If the tool you need doesn't exist yet, that's usually where I come in.
I build the tools organisations need when off-the-shelf software doesn't bend far enough. Scoped, delivered, handed over.
I work with a small number of clients at a time.
Scott Brinker's Martech's Law says it simply: technology advances faster than organisations can absorb it. The gap between what's possible and what's actually in use keeps widening, and most organisations manage that gap by defaulting to what they already know.
Technology capability (orange) vs organisational absorption (grey).
Scott Brinker, Martech's Law
That usually means buying another off-the-shelf tool and hoping it bends far enough. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn't, and the gap just moves somewhere else.
I've been working inside that gap for over 20 years, on the vendor side, the agency side, the brand side, and for the last 11 years as an independent. I've seen how the decisions get made and how they go wrong from every angle. What I build now are the solutions that almost exist but don't quite, the ones where a standard tool gets you 80% of the way and the remaining 20% is the part that actually matters.
A recent example: a client needed a candidate screening solution with mid-process postcode lookups against hiring locations. Jotform and Typeform don't do that. Building it took weeks. The alternative was a broken process someone would be managing manually forever.
That's the kind of problem I exist to solve.
What I build
I build custom solutions across web apps, mobile apps, and backend data management and insight tools. The form the solution takes depends on the problem, not on a service catalogue.
The common thread across every project is data: finding it, connecting it, and turning it into something a team can act on without needing me in the room.
Past projects have included end-to-end recruitment operations platforms, content intelligence and competitor analysis tools, public sector reporting systems built on open data sources, Martech stack governance tools, and custom data activation layers built on top of existing CDP infrastructure.
The sectors vary. Banking, insurance, pensions, travel, retail, beauty, broadcast, recruitment, telecoms. The problem type stays roughly the same: there is data that exists, a capability that's needed, and a gap between them that no standard tool covers.
Martech Stack Builder
A live product I built to solve a problem I kept seeing across clients: no one has a single reliable view of what's in their stack, what it costs, who owns it, and when it renews. It's available at martechstackbuilder.com and free to all Martech Foundry clients.
How it works
Identify the gap
A short discovery conversation to understand the problem and confirm whether a custom build is the right answer. If it isn't, I'll say so. If the issue is organisational readiness rather than a technical gap, that's a different conversation and I'll point you in the right direction.
Build and test
Scoped to the problem, typically one to four weeks. A working solution, not a prototype. Built on your data, your infrastructure, and whatever external sources are relevant.
Hand over and move on
Documentation, a structured walkthrough, and enough time to make sure your team can run it independently. My measure of a successful engagement is that you don't need me afterwards.
“If I'm still here in a year, I'm not doing my job well enough.”
What's the cost of not building it?
The time-to-value calculator gives you a concrete number to take into your next budget conversation. No login, no email.
Organisations I've worked with
- Thomas Cook
20+ years across vendor, agency, brand, and independent contracting. 30–40 client engagements across regulated financial services, travel, retail, broadcast, and more.
I have no commercial relationships with any technology vendor. No referral fees, no preferred partnerships. Some of my work comes directly from vendor recommendations, because they know I'll give their clients an honest assessment.
If any of this sounds like your situation, a 30-minute call is the fastest way to find out if I can help.
Book a 30-minute call