LAIQ, a South African-developed conversational analytics platform, makes its official debut at AI Expo Africa 2026, with supermarket group Big Save already using the technology to analyse business information across its stores, departments and products.
Businesses collect large amounts of information through their everyday operations, but accessing meaningful insights can still mean requesting reports and waiting for them to be prepared. LAIQ allows stakeholders to explore their business data in greater depth, uncover insights that might otherwise be missed and use that information to make more informed decisions.
Developed by Espresso Ventures, LAIQ connects to existing business systems, combining business intelligence reporting with predictive analytics and AI-powered conversations.
“Getting answers to specific business questions can still be complicated, even when the information is already available,” says Jono Weltman, CEO of Espresso Ventures. “With LAIQ, people can ask questions in plain language and get answers based on their own business data. They can then follow up with further questions to investigate the results.”
From sales reports to everyday conversations
At Big Save, LAIQ draws information from the group’s point-of-sale, accounting and inventory systems. Stakeholders can examine stock information, investigate product performance across branches and explore the factors contributing to changes in business performance.
The platform follows the conversation, allowing users to build on previous questions. It can present information in charts and tables, explain patterns and suggest potential actions based on the results.
Big Save is also giving authorised suppliers access to LAIQ so they can examine how their products are performing across its stores. Previously, suppliers sometimes waited days or weeks for reports to be prepared and shared with them. They can now access relevant business information themselves and investigate performance at individual branches.
“Previously, our suppliers relied on reports that we had to prepare and send to them. Now they can ask their own questions and see how their products are performing. They can investigate what’s happening in individual stores and use that information to make decisions about their products,” says Dylan Jardim, Head of Marketing at Big Save.
Beyond the supermarket
LAIQ uses role-based permissions to control access to business information, allowing stakeholders to work with the data they are authorised to see.
The technology is also being applied in other business environments, including retail and hospitality point-of-sale reporting, distribution and facilities management. It can be embedded into existing software products, allowing technology providers to offer conversational analytics through their own platforms.
“The interesting thing is what happens when people realise they can ask almost anything about their business,” says Weltman. “They start asking questions that would never have made it into a report. And sometimes, the question nobody thought to ask turns out to be the one that matters most.”
