Technology at scale. Thirty years, six industries, four continents.
Board-accountable delivery: FTSE 250, AIM-listed life sciences, government programmes distributing £2.7 billion a year. Engineering judgement: knowing when the problem is the technology, and when it isn't. FBCS. Lay Member, ICAEW Regulatory Board.
Available for interim and fractional CIO/CTO mandates
I walked into a life sciences company where revenue growth had stalled after four consecutive years of double digits. Everyone said it was a technology problem. It wasn't. The dev teams had deskilled, lost confidence, and couldn't deploy properly. I promised the CMO monthly deliveries, didn't say what. Devs started seeing their work connect to business outcomes for the first time. Growth came back. The tech stack barely changed.
At a FTSE 250 I brought five brands together under a single delivery function for the first time. Nobody could see what anyone else was doing. Then the Ukraine invasion happened and our entire digital operation depended on one Ukrainian partner. I set direction: people first, operations second. Stepped back and let the permanent team lead what needed their relationships. Sourced alternatives in parallel. People safe. Systems secure. Business with choices it didn't have before.
In government I wrote governance principles for agile delivery that are still published on GOV.UK twelve years later. Coached the team that replaced paper driving licences for 40 million people. Led a 150-person cross-supplier team delivering a digital service managing the distribution of £2.7 billion in annual levy funds.
The last two years: CEO of Cybersafe Schools, taking a compliance product to a SaaS platform protecting children online. Founded beò to measure what AI adoption actually does to workforces. Authored CHART, an AI governance framework aimed at the EU AI Act's human-oversight obligations. Appointed to the ICAEW Regulatory Board as a lay member. The through-line hasn't changed.
The pattern is always the same: everyone says it's a technology problem. Knowing when it is, and when it isn't, is the judgement I'm hired for.
AI governance, inside the mandate
Every mandate I run now carries an AI governance instrument I authored. CHART (Cognitive Health Assessment for Responsible Technology) assesses whether an organisation can evidence meaningful human oversight of its AI systems, the obligation the EU AI Act places on every high-risk deployment. The framework is openly published. Commercial engagements run through beò, the research company I founded.
Get in touch
If your organisation has a technology problem that isn't really a technology problem, let's talk.
The short version
FBCS. Lay Member (Transformation), ICAEW Regulatory Board. MSc Psychology (Distinction), University of Strathclyde. Visiting Researcher, University of Strathclyde, 2020-21. BSc Computer Studies. Data Science for Executives (Columbia via edX). Quantum Computing (Linux Foundation). GDS, Cabinet Office, HMRC, ESFA, Abcam, Cognizant, Travis Perkins, Cybersafe Schools, JP Morgan, American Express, BBC, Barclays, Tesco, Sky, The Guardian, Royal London, Ordnance Survey. Agile Alliance sponsor, AXELOS contributing editor, PRINCE2 Agile contributor, CTO Craft panel member. Keynote speaker.