Strategic Technology Leadership, On Your Terms

Not every business needs a full-time CTO. But every business making technology decisions needs someone who understands both the technology and the business strategy behind it. That’s what we provide — hands-on technical leadership, either as an ongoing advisory relationship or as an embedded interim CTO for a defined period.

We’ve been building software for over 15 years. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and — crucially — what looks like it’s working until it suddenly isn’t. That experience is what we bring to consultancy engagements.

AI Consultancy & Review

AI is our fastest-growing consultancy area — and with good reason. Every business is grappling with AI right now, and most are doing it without anyone in the room who has actually built AI-powered systems in production.

We have. We’ve built self-hosted AI infrastructure for healthcare platforms, deployed Claude and GPT integrations for document verification and intelligent reporting, created AI-powered chatbots with RAG pipelines, and use AI tools extensively in our own development workflow every single day. We know the difference between what demos well and what works reliably at scale.

AI Usage Review — we come into your business and audit how your teams are currently using AI. Are people using ChatGPT with sensitive client data? Are there data leakage risks you haven’t considered? Are there opportunities to move from ad-hoc AI usage to structured, secure integrations that multiply the value? We assess the current state, identify risks, and map out where AI can genuinely move the needle.

AI Strategy & Roadmap — where should you invest in AI, and where is it hype? We identify the specific, practical applications of AI within your existing workflows — document processing, data extraction, intelligent search, automated reporting, content generation — and build a prioritised roadmap with realistic costs. We’ll tell you what to build custom, what to integrate via API, and what to leave alone.

Cloud vs Self-Hosted Guidance — if your data is sensitive (healthcare, legal, financial), sending it to third-party AI providers may not be acceptable. We advise on when cloud APIs are fine, when you need self-hosted models for data sovereignty, and when a hybrid approach gives you the best of both worlds. Read more about our AI integration capabilities.

Interim CTO

For businesses that need senior technical leadership without the commitment and cost of a permanent hire. This works well in several scenarios:

Growing businesses — you’ve outgrown the “developer who also decides strategy” stage but aren’t ready for a full-time CTO. We step in to set technical direction, build team processes, and make the architectural decisions that will determine how well your technology scales with the business.

Between CTOs — your CTO has moved on and you need continuity while you recruit. We maintain momentum, keep the development team productive, and ensure no critical decisions get deferred during the gap.

Pre-investment — investors want to see a credible technology strategy, a clean codebase, and a team that can execute. We prepare your technology operation for scrutiny: architecture documentation, technical debt assessment, team structure, and a realistic roadmap.

Digital transformation — you’re moving from legacy systems to modern infrastructure and need someone who’s done it before to lead the transition. We’ve migrated businesses from spreadsheets and Access databases to Laravel applications, from vTiger to custom CRMs, from manual processes to automated workflows.

Technology Consultancy

Focused advisory engagements for specific decisions or challenges:

Architecture Review — an honest assessment of your current technology stack. What’s working, what’s technical debt, what’s a risk. We review code, infrastructure, security posture, and deployment processes, then deliver a prioritised set of recommendations. No padding, no selling — just a clear picture of where you stand.

Build vs Buy Analysis — should you build a custom system or buy off-the-shelf? We’ve been on both sides of this decision many times. We’ll assess your requirements, evaluate the realistic cost of each approach over 3 years (not just the initial build), and give you a recommendation we’d follow ourselves.

Team & Process Assessment — how effective is your development team? Are they using modern tools and practices? Where are the bottlenecks? We assess team structure, development workflow, testing practices, deployment pipeline, and communication patterns. The output is a practical improvement plan, not a 100-page report that sits on a shelf.

Vendor & Platform Selection — choosing between platforms, frameworks, or service providers? We provide independent advice based on experience, not partnerships or referral fees. We’ll tell you when WordPress is the right choice and when you need a custom build, when AWS makes sense and when a simpler hosting setup would serve you better.

How Engagements Work

Consultancy engagements start with a conversation — usually a 30-minute call where we understand what you’re dealing with and whether we can help. If we can, we’ll propose a structure:

Advisory retainer — a set number of hours per month for ongoing technical guidance. Typically used for regular architecture discussions, code reviews, and strategic planning. Flexible and adjustable as needs change.
Interim CTO — embedded part-time (typically 2-3 days per week) for a defined period. We attend leadership meetings, direct the development team, and own the technology decisions during the engagement.
AI review & strategy — a focused engagement to assess your current AI usage, identify risks and opportunities, and deliver a practical roadmap. Typically 1-2 weeks depending on organisation size.
Fixed-scope projects — architecture reviews, technology audits, and strategy documents with clear deliverables and timelines.

What We Don’t Do

We don’t do management consulting theatre. No 200-slide decks, no workshops that produce post-it notes and nothing else, no recommendations we wouldn’t implement ourselves. Every engagement produces concrete, actionable output that your team can execute on immediately.

We also won’t recommend building something custom when an off-the-shelf solution would serve you better. Our consultancy practice is independent of our development work — we’ll tell you honestly whether your next move should be to build, buy, or do nothing.

Who We Work With

Our consultancy clients are typically SMEs with 20-200 employees who are at an inflection point with their technology — growing fast, digitising operations, or realising their current technology isn’t keeping pace with the business. We work across sectors including healthcare, logistics, property, professional services, and e-commerce.

Consultancy & Interim CTO