Why Swiftcomplete was founded: Address Validation for today and tomorrow

Reimagining Address Validation from the ground up

Chris Winfield, the founder of Swiftcomplete , has worked in address validation since the early days of the industry, back when getting the latest address data meant receiving a CD in the post.

As other industries embraced the cloud and agile development practices, address validation lagged behind, often relying on legacy systems and outdated infrastructure.

Chris asked himself:

“What if we started fresh, built address validation with today’s technology rather than legacy systems, so that it’s faster today, and even better for tomorrow?”

Building Swiftcomplete: A smarter way to validate addresses

With that question, Swiftcomplete was born, a cloud-native platform designed to deliver valid addresses instantly, whether entered by a customer at checkout or within a chat with an AI agent.

Chris built Swiftcomplete to be light, flexible and fast. Unlike traditional platforms, Swiftcomplete can be adapted quickly to new markets, use cases and technologies, offering low-latency responses (6ms on average), with an option for on-premise deployment for ultimate performance and security.

Embedding AI at the core

Chris’s fascination with artificial intelligence isn’t new. Over a decade ago, he was already speaking to small businesses about how AI could help them scale, long before it became a mainstream topic. This forward-thinking mindset has been fundamental to Swiftcomplete’s DNA from day one.

Chris didn’t just want to build a faster, more flexible address validation platform, he wanted it to be future-proof. That’s why Swiftcomplete was designed to be AI-ready from the ground up. Recognising that the next wave of business automation would be driven by AI agents, Chris led the development of Swiftcomplete’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. The MCP server acts as a universal connector, allowing any AI agent to instantly access and validate addresses at speed.

For businesses building AI-powered tools, whether it’s a customer service bot, a booking assistant, or a logistics planner, Swiftcomplete’s MCP server ensures that address validation is seamlessly integrated. No more hallucinated or incomplete addresses, no more failed deliveries. Just reliable, real-time validation, embedded directly into the workflows of tomorrow’s businesses

The early integration of what3words

Years before the acquisition, Chris integrated what3words directly into Swiftcomplete’s address validation flow.

He recognised that what3words could solve key pain points around hard-to-find locations, especially in rural or complex areas. By making what3words entry and validation seamless at checkout, Swiftcomplete gave businesses and their customers a faster, more precise way to share and confirm locations.

That shared focus on clarity and simplicity in addressing made Swiftcomplete and what3words the perfect fit.

The perfect duo

In 2025, Swiftcomplete was acquired by what3words, a natural next chapter for both teams.

The shared goal? To simplify and improve global addressing, and to bring powerful address validation to businesses of all sizes, no matter whether they type a what3words address or traditional address.

Since the acquisition, we’ve moved fast to make Swiftcomplete even more accessible, including launching the , and offering tools that work seamlessly across traditional and what3words addresses, for both human users and AI agents.

What makes Swiftcomplete different?

• Speed and flexibility : Swiftcomplete is built in the cloud, with the option for on-premise deployment. Our average response latency is just 6ms – enabling lightning-fast validation worldwide.
  
• AI-ready : With our new MCP server, AI agents can now accurately return and validate addresses in real time. Learn more in .
  
• Comprehensive address data : Swiftcomplete includes up-to-date address data including multi-residence, “not yet built” properties, and what3words, in one simple, transparent package.
  
• Fast to use : Typing an address using Swiftcomplete is up to 90% faster than doing it manually*.
  

*Comparison of typing an address with Swiftcomplete vs manually typing a full address

Ready to get started?

If you’re tired of outdated, slow, or expensive address validation software, it’s time to try something different. Swiftcomplete is the fast, flexible solution built for today and tomorrow.