Noise Solution share their AI journey with VRP

At VRP Consulting, we work with all kinds of third-sector organisations so they can take their missions forward and do amazing, innovative things thanks to the power of Salesforce^® technology. 

Noise Solution is one such organisation. They help young people in the UK through the power of music and self-determination, pairing them with musicians for sessions that give them a real boost in all kinds of positive, life-changing ways. 

We’re sure you’ll be fascinated to hear about Noise Solution’s work, their experiences with VRP, and how they’re using AI to make an even bigger difference. 

Meet Simon and Damien

VRP Consulting and Noise Solution have been working together for quite some time – we were overjoyed to win the Salesforce 2022 Partner Innovation Award, and a 2024 Digital Revolution Award, for our work with them. It’s always a great pleasure whenever they ask us for our assistance or advice. 

VRP’s Nonprofit Practice Director, Laura Croudace, recently got together with Noise Solution’s Founder and CEO, Simon Glennister, and Operations Director, Damien Ribbans. Their conversation touched on all kinds of topics – and here it is. 

Aiming at AI’s advantages for a long time

Laura
Hi, guys. Great to see you again! To begin with, can you share some details about how AI became a part of your mission?

Simon
I’ll start, if you don’t mind, Damien.

Damien
Sure, go ahead.

Simon
Well, we were thinking, talking, and designing our digital offer to incorporate and leverage AI well before the launch of ChatGPT. We just didn’t know that’s what it was called! We’ve fifteen years of experience in using digital music-making to engage with and transform how young people feel about themselves. We’ve always leveraged technology to do this, for instance in the form of digital stories that those young people create from within music sessions, posting highlights and reflections of their music mentoring journey. These digital stories are securely shared with family and key workers within the Salesforce ecosystem.

We’ve long recognised that we have a very special resource in the form of a Salesforce org that is capturing (and safely sharing) these stories in the form of text, audio and video, but we’ve also developed the story portal (using Experience Cloud) as places to easily capture number data, in the form of an NHS (UK public healthcare) well-being scale captured pre- and post-intervention. Salesforce automatically analyses that data for us using a Flow-based solution, while also handling every bit of our operational data. It’s all in the same ‘digital bucket of truth’. 

Laura
Yes – Salesforce is often referred to as the ‘single source of truth’ for nonprofits and businesses using it. Everything in the same place – the digital hub for all your data and operations. 

“Impact gold dust”

Damien
We know that having all of our data in one place, with the ability to link quantitative and qualitative data back to a real person, is impact gold dust. 

Simon
Over the last seven years, we’ve been discussing and trying to really unlock the potential of all that data to improve the outcomes of the young people we work with. 

Damien
The evolution of technologies such as AI, Large Language Models (LLM) and no/low-code solutions has allowed us to really accelerate our work and unlock the potential of this data to improve outcomes; and that is the ultimate point, for us. 

Laura
Love it! What you’ve both just said really resonates, because it’s exactly what I want to do for Noise Solution and other nonprofits we work for – at the end of the day, it really is all about improving outcomes.

Crucial technical oversight and input

Laura
What inspired the partnership between Noise Solution and VRP Consulting, particularly in the context of AI?

Simon
As the Founder and CEO, my experience of technology comes from music applications while the setting up of the CRM has been driven by Damien, Noise Solution’s Operations Director. 

Damien
Neither of us are developers or coders, but we are pretty digitally-native and had a good idea of the capabilities we could leverage. 

Simon
We knew what we wanted and what problems we needed to solve- 

Damien
Yes – but what was needed was the technical oversight and input to both ensure things were architected in the correct way, whilst making sure that key considerations such as cost and security of data were at the forefront. 

Simon
VRP have been invaluable in supporting us on those aspects, while also educating us on all the other possibilities we wouldn’t have known existed. VRP have enthusiastically taken our (sometimes crazy!) ideas, recognised their value and made them real and viable.

“Making us massively more efficient”

Laura
How has integrating AI technology transformed the way you approach your work with young people? What impact has it had? 

