Privacy first, AI ready: how SeeMe built its data strategy with E-DATA
Through the E-DATA Project, Derry based tech-company SeeMe Ltd were awarded 14 hours specialist digital mentoring, and after working with mentor Eoin Lennon, they came away with a 12-month data strategy designed to keep users’ trust at the centre and sets out exactly where AI will, and won’t, earn its place.
SeeMe is building a secure platform for storytelling, legacy and multimedia sharing. Through its LifeBox™ concept, people can gather the stories, photos and memories that matter to them and share them safely with the people they choose.
That makes SeeMe the keeper of some of the most personal content anyone owns. It’s fundamental for it, and its growth, that their clients privacy is held at the heart of all that they do.
When Mary Blake, CEO and founder of SeeMe, met the E-DATA team at an event in March, SeeMe already had a lot going for it. It had a compelling proposition, a sharp understanding of its customers, a cyber security focus and a founder with digital technology right at the heart of her plans. Pilots in the care sector and with diaspora communities were taking shape.
What was missing was a joined-up view of data. As SeeMe grows, how should customer information be collected, stored, governed and put to work? What should be captured at sign-up, what belongs in a CRM, and what was quietly being lost along the way? And that’s where the support from E-DATA came in.
Mary was matched with Eóin Lennon, a data strategy specialist on the E-DATA mentoring panel.
- Getting under the bonnet. Eóin started by understanding how SeeMe works: its customers, the LifeBox platform, its routes to market and the pilots ahead. Together they reviewed SeeMe’s existing privacy, data processing and responsible AI policies, so every recommendation would fit the company’s privacy-first approach.
- Mapping the customer journey. They traced every step a customer takes, from first contact and sign-up through onboarding, creating a LifeBox, payment and renewal. Along the way they pinpointed where data is captured, what the business needs to know at each stage, and where manual admin could be automated.
- Building a single view of the customer. The work shaped a “Customer 360” approach, bringing platform, payment and marketing information together so SeeMe can see how engaged customers are and spot early signs that someone might drift away.
- Deciding where AI belongs. A guiding principle emerged: automation before AI. Plenty of what SeeMe needs can be done with straightforward CRM workflows. AI is saved for the jobs where it adds real, measurable value, such as segmentation, personalisation and predicting churn.
- Pulling it together. Everything was consolidated into the SeeMe Data Strategy 2026-27, complete with a data model, KPI framework, approach to measuring pilots and a phased 12-month roadmap.
Mary Blake, Founder, SeeMe
“We were delighted to receive this incredible support from E-Data supported through the Peace Plus Programme. Our ambition at SeeMe is to become the world’s most trusted keeper of authentic human stories. We are building a platform that enables people to preserve and share their most precious memories, and that comes with an enormous responsibility. Privacy first, secure by design, and ethical and responsible AI are not simply aspirations for us — they are fundamental to how we want to build and grow this business.”
“Having completed the excellent WeScale programme with AwakenHub, InterTradeIreland and Invest NI, we’ve been looking closely at what it takes to scale SeeMe internationally. Working with Eóin through E-DATA has been incredibly valuable in helping us translate that ambition into a practical, data-driven strategy.
“We now have a much clearer understanding of every touchpoint in our customer journey, from initial enquiry and onboarding to engagement, renewal and retention. This will directly inform the development of our CRM, our automated workflows, how we measure customer experience and the way we use data to make better business decisions. Crucially, it means designing systems that can grow with us, rather than having to rebuild them as we scale.
“For us, this is about building confidence at every level — for the people trusting us with their stories, for our partners and for potential investors. Working with Eóin has been fantastic, he has helped us see how strong data governance, thoughtful automation and responsible use of AI can support commercial growth, improve customer experience and retention, and reinforce the trust on which SeeMe is built.”
Eóin Lennon, E-DATA Digital Transformation Mentor also agreed:
“Mary had a clear vision for SeeMe, and our work together focused on putting the data foundations in place to support it. We mapped what the business needs to understand about its customers and where straightforward automation could reduce administration. The resulting roadmap gives SeeMe a practical way forward, with privacy at its heart and AI introduced where it can deliver measurable value.”
SeeMe now has a clear, staged plan for turning its data into a genuine business asset, without compromising on privacy.
- A clear picture of its data. The business knows what to capture at every stage of the customer journey, and why.
- Less time on admin. Automated workflows for onboarding, trial reminders, payment recovery, renewals and re-engagement will free up founder time for the work that grows the business.
- Pilots it can measure. A defined way to track engagement and customer health means SeeMe can show, with evidence, how its pilots are performing.
- A responsible route to AI. SeeMe knows where AI fits, where it doesn’t yet, and what needs to be in place first.
- Leaner as it scales. The strategy recommends tracking cloud storage per customer, so unnecessary data and the cost that comes with it can be kept in check as the platform grows.
The next step is moving from strategy into delivery, with further E-DATA support available to help put the roadmap into practice.
Maybe your company knows that data, AI or automation could make a difference, but you’re not sure where to start. Or you’re just too busy running the business to step back and plan. Maybe your firm just needs help in starting this journey. Maybe your company doesn’t even know if there needs to be a journey! Wherever you find yourself, that’s exactly what the E-DATA Digital Transformation Mentoring is for.
Your company could avail of 14 hours of one-to-one time with an experienced specialist, matched to your sector and your priorities. It’s open to SMEs in Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry/Londonderry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan, Sligo and Tyrone.
It all starts with a free Innovation Clinic.
Book a call by selecting “Accessing Mentoring Services” on the form and we’ll get some time booked in.
E-DATA is supported by the PEACEPLUS Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
