Considered Drift
Interim & fractional technology leadership
Edinburgh & London info@considereddrift.co.uk

Where I come from

My background sits at the intersection of PE value creation and technology execution, from technical due diligence and portfolio-level advisory through to hands-on CTO leadership, AI delivery, and architecture across product-led and growth-stage businesses.

Rather than a single job title, I set out three ways I typically engage, each grounded in a problem worth solving. The right scope usually becomes clear in conversation.

Base
Edinburgh & London, UK-wide travel
Status
Taking enquiries · 30 days' notice
Three ways I engage
01

Interim CTO for PE-Backed & Growth-Stage Businesses

Embedded · single mandate

PE-backed and growth-stage businesses need CTO leadership that pairs commercial credibility with the ability to actually deliver. A CTO who leads with platform architecture without connecting it to margin, EBITDA and exit multiples loses the room fast. The 100-day plan, the value creation plan and exit preparation are the job, not abstract milestones.

Process
  1. 01Assess & orient — estate audit, team and board dynamics, value creation plan review, exit thesis read
  2. 02Align & plan — 100-day plan agreed; technology investment mapped to value creation levers and the exit thesis
  3. 03Deliver value — commercial milestone delivery; board reporting on outcomes, not technical activity
  4. 04Exit ready — technology positioned for exit; DD risk removed; clean handover and governance in place
What I bring
  • CTO leadership across team, product, engineering and commercial management, with real EBITDA accountability in PE-held businesses
  • Technology strategy aligned to the value creation plan and exit thesis from day one, with board reporting that tracks commercial outcomes rather than technical activity
  • Technical debt mapped to commercial outcomes, exit risk, scalability story, buyer confidence, and the independence to give a board an honest view of where the product actually stands
  • Technical due diligence experience from both sides of the table
Track record
  • Bloom — PE-backed, BGFEBITDA grown from £1.3m to £3.4m; secured and managed £10m+ of product and technology investment alongside the CFO; Marketplace SaaS from MVP to full production
  • QikServe — VC-backed, Series ARegular board and investor reporting; PCI-DSS to contract; US and European expansion
  • ALP — energy tech, fractional CTOProving the model beyond financial services
  • Due diligence & advisoryTechnical DD for Northstar VC and CloudSoft; member of Endava's Technical Advisory Committee
02

Enterprise AI Strategy, Engineering & Agentic Delivery

Capability build · governed

Most organisations have passed “should we do AI?” and are stuck on why their pilots aren't turning into anything. There's usually a clear gap: no intake model, no agentic AI architecture the rest of the business can build against, no AI engineering operating model, and governance that either doesn't exist or kills momentum.

Process
  1. 01Assess & map — AI opportunity mapping; data and integration baseline; governance gap assessment
  2. 02Architect & design — agentic AI architecture; AI engineering operating model; intake and prioritisation framework
  3. 03Prove — pilots delivering measurable value; AI engineering practice embedded; governance in place from the outset
  4. 04Scale — production-grade agentic capability; enterprise-wide roadmap; ongoing value realisation tracked
What I bring
  • Agentic AI architecture and design: agent scoping, human-in-the-loop design, orchestration patterns, tool use, context management, observability and responsible deployment
  • AI engineering operating model: prompt engineering, model evaluation, RAG patterns and AI-specific delivery practices
  • Hands-on with the current agentic toolchain: Claude Code, Codex and Copilot Studio
  • A product-led approach: agents and AI initiatives treated as products with lifecycle management, prioritisation frameworks, value realisation metrics and governance from the outset
Track record
  • M&G — FTSE 100, LifeBuilt the AI operating model and governance framework across seven business units; represented M&G at FCA roundtable level on responsible and ethical AI
  • Endava — NYSE, c.11,000 peopleDesigned agentic AI operating models aligned to Gartner TRiSM across global FS, payments and TMT clients
  • BloomRan early generative AI experimentation that secured £500k additional board investment
03

Technology & Digital Transformation

Estate-wide · periodic

Established businesses with complex technology estates find commercial agility held back by legacy systems, duplication and fragmented delivery. Without a leader who can translate board-level ambition into a technically grounded, commercially justified roadmap, transformation initiatives stall or multiply without coherence.

Process
  1. 01Assess the estate — current-state audit: platforms, integrations, duplication, costs, risks and fit to strategy
  2. 02Define the roadmap — commercially justified roadmap; sequencing, dependencies and investment case agreed with the board
  3. 03Deliver — priority platform, operating model and vendor changes delivered with measurable business outcomes
  4. 04Embed — ownership, governance and capability in place for sustained delivery beyond the engagement
What I bring
  • Technology estate assessment and rationalisation, with a commercial case for each decision
  • Transformation delivery across platform modernisation, operating model redesign, vendor selection and team restructuring
  • A track record of completing transformation mandates in full, not just defining roadmaps and handing over a document
Track record
  • Insights L&D — global, 40+ countriesFull migration to AWS; two independent technology functions established across a 60+ person team
  • Encompass — KYC SaaS; HSBC, Barclays, SantanderDefined the target operating model for 70+ engineers across three geographies; third-party data integration cut from 12 weeks to 4
  • Sky News & SportsMobile strategy for one of the UK's largest broadcast news and sports operations
  • TSB / EndavaInterim Head of Digital Architecture at TSB; 30% faster post-acquisition integration at Endava
Ways to engage

Three commercial shapes. Scope and terms are set per engagement, once the problem is clear.

Interim CTO

Embedded
Embedded · 6 months+

A full-time seat in the business, accountable to the board for delivery against the value creation plan. Day-rate, typically outside IR35, with a checkpoint at twelve weeks.

Transformation Sprint

Fixed scope
Fixed scope · 12 weeks

A defined piece of work with an agreed output: an estate assessment, a costed roadmap, an AI operating model. Fixed fee, staged on milestones, with a clear end point.

Advisory & Due Diligence

Periodic contact
Fractional or one-off

Ongoing counsel to a CEO, CTO or investment team, or a single piece of technical due diligence on a live deal. Monthly retainer for advisory; priced per deal for DD.

Commercials & logistics
Working pattern
Five days a week for interim mandates, hybrid with regular in-person presence, checkpoint at 12 weeks
Fees
Quoted per engagement and excluding VAT; day-rate work outside IR35; open to discussing structure if inside-IR35 is likely in a regulated environment
Engagement length
Interim mandates run 6 months minimum, typically 12–18, can start with a 3-month discovery phase; sprints fixed at 12 weeks; advisory rolling
Availability
Based between Edinburgh and London, regular travel across the UK. Taking enquiries now; new mandates start on 30 days' notice
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