Digitise the work
We move critical processes out of inboxes, spreadsheets and people's heads into structured digital workflows — with clear ownership, so everyone knows who does what, when.
For founder-led & investor-backed businesses · UK & FranceWe build the systems
We build the systems
your business runs on.
Augmented Instincts designs and builds engineered digital solutions that digitise and automate everyday work — removing friction, creating real-time visibility, and making your business more efficient, easier to scale, and less dependent on a few key people.
Ambition demands that what works by judgement scales by design.
Effort stops scaling. Systems compound.
Delivered across construction & propertymanufacturingfinancial servicesprofessional services
What we do
Run on rails, not adrenaline.
We take the work that keeps your business alive — quoting, delivery, reporting, approvals — and rebuild it as clean digital systems. In plain terms, three things:
Automate the repetitive
We automate the manual steps that eat your team's day — re-keying data, chasing updates, checking and correcting, assembling reports — so people do the work that moves the business.
Make it visible
Dashboards and real-time management information you can actually trust — one version of the truth for decisions, forecasting and governance, instead of finding out at month-end.
We create the systems — engineered, governed, built to last.
Practical AI works inside these systems where it earns its keep — never bolted on for show.
When ambition outgrows how the business runs
Does this sound familiar?
You've grown — but it grew informally. Now too much depends on a few key people, spreadsheets and workarounds. These are the words we hear most.
Everything still comes through me.
The business can't step back from you. Key-person dependency caps how far, and how safely, it can grow.
The spreadsheet has become the system.
Critical processes live in workarounds and personal files. Everyone has their own version of the truth.
We don't trust our numbers.
Month-end tells you what happened too late to act. Decisions get made on gut feeling because the data isn't there.
We've hired, but it hasn't got easier.
More headcount just means more handoffs. The team is bigger but the business is no faster.
Good people doing the wrong work.
Your team spends half the day chasing, checking and correcting instead of moving the business forward.
Could this run without me?
The value is in your head, not in the business — and a buyer or successor would ask awkward questions.
See what we'd fix firstRecognise your business? The Operating Model Scan finds exactly where the friction is.
What would break first if your revenue doubled tomorrow?
If you can't answer in one sentence, that's worth a conversation.
Book a 30-minute callWho it's for
Leaders whose next move needs a business that can carry it
Founder-led and investor-backed businesses where the ambition is real — and the operating reality underneath needs to catch up.
Founders & owners
Built on you — not dependent on you
You built the business on instinct and judgement. We turn that into systems, so it can scale, sell, or run without you in the room.
Investor-backed & post-MBO
A value plan that leaves the page
Value creation fails when it stays in the plan. We build it into the systems, data and workflows the management team actually uses.
CEOs & management teams
Grow without the chaos
Clearer priorities, stronger execution, better margins. Scale delivery, not drama — so the business stops depending on heroics.
How we work01 — Diagnose 02 — Design 03 — Build 04 — Stay
We don't just advise. We diagnose, build, and stay.
Find the friction. Fix the work. Build the infrastructure. The same team holds the thread from first diagnosis to live system.
Operating Model Scan
A two-week diagnostic that maps how the business really runs, surfaces bottlenecks, and quantifies where value leaks.
Roadmap
Findings become a sequenced, costed plan you can deliver — what to stop, what to fix first, what to build.
The systems
We build the digital workflows, automations and dashboards ourselves — engineered, governed, and embedded in your team.
Business Memory
We stay on as a retained partner, so the systems keep improving and nothing we've learned about your business gets lost.
The result: harder to beat. Easier to run. Easier to scale. Primed for sale or succession.
Start with the ScanThe first step
The Operating Model Scan
Two weeks. We map how the business actually runs — end to end — and show you exactly where time, margin and control are leaking. You get:
- An end-to-end workflow map and a value-leak heatmap of where friction costs you most
- A 30/60/90-day roadmap — sequenced, costed, with named owners
- Automation & AI opportunities embedded in daily work, with governance and controls built in
- A baseline KPI pack so value creation is measured from day one
Value-leak heatmapsample output · anonymised
Why us
Built to deliver — and to stay
A few deliberate choices separate advice that sounds good from change that actually lasts.
One team, diagnosis to build
The same people diagnose, design and build — so nothing gets lost in translation between the insight and what actually ships.
We build, then stay
We don't hand over and walk away. We build the systems, then stay as Business Memory so they keep improving as the business grows.
Measured on independence
Success isn't a delivered project. It's a business that runs better without its founders in the room — the outcome every engagement is measured against.
