DE
Davoud Esfandiary
Co-founder & CEO
Davoud is 1404's co-founder and current Chief Executive Officer, responsible for company strategy, partnerships, and client success.
About
Practical AI, built around your business.
1404 is a Manchester-based applied AI company. We help small and growing businesses improve customer service, knowledge access, and everyday operations with carefully scoped AI solutions.
Our purpose
AI should deliver a clear business outcome, not become another technology initiative to manage. We founded 1404 to make capable, well-implemented AI accessible to organisations that need commercial value without unnecessary complexity.
Our work begins with a defined use case: answering customer questions, helping employees find reliable information, or reducing repetitive administrative work. We then design, test, and deploy a focused solution that fits the way the business already operates.
We are based on Lever Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter and work with B2B clients across the UK and internationally. Every engagement has a clear scope, a named delivery lead, and straightforward commercial terms.
How we work
We favour focused deployments over broad transformation programmes. A smaller initial scope makes it possible to validate quality, adoption, and return on investment before committing to a larger rollout.
Our team combines technical delivery with practical business judgement. We pay close attention to source quality, response accuracy, human oversight, and the point at which an AI system should hand work back to a person.
Clients work directly with the people responsible for their solution. That keeps decisions clear, feedback cycles short, and accountability in one place from initial assessment through to ongoing support.
Prove value early
Trials and focused pilots let clients evaluate a solution with their own content before expanding it.
Clear commercial terms
Published plans and fixed-scope proposals make costs, deliverables, and responsibilities easy to understand.
Responsible delivery
We build in testing, appropriate human oversight, and clear boundaries for every AI-assisted workflow.
Direct accountability
Clients work with senior team members who understand both the commercial objective and the implementation.
Why 1404?
A four-digit name with a practical idea behind it.
1404 is our shorthand for how useful AI gets built: 1 clear business problem, 4 disciplined stages—discover, design, deploy, and improve—0 unnecessary complexity, and 4 outcomes that matter: time saved, better service, stronger knowledge, and measurable return.
Team
Leadership and delivery
A senior, hands-on team responsible for strategy, implementation, and client outcomes.
PR
Priya Rajan
Co-founder & Delivery Director
Priya leads discovery and delivery, translating business requirements into well-defined projects with measurable outcomes.
OM
Owen Murphy
Co-founder & Technical Director
Owen leads solution architecture and engineering, with responsibility for technical quality, reliability, and deployment.
Company profile
Manchester founded. Business focused.
2023Started in Manchester
B2BSmall and growing companies
UKManchester headquarters
GlobalRemote delivery available
Explore a focused first use case
Evaluate a website assistant with your own content for 14 days, or speak with us about a specific operational requirement.