Simon
Our whole digital infrastructure has been developed to tell us when things aren’t happening, so we don’t waste precious resources looking at what’s already working. This key starting point in any build really helps to make us massively efficient; we try, as far as possible, to get the tech to do the heavy lifting so we can point our people to where they can add the most value. AI technologies in this regard aren’t ‘taking people’s jobs’, but more making us massively more efficient and creating the space for our people to do what they do best without arduous admin, box-ticking or filling out endless checklists.

Damien
The whole point of this for us is to actually see where our work is, and crucially is not, impactful. This isn’t an exercise in vanity for us; we are genuinely interested in focusing our work where it is most needed and most likely to have an impact. The adoption of AI and LLM technologies allow us to spot patterns and trends we either wouldn’t be able to spot or would have to allocate a significant amount of resource to do so. AI makes the sometimes invisible, visible. 

Laura
That’s very well-put.

Damien
We have a data strategy in place that means we are gathering and storing data which is actually important to us. Because all these data are stored securely in the same ecosystem we can slice, dice and analyse it in any way we choose. AI technologies allow us to take a macro view across all kinds of qualitative, quantitative, structured and unstructured data, not only identifying patterns and trends but suggesting responses and changes. 

AI working hard to make a difference

Laura
Could you highlight a specific way in which AI played a pivotal role in achieving your objectives?

Damien
After every session, the musician and young person record a short reflection video. It’s a two- or three-minute-long conversation between two people – super informal – reflecting on the session and how they felt about it. These videos are full of impact gold dust, but nigh on impossible to do anything with – we would have to watch every video (currently hundreds of hours a year), make subjective judgements on each of them and then have the ability to view these judgements in aggregate against each other, then overlay demographic and engagement data to come to any sort of conclusion. An impossible task (analogy of an infinite number of monkeys writing Shakespeare on an infinite number of typewriters aside).

AI allows us to do that, and we are weeks away from getting it into production. 

Laura
Exciting stuff! I know our team has really enjoyed the chance to use technologies like natural language processing (NLP) in our work for you. It’s a big ‘double-whammy’ in terms of career satisfaction – getting to make a solution that uses some really cool, cutting-edge tech, and doing it to help such a great and interesting cause. Doesn’t get any better than that! 

“Technical blind spots”

Laura
What have been some of the biggest challenges in thinking about how you can use AI in your operations and how have you addressed them?

Damien
I think we had a pretty clear idea of the sorts of things we could potentially do, but our initial discussions with VRP highlighted we were only just scratching the surface. One of the challenges for us has been having the technical expertise to see ‘the art of the possible’, whilst not being clear about the best way to architect solutions; technical blind spots can be a real challenge.

Also I think there are a lot of ‘untruths’ about AI and LLMs. Yes, of course we need to be super careful about the security and integrity of our data and what we do with it. But if we keep that in mind from the outset and build solutions with data security and integrity in mind we can mitigate those risks.

Laura
Having Salesforce Customer 360 as your platform helps a lot with that, because the security’s baked into every layer – so everything happens in a safe security ‘bubble’. 

Damien
Yes, that’s a big advantage of using Salesforce. Finishing off my answer with one last point:  the pace of change is also a real challenge. These technologies are evolving near enough daily, so keeping up with it all is a job in and of itself.

Our mutually rewarding relationship

Laura
In what ways has VRP Consulting supported Noise Solution in navigating the complexities of AI technology implementation?

Damien
By taking our crazy, poorly thought-out ideas and turning them into a robust reality! We had (and continue to have) ideas around projects we would like to embark on, but no idea how to turn them into reality.

Secondly, there has definitely been a translation piece going on; our language is not the same language that a developer uses, even though we are talking around the same thing. VRP representatives have played a crucial role in translating, both ways, so we can work towards a common goal.

Lastly, we have really benefited from introductions to other people and organisations who can help us, and who we can help. We have a really strong relationship with Street Soccer Scotland now, who we never would have met had it not been for VRP. We have spoken at Dreamforce in San Francisco (twice!), been invited to speak at various Salesforce events and just met some really interesting and useful people. VRP have played a key role in leveraging these relationships.

Simon
It’s not been a one-way street, though. We’ve been instrumental in introducing VRP to a number of new customers on the strength of our recommendations, and that reciprocity is important to us.