Why we exist
Plain English, no jargon
We work with businesses that have grown quickly, but informally — so people work long hours and the business depends on a handful of key people to function.
When those people step back, things start to fall apart. We figure out what's broken, fix how the business actually works, and build the digital systems that keep it running — so it can keep growing without everything depending on a few individuals.
Results
The same shift, across very different businesses
From a finance brokerage to a paper mill, what changes is the sector — not the pattern. Heroics become systems that scale.
Four to twenty — and flying blind
Grew fast, but 80% of revenue still came from the founders' original accounts, with no management information to show where the next deal was coming from.
What changed- Mapped the business and restructured sales & ops accountability
- Built real-time management information for the first time
Now tracking around 20% revenue growth, with far less key-person dependency.
"They weren't buying our track record. They were buying our judgement."
revenue growthpipeline visibilityreporting latency
Scaling beyond key individuals
No single source of truth — the business ran across email, paper files and fragmented folders.
What changed- Centralised project data and standardised surveying-to-build workflows
- Repeatable delivery playbooks with clear ownership
Better delivery consistency, lower key-person risk, and enterprise-value uplift from repeatable execution.
forecast accuracymargin variancebid-to-deliver cycle time
Control and scalability on the floor
Manual processes and fragmented production data limited visibility and raised operational risk in a specialist paper manufacturer.
What changed- Structured data integration and real-time production monitoring
- Digitised quality controls with automation to cut manual load
Lower error rates, stronger control, and capacity redeployed to higher-value work.
reporting latencyerror / rework ratedowntime (OEE)
Faster delivery, less admin drag
Manual document handling and fragmented data slowed delivery in a carbon and energy consultancy.
What changed- Redesigned workflows with automated, AI-enabled ingestion and validation
- Processing embedded in secure, traceable systems
Reduced workload, faster turnaround, and stronger traceability.
turnaround timemanual touchpointsexception rate
Tom redesigned our internal systems from the ground up — and gave us real-time visibility of the business.
Over the last few years, I've had the privilege of working closely with Dr Thomas Gould — or "Tom," as everyone calls him — and I can say without hesitation that he's been instrumental in shaping McAndrew Martin into the business it is today.
When Tom joined us, we were already a strong, capable engineering and technical consultancy. But we needed to modernise — not just our IT or systems, but the way we ran, grew, and governed the company. Tom came in with the rare ability to bridge strategy, governance, and technology — and to do so in a way that was practical, grounded, and understandable to everyone from the boardroom to the project site.
Tom redesigned our internal systems from the ground up. He built the architecture that gave us real-time visibility of the business, turned governance into something that worked with people rather than against them, and embedded the culture, systems, and standards we needed to win work in some of the most demanding markets.
He led our digital transformation — implementing a cloud-first, secure-by-design infrastructure; delivering building information modelling (BIM) across all disciplines; and driving us through a series of accreditations that now underpin how we operate. Under Tom's guidance, we achieved ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, and 27001, along with Constructionline Gold, SafeContractor, FIRA/BAFE, and the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award.
Meet the team
Research-grade thinking. Real-world execution.
Dr Thomas Gould
Co-FounderScaled a business from £2m to £10m in three years using digital tools, then sold it. Holds a PhD in Political Economy and helps SMEs turn strategy, governance and technology into measurable business impact.
Valentin Ackermann
Co-FounderFifteen years running manufacturing plants of 250–300 people across France, the UK and China — turning around loss-making sites and digitising operations from the inside. Bilingual (French/English), with an MSc in Engineering and an MBA.
The wider team
A bench, not a bottleneck
At the heart of Augmented Instincts is a vetted network of specialist associates — deep, hands-on expertise across the disciplines that make change stick. Tom and Val curate and lead that network, bringing the right specialists to each engagement, so you get senior skills exactly when the work needs them, with no single point of dependency. We build businesses that don't run on a handful of key people; we're built the same way.
Strategy
Contextual StrategyOperating-model designValue-creation roadmaps
Microsoft ecosystem
Power PlatformAzureDynamics 365
Power Platform
Azure
Dynamics 365AI & automation
Agentic AIWorkflow automationData engineering
Operations & delivery
Lean managementSupply-chain excellenceGovernance & security
Get in touch
Start the conversation.
Tell us where the friction is — or what would break first if your revenue doubled tomorrow. We'll tell you, plainly, whether and how we can help.
hello@augmentedinstincts.comKartway House, Lugwardine, Hereford, HR1 4AE
Book an intro call