James Varga AI Operating Partner
For CEOs of businesses with 50 to 250 people

Someone who has sat in your chair, helping your leadership team put AI to work.

I've spent 30 years founding and running businesses, seven of them my own, so I know what it's like in your seat when the plan isn't working. I've done most jobs in a business at some point, from fundraising to hiring, and these days I run my own businesses on AI. I join your leadership team and help you do the same, hands-on.

Advisers tend to leave you with a plan, and agencies with a set of tools. I work alongside your leaders until the first things are built in your own accounts, then keep looking after them.

I think AI should make your people more capable. If the plan is headcount elimination, I'm not the right fit.

A year from now, you'll have

A plan your leadership team agreed, with the cost and payback of each piece.
Every leader using AI in their own work, and your own people running it day to day.
A company brain that belongs to you, with what your business knows in one place AI can use.
Results measured against where you started.

Sound familiar?

If two or three of these sound like you, we should talk.

  • You've tried some AI tools or a pilot, and the numbers haven't really moved.
  • Your team are all using ChatGPT differently, and nobody's quite sure what's OK to paste into it.
  • Some of your leadership team are well ahead and others haven't started yet.
  • You want to grow without the admin and overhead growing with you.
  • You're too big to wing it, but a consultancy programme or a full-time Head of AI feels like too much.

Done on my own business first

An ecommerce brand · a small team

A small team doing what a big one can

I set up a company brain and a set of AI agents for my own ecommerce brand. They now look after much of the admin and operations, from keeping web pages current to working through costs and shaping the proposition. The team works with the agents through the task tool they already use, and what the agents learn feeds back into the brain, alongside what the team does.

What I learned is that agents are only as good as what they know. Training them, and giving them a shared picture of who's doing what, made the difference.

2×
at least twice the output from the same team
2 weeks
to set up, and most of the routine admin gone
30 yearsFounding and running businesses, seven of them my own, and lately helping other founders start theirs
DirectIDFounded it and scaled it globally, to around 60 people, raising more than £30m
Open BankingCo-chaired the data sub-group of the UK's Open Banking Working Group
FintechHelped set up Innovate Finance and FinTech Scotland
Business AI AllianceFounding partner

The longer story is on my card and on my LinkedIn.

How it works, in short

01 · 4 to 6 weeks · fixed fee

Understand

We find out how your business really works, and agree what's worth doing first.

02 · 3 months · on site

Get it working

The first things live and in daily use, with your leaders using AI in their own work.

03 · monthly

Keep it running

I stay close, so it keeps working and your team keeps learning as AI moves on.

Start with a coffee or a 45-minute call · james@jamesvarga.com

Overview

How it works

Each stage is agreed on its own, and you'll know the full cost before you commit to it.

Understand

01 / 03
4 to 6 weeks · fixed fee

I spend time with each of your leaders and some of the people doing the work, and we agree what's worth doing first. You can buy this on its own.

You get
  • AI working on your own job within the first fortnight, like a morning briefing pulled from your email and meetings.
  • A map of how work flows and where it gets stuck, including the AI tools people already use, approved or not.
  • Your ideas costed and ranked, with the quickest payback first.
  • A plan your leadership team agrees, with the measures we'll track and where each one stands today. If you've already started, I'll build on that.

Get it working

02 / 03
3 months · about 2 days a week on site

We put the plan to work with your leaders, with me on site one day a week and someone from my team the other. We check in after the first month, and you can stop there if it isn't working.

You get
  • The first two or three things from the plan live and in daily use, each with a named owner and a simple guide.
  • Each of your leaders using AI in their own week.
  • A plain AI policy and approved tools, so nobody has to guess what's allowed.
  • Your company brain started, in your own accounts.
  • Short training for the teams involved, and a weekly coffee your leaders can drop into with questions.

Keep it running

03 / 03
Monthly · three levels

I stay close so it keeps working as AI moves on. There are three levels, Light touch, Core and Board level, depending on how close you want me. After the first six months it rolls monthly, with 30 days' notice.

You get
  • Regular time with you, and drop-ins for your leaders.
  • Quick answers when something comes up, and hands-on time each month to fix and improve things.
  • Your company brain and tools looked after and kept current.
  • A short monthly note, and a quarterly review you can take to your board.
  • A seat at my quarterly roundtable, where CEOs compare notes on what's paying off, under the Chatham House rule.
More of me early onLess as your team takes over

A typical first year

Week 2

Your own AI set-up is working.

Week 6

Your leadership team agrees the plan and the measures.

Month 3

End of the first month of Get it working. Carry on, or stop there.

Month 5

The first things are live, with your own people running them.

Every quarter

A review of how it's going, and the CEO roundtable.

Month 12

A year-one review against where you started.

Timings for a business of around 100 people. A smaller one often finishes Understand in four weeks.

What it could look like for you

Two made-up examples, to show how the same stages play out in other kinds of business.

Professional services · 80 people

An accountancy or advisory firm

Likely first things:

  • proposals and engagement letters drafted from past work
  • meeting notes filed straight to the client record
  • WIP and billing chased without anyone having to remember

We'd measure hours per proposal and admin time per fee earner. We'd start with fixed-fee and non-billable work, so the time saved doesn't cut fees.

Distribution · 200 people · 3 depots

A distributor with a head office and depots

Likely first things:

  • quotes drafted from past jobs
  • overdue invoices chased automatically
  • customer-service emails sorted and routed across the depots
  • depot stock questions answered without a phone call

We'd measure quote turnaround and debtor days. If the ordering system's data needs a tidy first, we'd pick a first thing that doesn't depend on it.

What it asks of you

It only works if your leadership team is in it with me. Here's roughly what it takes.

UnderstandGet it workingKeep it running
YouAbout two hours a week, mostly in the first and last fortnightAbout an hour a weekAn hour a month, plus the quarterly review
Each leaderA 90-minute conversation and a half-day workshopAn hour or two a week on their own areaA monthly session together, at Core and Board level
Your AI owner (if relevant)A couple of hours a weekAbout a day a weekAbout half a day a week
Your IT lead (if relevant)About half a dayAbout a day in the first monthSigning off new tools

Understand and Get it working are fixed fees agreed up front, and Keep it running is monthly. You'll have prices in writing after we talk.

How I like to work

  • You work with me directly, and I'm your one point of contact. Anyone else I bring in is part of my team, works under my lead, in your accounts and under the same confidentiality terms.
  • I work with just a few companies at a time, so I can work closely as part of your team.
  • Everything is built in your own accounts, so your data and what we build stay yours. I'll sign an NDA before we start.
55.95° N · 3.19° W · Edinburgh jamesvarga.com