Interview with Dorothy Creaven and Michael Cordner at AWS re:Invent
Dublin-based startup Jentic was the first Irish company to complete the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, which concluded recently at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. The company is now focused on building enterprise awareness of its platform, supported by the launch of its AI Readiness Scorecard and its listing on AWS Marketplace.
Founded in 2024 by Sean Blanchfield, Michael Cordner, and Dorothy Creaven, Jentic applies middleware and enterprise integration engineering to AI adoption, focusing on how APIs are defined, governed and safely executed by automated and agentic systems.
AI adoption with API readiness platform Jentic
Jentic operates at the integration layer, working with existing enterprise systems and APIs to make them clearer, more structured and more governable. This allows organisations to connect AI systems to real business infrastructure in a controlled and observable way, without replacing existing platforms or bypassing established security and compliance processes.
Built on Enterprise Infrastructure Experience
The company’s approach is shaped by the founders’ backgrounds in building large-scale infrastructure. Blanchfield previously co-founded Demonware, acquired by Activision Blizzard, and PageFair. Cordner co-founded Mindconnex, while Creaven previously led Rent the Runway’s Irish operations.
Speaking to Irish Tech News at AWS re:Invent, Michael Cordner, CTO of Jentic, said many enterprises are now encountering limits in how their systems were originally built.
“We got away with cutting corners for 20 years when we were developing APIs for developers,” said Cordner . “But now we’re trying to let AI loose on those same APIs, and the standards are much more stringent. Even the most intelligent AI in the world is useless without the right information on how to actually use a system.”
From Jentic’s perspective, the current interest in AI exposes long-standing weaknesses in enterprise integration. Automated systems can reason and decide, but they can only act through APIs. If those interfaces are poorly documented, inconsistently structured or weakly governed, behaviour becomes unpredictable.
“We’re a business logic and infrastructure layer for AI agents,” explains Dorothy Creaven, COO of Jentic. “Software has always been built on APIs, but for AI to connect properly to enterprise systems, there has to be something that can make sense of those APIs and turn them into workflows organisations can rely on.”
Addressing Enterprise Control and Governance
A recurring issue Jentic encounters with enterprise customers is organisational hesitation. Senior leadership often wants progress on AI strategy, while technology and security teams are concerned about control, traceability and risk.
“Everyone is afraid to let AI loose in their organisation,” Creaven observes. “There’s a real concern about what systems might do when nobody is watching, whether actions can be traced, and how failures are handled.”
To address this, Jentic’s platform includes a sandboxed execution environment that mirrors production APIs. This allows organisations to test AI-driven workflows, observe behaviour and understand failure modes before anything is connected to live systems.
“We provide an environment that mirrors real APIs, but in a way that’s safe,” Creaven comments. “You can see exactly what’s happening, with auditability and logging, and you can only move forward once you’re confident the behaviour is correct.”
Launch of the AI Readiness Scorecard
This approach underpins the launch of Jentic’s AI Readiness Scorecard, a free, automated assessment tool introduced at AWS re:Invent. The scorecard evaluates APIs across multiple dimensions, including structure, security, documentation quality and discoverability.
According to Jentic, its analysis of more than 1,500 well-known APIs highlights repeated gaps. These include missing authentication details, invalid OpenAPI specifications, incomplete parameter definitions and inconsistent examples.
“What the scorecard does is shine a light on the work that needs to happen before AI can actually be useful inside organisations,” Cordner adds. “It shows where the weaknesses are and where teams need to focus if they want to move from pilot to production.”
The company plans to publish the methodology behind the scoring openly, with the aim of encouraging discussion and improvement across the wider API and enterprise software community.
Standards and technical depth
A further differentiator for Jentic is its emphasis on standards and interoperability. The company has assembled a senior technical team with deep roots in the global API ecosystem, including Frank Kilcommins, principal author of the Arazzo Specification, and Erik Wilde, an OpenAPI Initiative ambassador.
This reflects a belief that enterprise AI adoption will depend on shared, auditable foundations rather than proprietary shortcuts.
Early Traction and AWS Validation
Jentic is already running pilot deployments with early customers in Ireland, though it is not yet naming them publicly. Ireland has served as a useful launch market, in part due to the concentration of multinational enterprises with decision-makers based locally.
The company has raised $4.5 million in pre-seed funding and sees its participation in the AWS Generative AI Accelerator as validation of its approach. The programme selected 40 companies globally from around 3,000 applicants and concluded with a showcase at AWS re:Invent.
As mentioned, Jentic is now listed on AWS Marketplace, simplifying procurement for enterprise customers and supporting its international expansion.
Shared Message across re:Invent
The themes raised by Jentic aligned closely with messages heard across AWS re:Invent, from technical sessions through to Matt Garman’s CEO keynote. As AI systems move from experimentation to deployment, the focus is shifting from capability to governance, traceability and operational readiness.
That shift places APIs at the centre of enterprise AI adoption. APIs are the boundary through which automated systems read data, trigger workflows and make changes in live environments. Jentic’s focus on API readiness, sandboxed execution and control reflects that reality, addressing the same challenges from the enterprise integration layer that AWS is tackling at the platform level.
Across re:Invent, the message was consistent. Enterprise AI is moving out of the lab and into production, where reliability, governance and execution matter most.
Read more articles and interviews by Billy Linehan from AWS re:Invent
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About Billy Linehan
This interview was recorded at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas as part of Irish Tech News’ coverage of enterprise AI, infrastructure and real-world deployment.
Billy Linehan writes for Irish Tech News on innovation, tech for good and entrepreneurship, covering events in Ireland and internationally. He leads Celtar Advisers as a business mentor, working with SME and startup founders. He co-founded StartUp Ballymun, Dublin’s longest-running entrepreneurship series.
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