A Chat with Dominique Harrison-Bentzen and William Stone, Founders of Agent Lunar: An All-In-One Customer Experience (CX) Platform

With the official launch a few weeks away, the founders of Agent Lunar are excited to reveal more about what’s to come. 

Agent Lunar is at the forefront of a new era, introducing digital workers with unique identities, memories, and skills that seamlessly integrate with human teams. These advanced AI Agents are revolutionising how small businesses respond to the ever-changing needs of consumers. The first to launch in January will be Mya, a Chief Marketing Officer.

These AI Agents are not just efficient; they’re also cost-effective, operating at a speed 20 times faster than human counterparts and reducing costs by 98%.

Tell us about Agent Lunar – what markets do you serve? 

At the heart of Agent Lunar is the mission to support small businesses. Our immediate efforts are focused on revitalising the UK’s high streets—a mission with global relevance. The decline of high streets has been accelerated by COVID-19, affecting urban centres worldwide. Our strategy is to reverse this trend not by competing with online entities but by harmonising digital presence with physical stores—transforming clicks into foot traffic.

Businesses must accept that the customer has changed and is changing. That needn’t mean the death of the high street, but it does mean adaptation. It’s no longer enough for retailers to focus on the product – they need to move towards the experiential, giving the “Phygital” buyer a reason to bring their business in-store while equally answering their needs online. And that’s becoming a universal expectation. So, while we’re starting with the UK market, the vision is to expand further. 

We’re committed to helping small businesses because globally, SMBs are instrumental in driving economic development, yet they often lack the necessary tools and resources to grow. That’s why we have built advanced AI agents – who we call digital workers – specifically tailored to the unique needs of small businesses. Our digital workers operate within our proprietary SaaS platform. The first we will release is Mya, a Chief Marketing Officer. Whilst Mya is starting in the UK, thanks to her emotional intelligence, long-term memory and ability to self-improve, we’re confident that she can help us build a more streamlined process for entering new markets. 

When we do so, you can expect to see multilingual support but with a prioritisation on local nuances, dialects, and cultural details to ensure Mya – and her digital colleagues – are indistinguishable from humans in their communication.

How did you come up with the idea for Agent Lunar? 

The concept of Agent Lunar was born during our time at London Business School, where we first met. We discovered a shared set of values and realised that our upbringing in small, tight-knit communities (Dominique in a northern village and William on a rural farm in South Australia) profoundly shaped our perspectives. Consequently, we’ve always been drawn to community life – but the community infrastructure is slowly being eroded. Many businesses have been unable to bounce back from the various economic disruptions of the last few years – there are 70,000 empty shops in the UK and, in some towns, more than a quarter of retail units are empty. 

And when the shops disappear, the banks and social hubs follow, leading to a decline in other amenities, such as public transport. We recognised this and felt the need to find a solution that empowers SMBs and demonstrates that physical and digital don’t need to be mutually exclusive. Our complementary expertise in both “bricks” and “clicks” retail provides us with the unique capability to create a significant impact – and that’s where Agent Lunar came from. 

What can we hope to see from Agent Lunar in the future?

We have many plans for next year that we’re really excited about. 

Firstly, we understand that as much of a benefit as a Chief Marketing Officer will be to SMBs, it won’t solve all of their problems. For many small businesses, there is a small team spinning multiple plates. There’s no budget (or, sometimes, the need) for specialist roles. And this can, again, put them at a disadvantage. That’s why we’re developing other advanced AI agents. Soon, Mya will join forces with two new experts in Sales and Customer Care on the Agent Lunar platform. This trio will sync seamlessly enabling SMBs to have control over the entire customer experience; attracting, converting, and retaining their customers.

Secondly, we are committed to creating a broader support network for SMBs. We will be expanding our partnerships to include local councils and governments, amplifying the impact on urban renewal. 

We understand that digital workers are a controversial topic yet it’s a pivotal element of the next industrial revolution – an era of transformation we can either embrace or overlook. Choosing to embrace it, we see an opportunity to level the playing field for small businesses, giving them access to top-tier talent and bespoke tech solutions, that small businesses desperately need. With that said, we advocate for the responsible use of AI, emphasising the need for stringent guardrails. 

Agent Lunar imagines a future where humans and digital workers unite, advancing society and fostering inclusive economic prosperity.