so teams don’t need to navigate confusing toolkits or toggle between apps. It’s the next evolution in workplace automation, a true “agentic layer” for businesses.
And it's designed to work securely. Polly highlights a significant risk in the current AI gold rush: data sprawl. Businesses that use 10 different tools with varying AI layers risk losing control over their data and brand consistency. Maybe* solves that by giving companies ownership of their own AI environment, fully compliant and secure.
“It does feel a little bit like the Wild West out there… but for AI.”
“The real mindshift is helping teams see AI not as a threat, but as a teammate that 10x’s output.”
“You still need to know what good looks like, AI is powerful, but it still needs human oversight.”
Where Maybe* Fits in the Future of Work
Polly's team has interviewed over 600 businesses to shape the Maybe* roadmap. The result? A product that doesn't just support AI adoption, it leads it. Maybe* helps teams:
Safely build and manage AI agents.
Keep brand and data consistent.
Move from tool overload to intelligent orchestration.
Transform repetitive processes into creative outputs.
Give your team superpowers
As AI becomes a default part of every platform, Maybe* ensures your business is driving the change, not playing catch-up with it.
What’s Next for Maybe*?
The next Maybe* launch is a conversational agent builder that Polly says is “like telling your dream teammate what you want and them delivering it in five minutes.” No prompts. No coding. Just results.
Whether you're a two-person startup or a global brand, Maybe* helps your team build the AI colleagues you wish you had, securely, at scale, and aligned to your goals.
Closing thought from Polly:
“Build AI for usefulness, not for loyalty. Solve problems. Banish the boring. And if it doesn’t help you — it won’t help anyone else.”
This isn’t just AI for AI’s sake. It’s AI with purpose.
Want to Try It?
Get started today and start experiencing the power of conversational AI designed to work with you, not over you.
Or reach out to Polly on LinkedIn if you’re curious about how Maybe* can supercharge your business.
With Maybe*, Anything is Possible. Get started today.
