Senior AI expertise. Direct access. Real outcomes.
Most AI consultancies send strategists who've never shipped a model, or developers who can't see the business picture. I provide both: PhD-level technical depth with 15+ years of commercial delivery.
Your consultant
Dr Colin Kelly
Oxford BA in Maths & Computer Science. Cambridge PhD in Natural Language Processing. 15+ years building AI systems across financial services, telco, and automotive. I founded Agathon to give organisations access to the kind of senior AI expertise that large consultancies promise but rarely deliver.
Read my storyHow I can help
Four ways to work together, each led personally by me from first conversation to final deliverable.
AI Product Pioneering
Hands-on development of AI products that exploit full technical potential — not basic implementations
Learn moreAI Due Diligence
Technical assessment that separates real AI capability from sophisticated marketing. Before you invest.
Learn moreAI Leadership Advisory
Strategic consulting to build internal AI capability that reduces outside dependencies
Learn moreFractional CTO
Ongoing executive technical leadership across all technology decisions, not just AI initiatives
Learn moreWhy Agathon
What you get when technical depth, commercial pragmatism, and personal accountability come together.
Technical depth that's rare in consulting.
I hold a PhD in Natural Language Processing from Cambridge. I've led applied AI research teams, built production ML systems, and delivered millions of pounds in quantified AI benefits across financial services, telco, and automotive. I understand how these models actually work, not just how to talk about them.
Commercial pragmatism that's rare in research.
Fifteen years in enterprise environments taught me that technical excellence means nothing if it doesn't ship. I've navigated funding rounds, managed complex stakeholder politics, and delivered under constraints that academic researchers never face.
Direct access, not delegation.
When you engage Agathon, you work with me. I don't sell then disappear. I don't hand you off to juniors. The person on the strategy call is the same person doing the work.
Client story
AI Product Pioneering: Category creation in action
Agathon pioneered entirely new ways for humans to interact with AI systems. Working with a visionary client, we designed and built novel AI interface patterns that fundamentally changed how they work.
This wasn't about optimising existing processes or adding AI features to current workflows. The engagement created interaction paradigms that didn't exist before, establishing new standards for human-AI collaboration.
The outcome: A category-defining product that transforms the client's daily operations and establishes competitive advantage through genuine innovation. This client now leads in their own category.
Strategic workshops
Intensive, practical sessions designed to build real capability, not just awareness.
Latest insights
Let's talk about what you're building
Whether you need hands-on AI development, strategic guidance, or technical due diligence, the first step is a conversation.
Get in Touch