Hong Kong startup simulates B2B buyers to test software strategies

Decisions Lab plans to expand into consumer research and product design.

Hong Kong startup Decisions Lab uses artificial intelligence to simulate business-to-business buyers, helping software firms test products and marketing strategies before launch and reduce reliance on costly, time-consuming customer interviews.

“Companies often rely on sales attempts to learn about their customers, which is a slow, iterative process,” founder and Chief Technology Officer Devansh Gandhi told Hong Kong Business.

Founded in 2024, the startup uses public information, including social media posts and business developments, to build virtual buyer profiles and predict how they might respond to specific products.

Gandhi said the technology also analyses psychological factors that might shape buying decisions, helping clients identify unclear messaging before taking products to market.

“We make predictions, the company tests them in the market, and the results help us assess their accuracy and improve our technology over time,” he said via Zoom.

Decisions Lab mainly serves enterprise software providers in cybersecurity, insurance, and productivity solutions. Its target customers often include CEOs and other senior executives who can be difficult to reach for interviews.

The startup works with clients in Hong Kong and the US and is discussing potential engagements in Singapore and Malaysia.

The company, legally registered as Almita Ltd., is mostly self-funded and relies on project-based engagements. Longer-term clients also receive tools and guidelines for their sales and marketing teams, with some arrangements potentially shifting to subscriptions.

Decisions Lab plans to expand its research over the next six months, including through potential university collaborations.

Gandhi said it would survey real audiences alongside its simulations to compare predicted responses with actual behaviour.

The startup also aims to apply its tech to consumer research, product design, and policymaking.

“That is our long-term vision: for Decisions Lab to help predict human behaviour across a wide range of applications,” Gandhi said.