I’ve recently celebrated my birthday, which as always is something of a time of reflection as well as celebration. This year however is a bit more reflective than most, as it also marks a really significant transition (no I’m not 50 … yet), but I am very close to finishing my time here at Infinitas - officially at the end of January, but I am now at the point where I have mostly handed everything over and am playing a purely supporting role as needed.

I told my team that I was leaving in the summer, so have had a lot of time to prepare both them and myself for what comes next. I am incredibly proud that two of my management team are able to step upwards into a broader CPO and CTO role within the executive committee, and so I am very confident they will continue to lead and grow the team in the way that they need over coming years.

Of course it also brings the question many keep asking me, which is Whats next? … At the moment I mostly answer with I don’t know yet which is quite unsatisfying! Well, this is the first time I have had both the opportunity (and desire) to take a brief pause and really consider that question, as the last 30 years have been an incredible but fast paced journey. Building and selling a company, moving across the world, meeting and working with so many talented people, getting married, becoming a father, experiencing stress, doubt, joy, pride, success and failure (often many at the same time). What I reflect on most is that I am now very much in a luxury position where I am able to say that I know what I am good at and what brings me happiness, where and how I want to spend my time, and to have the window of opportunity to focus on things at that intersection.

I am also in the process (which is more difficult than it sounds due to Brexit) of moving my family back to the UK from the Netherlands. It is a multi-step and time consuming process - first my wife’s parents (done), then my childrens school (done), and finally us (in progress) - which will culminate in us physically being back there full time in the summer of 2026 in time for the new school year. We will be living back in East Sussex area (not sure exactly where yet!), as given we have lived in the center of a great city for the past 7 years my family won out and we are moving back to the countryside.

So back to the question of this post. What’s next? I intend to do three things in the new year.

1. I will become much more open and accessible

As part of my reflection I have realised that I have been very ‘inwardly’ focused for the past period - in part this is due to the pressures of building a company within a company, and trying to solve some (in hindsight) challenging problems at the intersection of people and technology in a company that spans Europe. So don’t be surprised if you spot an email or DM from me asking for a coffee (virtual or otherwise), I really would like to re-connect and see where life has taken you, and apologise for not doing so sooner.

2. I am going to build things

Those that know me well know that I have never been a hands off leader, I have always been close to where the work happens and try to stay grounded in the reality of what we are building and the problem we are solving for our users. So I will use some of my new found spare time to work on some of my side projects, mostly these have been used to validate my thinking about the opportunity of AI impact on product development and software engineering, but also because I am convinced that in part these ideas are solving real problems for people (to be validated of course).

I have already shared my summer project fintune but have also been recently working in my spare time on a platform leveraging one of my open source projects - drizzle-cube - that I think is super interesting to help answer the really fundamental question of how might we measure - and so guide - our teams to become effective through the AI powered change we are in the middle of. Very early but would really welcome any thoughts or feedback you may have about it: guidemode. If you would like to work with, or with me on, any of these I would be really open to a conversation.

I am entirely convinced that guide coding - what Simon Willison calls Vibe Engineering - is transformational, and you can use it to solve complex, non-trivial problems in a fraction of the time it would take product teams in a more traditional way to do so. In part I plan to prove that with the things I am building (in the open), so watch this space.

3. I am open to advisory and consulting work

In this period I am keen to become more available to help and support those in my network who can benefit from my experience. Wether that is a simple conversation, or something larger - let’s chat and see where it goes. Topics can include (but not be limited to):

  • AI acceleration strategy / workshops / coaching - how can we drive adoption and effectiveness (end to end - product / design / engineering) with AI tools. Are you under pressure to explain how you can use AI to do more with less? Let’s talk as I might be able to help.
  • Productising Data & AI - I have a lot of experience in the design and delivery of products powered by data, and more recently by AI, so happy to join your team and support the design and delivery of these features (either leveraging my open source projects or otherwise). Would your platform benefit from an embedded analytics solution to allow your customers to build their own reports and dashboards? I can help to add these types of features very quickly (days or weeks not months).
  • Product and technology strategy - do you need a fresh perspective or have a challenging situation you need extra support with, especially if legacy technology or tech debt is holding you back? Are you under pressure from your board to do more with less? Happy to help explore and unblock with you and your team.
  • Technical due dilligence / M&A - do you need a rapid assessment of a potential acquisition, or are you preparing yourself for sale and want to be prepared? Do you work in Private Equity and need help across your portfolio companies? I have a lot of experience on both sides and would be happy to help, even potentially on short notice.
  • Fractional CTO work - do you need interim support while you re-build your leadership team / restructure or move through a critical period while you locate the right permanent CTO or CPO? Let’s chat, I may be able to help.
  • Something more permanent - while not actively looking for the right challenge I am always open to a conversation.
  • Anything else? Let’s talk: https://app.cal.eu/clifton

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has been part of my professional life over the past 7 years - the amazing team we have built at Infinitas Product & Technology, and all those incredible people across Infinitas who worked together with us on developing and transforming this company over the past years. I am confident that I leave with not only a much stronger technology and product foundation in place, but more importantly a group of talented humans who I am confident can deliver whatever our teachers and learners across Europe need from Infintas in the times ahead. Tot ziens!