How a strategic approach helped AppliedAI scale up

AppliedAI hopes to step into that gap. Its mission is to help organizations operationalize AI in a controlled and scalable way. As Arya Bolurfrushan, CEO, explains,"At AppliedAI, our focus is on finding the high cost of error workflows, or mission-critical workflows, and figuring out a way to automate them. That's usually in highly regulated spaces, like financial services or insurance."

This focus has shaped the business from the beginning. Its core platform, Opus, is designed to convert natural language inputs into actionable workflows, supporting the full lifecycle of AI-enabled processes and empowering traceable decision-making aligned with regulatory expectations.

AppliedAI’s platform helps organizations convert operational steps into tangible outcomes, reducing delays and improving performance. Notably, the company began developing this capability four years ago, well before AI adoption became widespread across the market. As a result, organizations that adopted the platform early on gained a meaningful competitive advantage.

Scaling a specialized business like this comes with clear risks. Damiano Pietroni, EY-Parthenon MENA Insurance Strategy Leader, has been involved in the relationship with AppliedAI since its inception. Reflecting on the progress so far, he says, “AppliedAI looked for advisors who could help them develop scalable solutions driven by market demand. And in a sector like insurance, where the regulatory environment is so complex, entering the market also requires deep sector experience and careful judgment.”

In 2023, AppliedAI collaborated with EY-Parthenon teams to strengthen its business with strategic, operational and industry knowledge. EY-Parthenon teams provided a three-year growth strategy, a detailed product roadmap and an investor playbook to support fundraising. Together, these deliverables helped AppliedAI articulate its equity story more clearly and secure the capital needed for growth.

EY-Parthenon teams supported through the strategy definition and venture-building phases, working closely with the CEO and leadership team to define a scalable business model, prioritize use cases and align platform capabilities with the requirements of regulated sectors. The collaboration also gave AppliedAI access to deep domain knowledge, structured transformation methods and regional insight.

A key part of EY-Parthenon teams’ work was helping refine AppliedAI’s broad initial strategic direction. At first, a range of industries and possible paths were explored. Through data-driven qualitative and quantitative insight, EY-Parthenon teams then helped narrow down those options, enabling AppliedAI leadership to make informed decisions. The process ultimately led AppliedAI to move forward as a product-based AI solutions company. The relationship between AppliedAI and EY-Parthenon teams has grown steadily over several years. Defining the company’s strategy and product roadmap contributed to the success of a $47 million funding round a year after the collaboration began, which also involved connecting with EY-Parthenon teams and engagement with investors. This was followed by another funding round a year later. In 2025, discussions also began between AppliedAI and EY-Parthenon teams about a joint go-to-market strategy, which has since evolved into a broader relationship.

Anthony Yazitzis, EY-Parthenon MENA Financial Services Leader, believes the EY-Parthenon teams' insight-driven approach was a key principle brought to the engagement. It was vital for the team to do the rigorous prioritization of relevant strategic options, to give practical, tangible and actionable recommendations, he adds. Bolurfrushan agrees, recalling sessions where EY-Parthenon would “take the raw ambition and vision…, then come back and say, ‘Okay, here's exactly what's happening’”.

The continuity of the relationship has been one of its defining strengths. EY-Parthenon teams have remained involved from the earliest strategy discussions and venture creation through to post-investment scaling.

Anchored in Dubai, the engagement included frequent in-person workshops involving leaders from both organizations and AppliedAI’s experienced advisory board. This allowed EY-Parthenon teams to tailor their support to the needs of regulated sectors and identify relevant use cases across the MENA region and individual countries.

The collaboration also aligned AppliedAI’s proposition with the needs of regulated industries and prepared the business for expansion after external investment. The impact is clear: The company has evolved from an innovative concept to a mature operating model.

While the initial focus was insurance, AppliedAI has since expanded into banking, with deployments across multiple UAE banks and healthcare, where it has developed a dedicated solution. The platform is now largely industry-agnostic and capable of supporting a broad range of regulated, and even less-regulated, sectors.