In-house and agency marketers and other teams can use the platform to evaluate ideas early in the decision-making process.

Users describe what they want to evaluate, e.g. a marketing campaign, product concept or executive message. The platform creates a custom virtual focus group with tailored AI-generated personas.

At the end of a session, the platform generates a report with insights and recommendations.

It also allows users to revisit focus groups after an initial session and ask follow-up questions and test revised concepts as their needs evolve.

SmartFocus.ai was developed with support from Microsoft for Startups and is headquartered in Los Angeles.

Users can pay for a single session or can sign up to a monthly subscription plan.

SmartFocus.ai co-founder Erik Deutsch said the founders built the platform to “close the gap between having a great idea and knowing if it will actually work”.

Deutsch added: “Everyone has ideas, but too few get tested before they're put into action. For most organisations, focus groups have been something only other people could afford.”

Co-founder Stefan Pollack said: “I've been in communications for decades, and I can't count the number of times a client had to make a consequential decision, a product name, a campaign, a crisis response, with nothing but gut instinct and internal consensus to go on. Not because they didn't want better information, but because the alternative cost $20,000 and took three weeks.”