You don’t need a large budget to start adding value, and the time to start is now AI IN PRINT | JONATHAN PERT 40 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk Issue 363 - November | December 2026 of technology experts emerging to demonstrate how best to realise the potential of modern automation. One example of this is Smart Elephant, a software consultancy firm which specialises in AI integration, automation, and bespoke software solutions. Smart Elephant has worked on a range of projects across the full print workflow, from prepress and file preparation to scheduling, production, and customer service. Its core aim is to work with businesses to understand how best to utilise the latest AI technologies on offer – and showing that this does not have to require a large spend to realise. Explaining this approach, Harrison Bailey, founder of Smart Elephant, says: “A lot of people know they need to to design the right solution around the client’s needs and goals, ensuring AI works for the business and not the other way around. “In practice, this looks very different depending on who we’re working with: a print shop with highly custom, one-off jobs While Bailey agrees that connectivity across the entire print workflow will be a key driver of AI technology in the sector moving forward, he also notes another big shift on the horizon, which he feels many people are talking about yet – changing consumer habits and what they mean for selling print in an AI-driven world. He explains: “Most people now search for things using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s AI Mode, which is fundamentally changing how print buyers find and choose businesses. “We’ve launched a tool in October 2026 focused on exactly this – helping businesses get mentioned, cited, and recommended over competitors by these tools. Selling print with AI is very much the other side of the innovation you’ll see moving forward.” Becoming Invisible Hybrid Software brings together a portfolio of specialist print technologies covering artwork creation, prepress, and colour management through to high-speed data delivery and the electronics that drive industrial inkjet printheads. Like HP, Hybrid Software recognised the potential of AI early and has taken a deliberate, practical approach to its development. Today, AI technology is deeply embedded in products across its portfolio. For example, PACKZ, a prepress automation software tailored for labels, packaging, and digital print production, uses AI to assist users with tasks including creating action lists and scripting. Meanwhile, its CLOUDFLOW workflow platform harness the power of AI to not fall behind, but they’re frozen in place by the noise around AI (which there is a lot of!) or not sure how or where to start. “We help businesses get the boat out of the dock, walking them into the shallow end of the pool with small projects that quickly deliver ROI, rather than throwing them into the deep end by locking them into huge transformation programmes. Most of the time, the small projects can be the most impactful. You don’t need a large budget to start adding value, and the time to start is now.” Bailey notes that print can be highly fragmented and heavily human-driven, full of handovers, approvals, and manual processes that can create friction. He explains: “The biggest recurring pain points we see are manual bottlenecks that don’t scale – quoting that relies on one person’s experience, prepress processes held up by manual file checks, and production scheduling done by gut feel rather than data. We build our solutions to address these inefficiencies, tailored to each business and their needs.” Living up to its name, the firm also aims to address the ‘elephants in the room’ surrounding AI, which can often be seen as complicated, expensive, or out of reach. Bailey comments: “Most of our work is bespoke to each client – we take an agnostic approach, meaning we work with all tools and technologies needs a different solution to a high-volume printer running templated production. The underlying principles are the same, but what we actually build changes to fit. Ultimately, our goal is the same across every market and format: make AI work for the business’ existing ecosystem, and help people get the most out of their software investment.” Since launching in 2016, HP PrintOS has garnered 55,000 registered users and 33,000 connected devices 55,000 ▼ Hybrid Software provides digital printing workflows, PDF editors, and enterprise software integrated with artificial intelligence for packaging, label, and commercial print production
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