ABOUT
Lentil Industries was founded by Robin Wealleans — a Welsh entrepreneur, creative technologist and performer with around 30 years’ experience turning ambitious ideas into real things. Robin previously built and ran The Picture Works - a pioneering live-events technology company working across more than 30 countries on large-scale screens, festivals and stadium events. At a time when digital visuals and live screen technology were still emerging, the company helped push them into the mainstream, working on projects involving Glastonbury, Pink Floyd’s Live 8 appearance, Calvin Harris, Skrillex and Squarepusher.
Lentil Industries takes its name from Lentil, Robin’s cat. After Lentil died, Robin started rebuilding him during lockdown as L3NT1L: a robotic AI cat in a briefcase, complete with projection, a meow synthesizer and a minibar. That lockdown project became CatGPT, launching as a theatrical art project at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024.
L3NT1L was unlike the polite, generic AI assistants people were used to: witty, political, crude, opinionated and very Welsh. He behaved like a feline — independent, contrary, affectionate on his own terms and largely uninterested in human social conventions. His directness and unusual view of the world also gave him a distinctly neurodivergent edge. CatGPT has since performed internationally, with thousands of audience interactions showing how differently people respond to AI with a strong, recognisable personality.
Robin realised he had something special, but also saw the weaknesses of conventional online AI: dependence on the cloud, less control over data, generic personalities, weak local identity and reliance on a constant connection. Lentil Industries grew directly from that work. Today we are building sovereign conversational AI, including local and on-device systems, distinctive voices and personalities, privacy-first technology, multilingual and regional voices and emergency resilience. We want AI to be easier to understand and use, with plain language, clear interfaces and technology designed for real people.
Our Artificial Talent Engine creates persistent AI characters with recognisable personalities, voices, memories and behaviour. We are also developing sovereign AI systems for entertainment, education, accessibility, emergency resilience and everyday use, while giving people more control over where their AI runs, what it remembers and how their data is handled. The company is now moving from R&D into commercial development, with plans to grow its team as its products move towards market.
A dead cat accidentally started an AI company.
That is why the company is called Lentil Industries.
No dogs were consulted in the making of this website.