Nuno Assis of 72Seconds

After 35+ years leading data, AI and cybersecurity transformations at enterprise scale, Nuno F. Assis decided to stop advising others on the future and start building it himself. With 72Seconds, he deploys secure Agentic AI Networks for businesses: "We create autonomous digital workforces, teams of specialised AI agents that work alongside a company's existing employees 24/7. We don't sell theory or prototypes. Everything we deliver runs in production and is measured by real business impact."

"At some point, you either keep advising others on the future or you go build it yourself. I chose to build."

The signal in the noise

The name 72Seconds has an unusual origin. "On August 15, 1977, astronomers at Ohio State University detected a powerful 72-second radio transmission from the cosmos. It was so extraordinary that researcher Jerry Ehman circled it on the printout and wrote just one word: Wow!" That transmission, the Wow! Signal, stood out as pure signal in a universe filled with noise.

The story stuck with Nuno for decades. "After 35+ years in the field, I kept seeing the same challenge everywhere: companies drowning in data but starving for insight. The signal was always there, buried under operational noise, but most organisations lacked the tools and expertise to find it." That became 72Seconds, and its tagline "Your Signal in the Noise" is the direct bridge between that cosmic story and the business problem the company solves every day.

The leap

Entrepreneurship wasn't always the plan. "For most of my career I was a corporate executive. Leading large transformation programmes, sitting on data boards, managing teams of 40+ specialists across 48+ countries, advising global brands like Google and Facebook. I loved that work."

But over time, Nuno noticed a gap between what AI could deliver and what organisations were actually getting in production. "Too many consulting firms were selling slide decks. I wanted to ship real systems." The leap happened after he left his role as Director of Data, Governance & Analytics at a major global manufacturer. "I had the expertise, the network, and a very clear vision of how Agentic AI Networks could transform business operations."

"Building a company is fundamentally a human exercise, even when your workforce includes over 100 AI agents."

Eating your own dog food

Before 72Seconds formally launched, Nuno built the first version of their Agentic AI Network. "I wanted to prove the model works before asking clients to trust it. We eat our own dog food, as they say." By the time the company went live, it was already running on over 100 specialised AI agents handling everything from operations and finance to marketing and sales support.

That's also their biggest differentiator in a crowded market. "Most of what you see is either generic consulting or narrow tooling. Very few companies combine what we do: deep enterprise experience, hands-on deployment of production-grade Agentic AI Networks, security-first architecture, and a genuine Responsible AI philosophy." When a client asks if it actually works, Nuno doesn't point to a case study. He points to his own company.

The hardest lesson

The initial stages were intense. "You go from having corporate infrastructure, IT support, legal departments, HR teams, to suddenly being responsible for everything yourself."

The biggest lesson came early: focus. "When you have deep expertise across multiple domains, there's a temptation to offer everything at once. I had to discipline myself to lead with a clear, focused proposition: Agentic AI Networks that deliver measurable results in production. Trying to be everything to everyone from day one is a mistake many experienced founders make."

And another learning that surprised him: "Don't underestimate the administrative overhead of running a company, even a lean one. Having the AI agents handle operational tasks wasn't a luxury. It was a necessity."

Setting up the BV

For the legal structure, Nuno didn't hesitate long. A Dutch BV was the natural choice: limited liability, well-understood by international partners, and the standard for a technology company operating from the Netherlands. "Firm24 made the formation process remarkably straightforward, which is exactly what you want when your energy should go into building the business, not wrestling with bureaucracy."

Trust over promises

Customer loyalty at 72Seconds comes down to one thing: delivering results, not promises. "In enterprise AI, the graveyard is full of vendors who oversold and underdelivered. We take the opposite approach: underpromise, overdeliver, and make sure everything we build runs in production with measurable outcomes."

Beyond that, Nuno treats every client relationship as a partnership. "We don't disappear after deployment. Our clients ask us to stay, so we stay involved, optimise, and adapt the systems as the business evolves. That ongoing commitment builds trust, and trust builds loyalty."

The future

The goal is clear: become the go-to partner for organisations that want to deploy Agentic AI Networks responsibly and at scale. "We're building towards a future where every company has a hybrid workforce, human talent amplified by AI agents, and we want to be the team that makes that transition seamless and secure."

Nuno sees the Responsible AI and governance side becoming even more critical as regulation tightens across Europe. "Companies will need partners who understand both the technology and the compliance landscape. That intersection is exactly where we live."

The golden tip

"Three things. First, solve a real problem. Not a theoretical one, not a 'wouldn't it be cool if' one. Talk to actual customers, understand their pain, and build something that measurably reduces it."

“Second, eat your own dog food. If you wouldn't use your own product or service, why should anyone else? At 72Seconds, our entire operation runs on the AI systems we sell. That forces us to make them genuinely excellent.”

"Third, build with integrity from day one. Choose the right legal structure, get your governance in order, be transparent with clients, and don't cut corners on security or compliance. The companies that endure are the ones that earn trust early and protect it fiercely."

Final thoughts

What makes an entrepreneur who they are? The story of Lindsay Rubino en Janna Lawson from The Pear offers a unique insight. Discover it here.