Tech Town Barnsley: Harnessing the power of AI

We built a fuel price app in a day. Here's what AI actually did.

Today Barnsley was announced as the UK's first government-backed Tech Town. Microsoft, Cisco, and Adobe are involved and there's £15 million going into the South Yorkshire Institute of Technology. As a Barnsley-based home grown business, this is incredibly exciting. 

We've been using AI tools daily for months now so I thought I'd share what that actually looks like in practice. 

The brief

Yesterday, the UK government released a new Fuel Finder API for real-time fuel prices from petrol stations across the country. It seemed like a good opportunity to show what AI-assisted development can actually do.

So we set ourselves a challenge to build a fuel price comparison app in a day. 

Search by postcode, see stations on a map, filter by fuel type, find the cheapest petrol nearby etc. All from a brand new API to a working app in under 24 hours.

That's the power of fast iteration. But it reminded us of the need to treat AI with caution, as a tool, not a solution.

What that actually means

Think of a power drill. It doesn't build a house, the builder with a power drill builds a house faster than one with a manual screwdriver. You still need to know what you're building and where the screws go.

Same with AI. It made me maybe 3-5x faster on this project. But I still had to:

• Decide how the app should work
• Figure out the government's API (AI got the endpoints wrong initially—I had to read the docs)
• Spot when suggested code wouldn't actually work
• Make the calls on what to build and what to skip

The speed comes from iteration. Try something, see it's not quite right, adjust, have working code in minutes instead of hours. That tight feedback loop is the real win - not that AI writes perfect code first time.

Our findings 

What AI helped with:

• Scaffolding and boilerplate (i.e. the structure/the boring stuff)
• Exploring an unfamiliar API quickly
• Generating multiple approaches to choose from

What it couldn't do:

• Know what users actually need
• Make good architectural decisions without guidance
• Get the API integration right first time

Why this matters for Barnsley

Barnsley already has brilliant digital agencies doing exceptional work, and this initiative shines a light on that talent, helping put the town firmly on the map as a place where digital innovation happens.

The Tech Town initiative also rightly highlights the need for AI training, reinforcing the idea that technology isn’t magic. Its real power comes from the people who know how to use it well.

AI has given us a better drill. The skill, creativity and experience already here are what build something meaningful with it.

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Sources: GOV.UK Tech Town announcement · Fuel Finder API