“What’s the value of a degree if a student can ChatGPT their way to a first? Five years from now, is a degree still going to have the same value?”

That question became the starting point for Integrevise.

The challenge was not simply academic misconduct. It was about trust, verification and confidence in qualifications. As generative AI became more capable, universities faced a growing problem: how could they verify that submitted work genuinely reflected student understanding?

At the same time, the answer seemed obvious.

“The gold standard of student assessment is oral viva.”

Universities already had a reliable way to verify understanding. The challenge was that it could not realistically be delivered at scale.

That made it a strong fit for the Cyber Innovation Hub Venture Building Programme: a challenge created by AI, rooted in trust and verification, with clear commercial potential.

Finding the route into venture building

Kyle’s route into entrepreneurship was not conventional. Before joining the Venture Building Programme, he completed much of his education while in custody, studying through the Open University before finishing his degree at the University of Portsmouth. He graduated seven days after being released.

“I actually got my degree while I was in custody. I started studying through the Open University, then finished my degree at the University of Portsmouth. I graduated seven days after I got released.”

That experience gave Kyle a personal understanding of how powerful education can be when qualifications are trusted, credible and connected to opportunity.

It also shaped why Integrevise mattered to him. If degrees lose credibility, the consequences are significant not only for universities and employers, but for students whose futures depend on those qualifications carrying real value.

Validating the problem before building the solution

A core principle of the Venture Building Programme is that teams validate the problem before committing to a solution.

For Integrevise, that meant speaking directly to academics, students and university stakeholders. The team began with lecturers they already knew, then expanded through outreach to universities and early user testing.

Kyle says that validation was essential.

“The problem was definitely real, genuine and urgent. We’d spoken to over 50 academics, and there were lots of articles and media coverage about the issue we were addressing.”

The team then built a small prototype and tested it with users.

“We built a small prototype, did user testing, and that pretty much validated the problem and the solution. Feedback from academics and students showed that the direction we were going in made sense.”

Those conversations helped sharpen the proposition.

Universities were not simply looking for ways to catch students out. They needed a better way to verify understanding.

That insight led to Integrevise’s AI-supported oral assessment platform. After submitting written work, students take part in a short structured dialogue, explaining and reflecting on their work in their own words. The platform gives educators additional evidence of understanding, without replacing academic judgement.

Building with support

The Cyber Innovation Hub Venture Building Programme gave the Integrevise team the space and structure to turn early validation into a venture.

For Kyle, the most valuable support came from the leadership and guidance around the team.

“The leadership has been really valuable. Knowing they’re always there and that you can go to them if you’re having an issue or need support has been one of the most helpful things.”

He describes the programme as giving founders freedom, but with the right level of challenge and direction.

“They give you the freedom and flexibility to go down your own path, but they also guide you away from the danger zone.”

That balance mattered as the team moved through customer discovery, product development, pilot conversations and fundraising.

Like any early-stage venture, Integrevise had to manage uncertainty. Kyle describes one of the biggest challenges as deciding where to focus energy: raising money or securing customers.

“You obviously need to do both, but you’re trying to balance them. If you don’t raise money, you run out of money. But if you don’t have customers, investors ask where the traction is.”

The programme helped the team navigate that pressure, but Kyle is clear that venture building still requires resilience.

“Sometimes you have to accept that not everything is going to go to plan. It’s not always going to be perfect and orderly. Sometimes you just have to muddle through.”

His summary of the experience is simple:

“It’s about being comfortable in chaos.”

From validation to momentum

Since emerging from the Venture Building Programme, Integrevise has continued to build evidence through pilots, research and university engagement. Work with Cardiff University has explored how oral assessment can reveal understanding that written work alone may not capture, while a pilot with Lindenwood University showed how the process can surface learning gaps earlier in the student journey.

Those developments have helped move Integrevise from early concept to recognised venture. The company has been named Startup of the Year at the Times Higher Education Digital Universities Conference and nominated for Global Startup of the Year by the Startup Awards.

What the journey shows

Integrevise began with a challenge.

CyberInvent is designed to help the next generation of researchers do the same.

Through a fully funded PhD at Cardiff University and Cyber Innovation Hub’s Venture Building Programme, you’ll have the opportunity to explore how your research could become the foundation for a future venture.

Applications are now open for the January 2027 intake.

The next successful venture could begin with a problem someone has already spotted.

Organisations with critical digital, cyber or AI challenges can also work with Cyber Innovation Hub to explore whether those problems could become the starting point for a new venture.