The founder and CEO of Academy of Robotics, who lives at the RAF Neatishead site after purchasing it in 2022, has launched Athena AI.

An artificial intelligence platform, it is designed to function as the “brain” behind his company’s inventions which include self-driving cars and NHS hospital robots.

William Sachiti, founder and CEO of Academy of Robotics, pictured at the former RAF Neatishead radar station, which he purchased in 2022 (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Athena has also been created for businesses, capable of carrying out day-to-day tasks such as replying to emails, answering phone calls and organising staff rotas.

At the same time, it keeps personal and company data safe by storing it within a small portable computer that firms can keep on site, rather than uploading information to the cloud.

Since purchasing the former Second World War base and Cold War radar station, Mr Sachiti's Academy of Robotics has completed trials of its self-driving, autonomous Kar-go Delivery Bot at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and its Helper Bots at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

He now says Athena will enable the company to deliver its products at scale.

But who exactly is Mr Sachiti and what's next for Academy of Robotics?

William Sachiti (left), founder of Academy of Robotics, and Chris Holland, commercial director (Image: Supplied)

Mr Sachiti is a Zimbabwean immigrant who came to the United Kingdom aged 16.

In 2009, during his early twenties, he appeared on Dragons’ Den seeking investment in a company called Clever Bins - solar-powered digital advertising street bins which he wanted to sell to local authorities.

“I actually think that idea was ahead of its time,” Mr Sachiti said.

“Today, a lot of bins have adverts on them and are solar powered. But I took it there just after Steve Jobs released the iPhone, and they laughed me out of the Den.”

William Sachiti appeared on Dragons' Den in 2009, pitching Clever Bins (Image: BBC)

In 2011, he said he co-founded an online concierge company called MyCityVenue alongside Ronald Ndoro,........

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