Bio / Strategic Profile

Nick Nettleton

I’m an experienced design-led technology leader, engineer and award-winning AI specialist. I focus on bridging the gap between complex technology and human-centered product design.

With over two deacdes’ experience delivering major platforms for organisations such as NHS, PwC, BCD, Blackhawk, I currently operate as an independent Principal Consultant, partnering with leadership to solve high stakes strategy, design, delivery and optimisation challenges.

Current focus

I am a ‘player-coach’ who combines strategic direction with technical craft, across product, design, AI and engineering:

  • Strategic Transformation: Currently leading product and UX modernisation for major US public transport provider, and migration to modern JAMstack architecture.
  • AI Trust, Safety and Usability: Winner of the NIH (National Institutes of Health) Explainability Prize. I help organisations architect the user experiences that make AI safe, usable and effective, by connecting Design Thinking with a formal theoretical knowledge of the maths and technology. More details below.

Credentials

AI Leadership & Explainability (XAI)

Explainability is probably the major issue in AI today, affecting business use, regulation and public confidence.

  • I recently won a National Institutes for Health (NIH) Prize for AI Explainability, achieving a global #2 ranking for a model predicting cognitive capacity from health data.

  • This work combined my expertise in Design Thinking and technology communication with formal theoretical knowledge of the mathematics and algorithms. This is backed by my formal training (Imperial College AI/ML Certificate, 100%) and my foundational background in Philosophy (BA(hons) First Class), providing the ethical framework necessary for leading responsible AI adoption.

Ecosystem Architecture & Scale

  • I have designed and led the development of national and global ecosystem technology platforms, such as Cyclescheme which successfully unified thousands of independent suppliers and employers into a single digital workflow. This system scaled to generate £50M+ in annual revenue.

  • I have led the end-to-end modernization of numerous legacy industry technology and data platforms, successfully migrating them to modern cloud architectures with modern, agile, user-centred design and development governance processes.

C-Suite Influence & Programme Rescue

  • Complex technology programmes and legacy platforms frequently get stuck. I have long experience of addressing these challenges, turning failing platforms into industry leaders through collaboration, governance and streamlining.

  • I successfully navigated a critical, high-risk global platform migration for a major global travel group, securing buy-in from UK and global boards by translating technical risk into a clear, visual de-risked strategy.

  • My background includes 18 years of P&L responsibility and building high-performing, international, multidisciplinary teams, resulting in exceptional staff loyalty with core team retention of 5-10 years.

I now apply this commercial wisdom back to hands-on architecture and design strategy.

Next Steps

Details of my full experience are available on request. Please message me via LinkedIn.

I work with organisations across the UK, US and Europe from my base in London. To discuss potential work, please reach out via: