This retainer is for organisations that are already in motion. AI is no longer a question of whether.

The real challenge is how leaders make decisions as work, roles, and accountability shift underneath them.

This engagement provides a senior thinking partner as those decisions are made. Retainers usually follow a sprint because clarity comes before cadence. And it helps me understand deeply your problems, while we solve them together.

Who this is for

This work is designed for:

• Boards and executive teams navigating sustained AI-driven transformation

• CEOs who need a trusted external perspective, not another framework

• CHROs and transformation leaders owning capability, succession, and workforce design

• Leadership teams making decisions that will shape culture, risk, and performance for years

It is not for organisations looking for generic AI strategy, tool rollouts, or packaged consulting programmes.

What this work is really about  

Most organisations struggle with AI not because of technology, but because decision quality degrades under complexity.

Common patterns I see at this stage:

• Leaders defer judgement to systems they do not fully understand

• Accountability becomes diffused across tools, processes, and committees

• Important decisions get postponed while tactical work accelerates

• Capability building is discussed, but never embedded into daily work

• Early signs of leadership pipeline erosion are noticed, then ignored

This retainer exists to interrupt those patterns in real time, while decisions are still being made.

It is not about producing answers.

It is about improving how answers are reached.

When organisations typically engage a retainer  

Organisations usually move into a retainer when one or more of the following are true:

• The Sprint surfaced risks that require ongoing leadership attention

• Multiple initiatives are running, but no one is holding the system view

• Senior leaders need a space to think clearly, without performance theatre

• Decisions are becoming politically charged or operationally brittle

• The organisation is transitioning from experimentation to scale

If the question has shifted from “what should we do?” to

“how do we keep making good decisions as this evolves?”

a retainer is often the right next step.

How the retainer works in practice

This is not a project. It is a relationship.

The work adapts to what leaders are facing that month, not what was scoped six months earlier.

Typical focus areas include:

• Pressure-testing strategic decisions before they harden

• Sense-checking AI adoption plans against capability reality

• Supporting org design and role redesign decisions

• Advising on leadership behaviour and reinforcement loops

• Acting as a sounding board during moments of uncertainty or conflict

• Helping leaders distinguish signal from noise

There is no fixed agenda beyond making better decisions under pressure.

What you get  

A typical retainer includes:

• Two 60-minute advisory sessions per month with the CEO, ExCo, or agreed leaders

• One monthly strategy review, focused on upcoming decisions and risks

• On-call access for urgent questions or time-sensitive judgement calls

• Context-aware support on org design, capability strategy, and leadership dynamics

• Continuity of thinking, so decisions build on each other rather than resetting

Sessions are conversational, direct, and grounded in your reality.

What this is not  

This retainer is deliberately not:

• A consulting engagement with deliverables and decks

• A coaching relationship focused on personal development alone

• A shadow management role or decision-maker by proxy

• A technology advisory focused on tools and vendors

If you want generic AI training or tool demos, I’m not the right fit. This work is about judgement, accountability, and capability.

This last roughly 3-6 months. Senior sounding board for ongoing decisions. Ongoing strategic counsel for boards and executive teams navigating transformation, capability building, or critical hiring and organizational design decisions.

What you get:

12 x 60-minute sessions (every 2 weeks)

1. Monthly strategy sessions

2. On-call access for urgent decisions

3. Support for hiring, org design, and capability strategy

4. Board-level strategic perspective

Ideal For: Organizations in sustained transformation or growth phases

Investment: Starts from £5,000/month