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Aussie AI whizz left to study at Cambridge, but founded a unicorn

Dave Excell just wanted to do a PhD, but serendipity led him to switch from study to start-ups. Now his artificial intelligence business is heading for unicorn status.

Hans van Leeuwen
Hans van LeeuwenEurope correspondent

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London | Tech geek Dave Excell left Canberra in 2004 for Cambridge University intending to do a PhD and enjoy life in the ivy-clad cloisters. But things didn’t go quite according to plan.

He arrived in England with a BA in engineering and IT from the Australian National University, three suitcases and a burning interest in artificial intelligence – which back then was more of a wild-west stretch of the tech landscape than it is today.

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Hans van Leeuwen covers British and European politics, economics and business from London. He has worked as a reporter, editor and policy adviser in Sydney, Canberra, Hanoi and London. Connect with Hans on Twitter. Email Hans at hans.vanleeuwen@afr.com

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/technology/aussie-ai-whizz-left-to-study-at-cambridge-but-founded-a-unicorn-20220701-p5ayhq