Senior judgement, kept current

Technology review

For owners and managing directors of businesses of up to a few hundred people, where technology has started to feel like a brake rather than an engine.

Projects late and over budget, AI talk with no plan, too much resting on one supplier, one system or one person. Three to four days of my time over two to three weeks: conversations with you, whoever leads your technology and the people who use it; a read of what exists; then a written report, ranked by business risk and cost, with next steps in order, and a session to go through it. Fixed in scope and price. If you want help acting on it, I can stay on as an adviser for an agreed number of days a month. More about the technology review.

Connected products

For manufacturers and hardware ventures adding connectivity, smart features or a service revenue line, or fixing a connected product that underperforms.

Strategy, architecture and technology choices; device security and penetration testing; safe over-the-air updates; data sovereignty. Much of this work is for products sold into several markets with different rules.

Cyber Resilience Act readiness. The EU CRA's reporting duties have applied since 11 September 2026 and the full obligations apply to products placed on the market from 11 December 2027; UK PSTI is already in force. A fixed-price connected-products audit, typically a week, establishes which class your products fall in and therefore the conformity route, produces a first software bill of materials, reviews update capability, vulnerability handling and the 24-hour reporting process, and leaves you with a plan in the order that takes longest. I have written the map in The CRA without a compliance department, and the free CRA Readiness Check shows where you stand against it in ten minutes. From there I advise your team or supplier as they do the work, and check it at the points that matter. This is an engineering readiness service, not legal advice or a conformity assessment. More about the CRA readiness audit.

AI Opportunity Workshop

For leadership teams in engineering and product companies of 20 to 500 people, under pressure to “do something with AI”.

AI has made building cheap. Choosing what to build has become the hard part. Most AI plans are shaped by the loudest voice in the room or the latest vendor demo, while the best opportunities sit with the people closest to the work, in service, quality, engineering and operations.

• Before: the AI Ladder Check, a short readiness assessment for the leadership team, and anonymous ideas and everyday frustrations from everyone taking part, so ideas are judged on merit rather than rank.
• On the day: a facilitated half-day session for 8 to 20 people, on site or remote, using my Idea Mining method. Every idea is sorted by value, readiness and risk against the five levels of AI value.
• After: a short report within five working days, with three first projects, what each needs, where the data would be processed, the main risks and how to measure success. A follow-up call after two weeks.

Fixed price, by group size, agreed before we start.

What happens next. The workshop is designed so you can run the first project yourselves, with a follow-up call or two if you want them. Where you would rather have me involved, the usual routes are a fixed-price audit of the chosen project before you commit, decision analysis where the cost or timescale is uncertain, or fractional technical leadership to hold the technical direction while your team or a supplier builds: choosing and managing suppliers, checking the work, and helping your people adopt what is built. I can do any of these, or all three.

Independent technical advice and due diligence

For boards, investors, lenders and acquirers, and for leaders who want a second opinion before a big technology decision.

I have carried out technology audits for a major UK bank before it lent to businesses, and for a business investment organisation. I assess the technology, the team and the roadmap, and say plainly what is sound, what is at risk and what it would cost to fix. That includes AI claims: what a product really owns, what it depends on, and what happens if that dependency changes.

Typically one to two weeks of my time, fixed price, with a written report and a clear recommendation. Not sure whether you need it yet? The free Technology Risk Snapshot takes ten minutes and gives you the questions to put to the company first. More about technology due diligence.

Decision analysis

For decisions where the cost, timescale or risk is genuinely uncertain.

Single-figure forecasts hide the thing that matters most: how wide the range of outcomes is. I use Monte Carlo simulation and scenario modelling to show the likely range, what drives it and which uncertainties are worth reducing first, so a board can decide with its eyes open.

Technical leadership review

For founders, chief executives, boards and investors who think the company needs a CTO.

There are at least three jobs behind the title: systems architect, scaling leader and strategic CTO. The review works out which one you need now and how to fill it (interim, permanent, part-time or not yet), and what has to be true first. Three to four days over two to three weeks, ending in a role definition, a recommendation with the reasons, a brief you can use for a search, and a session with the board or founders. Start with the free Technical Leadership Check. More about the technical leadership review.

Fractional technical leadership

For companies that need senior technical leadership without a full-time hire, or a steady hand through a difficult period.

From one day a week, up to three, owning technology direction, architecture, supplier choice and team, and holding delivery to account. I lead and review the engineering; I do not write your product. It often follows a workshop or an audit, once there is a first project to deliver. I have held COO and CEO seats in listed technology companies, led an IPO restructure and a rescue from administration, and I am as comfortable in a code review as in a board meeting. Case study: six months of interim technical leadership. Not sure which kind you need? Try the free Technical Leadership Check.