Laura
And we really do appreciate you doing that. VRP and Noise Solution have the kind of connection I love having with our clients – I think it goes beyond the usual sort of relationship many consultancies have with nonprofits, in a way that brings a lot of value and new possibilities for both parties. 

Learnings along the way

Laura
What lessons have you learned about leveraging AI for social good through your partnership with VRP Consulting?

Damien
Firstly: know what you want to aim for, and have an open mind about how you get there. AI technologies are developing at pace, and there is definitely more than one way to peel the digital orange… We are experts in impact and our own work, and need to rely on the tech experts to do their thing.

Simon
Agreed!

Damien
Another thing: there is no such thing as a stupid question! I know that gets said all the while, but it is definitely true in this instance. There were (and will continue to be) aspects of our work which we take for granted but aren’t obvious for others, and similarly things which tech people take for granted which we just don’t know about. Chances are, if you don’t know, others won’t either…

Also, data integrity and security is a key consideration – but it isn’t a reason to not do something. Think about what is happening with your data, and make sure you are comfortable with it. If you aren’t, do it another way.

The last thing I want to mention: bring people with you. Just because you are excited by the project doesn’t mean other people will be! Take the time to explain why it is important, get some quick wins in and get others excited too. Crucially, also listen to their concerns. 

The future of AI in social impact

Laura
How do you see the role of AI evolving in your work and in the broader social impact sector?

Simon
We are months away from being able to automatically report on equal amounts of story data (people’s actual reflections on their experience, captured through video reflection). This holds out the possibility of doing away with the tyranny of feedback forms… take a moment to imagine that glorious future! 

Laura
“Tyranny of feedback forms” – love that! Might have to steal that phrase, haha! But yes, a glorious future indeed.

Simon
Also, bear in mind that the charity sector alone is estimated to spend more than 15 million hours a year reporting to funders. Imagine if, as we believe we can, we can solve that issue and free up all that resource to concentrate on the things that improve people’s lives.

Damien and Simon’s advice

Laura
What advice would you give to other charities looking to integrate AI into their operations?

Damien
Firstly, there are two sides to the same digital coin – don’t be afraid of it, but similarly don’t do things just because they are shiny and exciting. AI has the potential to really up the game of the whole sector, if we use it in the right way. No, it won’t take away your job. Yes, it will help you be massively more efficient and impactful (if you build things properly). 

Simon
Everything starts from having a data strategy that is linked up – you want as broad a collection of story and number data to interrogate as possible and it needs to be in the same digital space. 

Damien
Gather the data which is useful to you; stop gathering data which isn’t. ‘Just in case’ data just clogs everything up. Also, use validation and automation efficiently and intelligently to keep your data clean; garbage in, garbage out.

Finally, start small. Play with it. See what its capabilities are, and see where that takes you. There are low-cost and no-cost options readily available, so plug some dummy data in with a prompt and see what it returns. It is much easier to programmatically automate if you have a good idea of what you want to do.

The help of a good technology partner

Laura
How can partnerships with organisations like VRP Consulting amplify the impact of AI initiatives?

Damien
For us, VRP has played a crucial role in unlocking the art of the possible. Third sector organisations very, very rarely have any kind of dedicated tech team(s) or the resource to put into R&D activities to develop AI functionality. VRP has provided that bridge between ideation and reality, allowing us to leverage that technical expertise to achieve our aims. 

“AI is here to stay”

Laura
Is there anything else you would like to share about your journey with AI, the impact it has had, or your vision for the future?

Damien
AI is here to stay, whether we like it or not! It has massive capability which can (and should) be leveraged to further our aims, whether this is with impact, organisational efficiency or helping us get our marketing messages out more clearly. This is a key time to embrace it (safely, of course).

Thank you, Noise Solution!

It was great to catch up with Simon and Damien at Noise Solution. Thank you both for your time and sharing your insights. Everyone at VRP Consulting is excited to see what the future brings for Noise Solution and how we can help you increase your impact and improve outcomes even more for the young people you work with. The full story of VRP’s work for Noise Solution is presented in this case study.

If you work for a third-sector organisation and you’d like to discuss anything we’ve explored here, or how VRP can help you in the same way we’ve helped Noise Solution, please get in touch via our website.