Axiologik hires two principals as AI demand surges

Axiologik has appointed Andy Roberts and Tim Lewis to its senior leadership team as demand for AI projects rises.

AI-related enquiries have increased roughly tenfold over the past nine months. The Leeds technology consultancy is also recruiting for 15 more AI-focused roles as it expands work for clients trying to move AI projects from pilot stages into operational use.

Roberts joins as Principal Consultant after 25 years working across consulting, technology, sport and media. His recent work has focused on helping organisations make AI projects deliver commercial results.

Lewis also joins as Principal Consultant. Named Prolific North Tech Leader of the Year in 2025, he has worked on technology teams and systems in logistics, health technology and gaming.

The recruitment drive reflects a wider pattern among organisations that have experimented with AI but struggled to deploy it at scale. Clients are contending with issues including data readiness, legacy systems and governance as they try to put AI into live environments.

Axiologik works with clients ranging from banks to government departments, helping them move beyond proof-of-concept work to systems that can operate within regulatory and operational constraints.

Demand shift

The growth in AI work comes as businesses reassess how to turn investment in generative AI and related tools into practical outcomes. Axiologik cited MIT research finding that 95% of generative AI pilots do not reach production, and said many organisations are still facing the same deployment problems identified in that research.

That has created an opening for consultancies that can combine engineering, software delivery and governance with AI projects. Axiologik said it differs from firms that place AI in standalone innovation units by spreading AI training across the business, with all staff AI-certified.

The business has also introduced AxioIntelligence, an AI readiness assessment designed to help executive teams identify where AI may produce a return and what governance work is needed first. It sits alongside Axiologik’s wider work in digital services, legacy modernisation and cyber security.

Roberts set out his view of the market challenge in a statement on his appointment.

“The appetite for AI certainly isn’t a problem; execution is. Most organisations can run training or a pilot. Far fewer can turn that into transformation at scale, the complex, business-wide change that delivers a return. That’s what Axiologik is built to do, and why I joined,” said Andy Roberts, Principal Consultant, Axiologik.

His appointment adds another senior figure to Yorkshire’s technology consulting sector at a time when firms are competing for specialists in data, software and AI delivery. Leeds and the wider region continue to build a reputation in digital services, with activity spanning financial services, public sector technology and health technology.

Lewis said clients were looking for practical support rather than broad claims about AI.

“Clients don’t need more noise about AI; there is plenty of that about. They need help managing risk and building the data architecture and software foundations to make this work in practice. Doing that inside a B Corp that takes governance seriously is exactly the right place to do it properly,” said Tim Lewis, Principal Consultant, Axiologik.

Axiologik was founded in Leeds in 2016 and works across public and private sector technology programmes. The latest expansion strengthens its work in secure and regulated digital change.