About Nicolai ThomsonAI builder and commercial operator

I’m Nicolai
Thomson.

I build the technology.
I understand the work.

AI builder, founder and commercial operator. I help leaders turn their knowledge and ambition into systems that make work better.

Explore my recent work

Build useful systems.Understand the business.Bring people with you.

What I’m building2026: systems, products and research

Current work.
A broader perspective.

My 2026 work spans second brains and AI chiefs of staff, a live operating platform for UKOPRA, financial AI, migration tooling and research into how AI can reflect a leader’s priorities. Some projects are live, others are being developed or tested.

Second brains and personal agentsActive development

WatsonOS · CHIE · Foundation

An AI chief of staff with memory and context.

Three connected projects behind my second-brain specialism. WatsonOS provides the agent orchestration and accountability. CHIE is a desktop knowledge engine that connects experiences, sources and working context. Foundation keeps decision principles and shared knowledge separate from individual business contexts.

The work spans agent memory, knowledge graphs, source references and explicit human confirmation. It is an evolving system, with implemented components and further integration in progress.

AI research and engineeringResearch prototype

Third Layer

Explore how AI can reflect a leader’s priorities.

A research and engineering project exploring a values-modulator architecture around an existing language model: learning from structured feedback, retrieving relevant institutional context and deciding what belongs in the model’s working context.

The work includes retrieval and context-assembly components with audit and evaluation infrastructure. Whether the approach measurably improves alignment remains a research question.

A complete operating platformIn production

UKOPRA

The systems around a national racing organisation.

A competitor portal, public website and administration platform for the United Kingdom Offshore Powerboat Racing Association. The work brings boat registrations, racing licences, event entries, payments and results into one operating environment.

It also covers officials, safety-related checks, audit records and on-site check-in. A practical example of connecting the people, rules and workflows around an organisation’s real work.

Institutional memory and operating designClient engagement

European venture capital firm

Keep knowledge connected as investment work develops.

Work on an agent operating environment, institutional memory and the architecture for connecting knowledge and delivery across a European VC firm.

The engagement includes shared agent working practices and requirements for future portfolio and investment tooling. Portfolio-product work is at the requirements and design stage.

Financial AI, full-stack deliveryArchitecture & implementation

Tobin AI

From private model to a working interface.

As the first AI engineer, I designed a hybrid architecture combining a private language model with deterministic logic and built the full-stack implementation, including the user interface.

The engagement ran from March to August 2026. Work included developing and testing Tobin 1.0 around UK corporate financial governance documents, financial models and CRM sales data.

Accounting practice migrationPilot toolkit

IRISv2

Make a complex move easier to manage.

An AI-assisted toolkit for moving UK accounting practices from IRIS Practice Management to modern platforms. It brings data discovery, classification, mapping, reconciliation and review into a managed migration workflow.

The build includes the migration engine, operator interface, approval gates, audit views and a local pilot setup. The pilot brings migration steps and review decisions into one place.

Consumer product, native iOSProduct development

GrowthJar

Make patience something a child can see.

A native iOS app that helps children learn about earning, saving and growth through a visual pocket-money system, with a separate parent experience for jobs, approvals and records.

The work connects product design, child-friendly interactions and a practical parent workflow. Growth is modelled within the family’s pocket-money system; it is not an investment platform.

Human control and data recoveryIn development

airgap

Keep recovery in human hands.

A backup and recovery product being developed around a clear boundary: backups of business tools should remain separate from the credentials available to AI agents, with restoration controlled by a person.

The target sources include Google Workspace, Notion and Airtable. Current development focuses on access boundaries, recovery workflows and the operator experience.

Where I work today

Still close to the work.

Alongside With Nicolai, I hold fractional, portfolio and investment roles that keep me building and testing ideas in practice.

Fractional CTO · Since April 2026

AIGAS

Builder-CTO owning technical strategy and delivery for AI governance in the global accounting industry.

Entrepreneur in Residence · Since July 2026

BTR Ventures

Helping evaluate investments and build product and go-to-market capability across a portfolio of software businesses.

Scout · Since August 2026

InThisTogether.vc

Working to secure allocations in companies with tier-one investment leads for family offices.

Founder and operatorThe experience behind it

Built over more
than one chapter.

Jenesys AIFounderNovember 2022 – January 2026

From accounting problem to AI platform.

Founded and led a multimodal AI platform for UK accounting practices. Agents handled classification, reconciliation, control and ledger review, with confidence scoring to support human judgement.

Built core multimodal and vision-language models in-house, introduced VAT GraphRAG, and led pricing, onboarding, sales and support alongside product and engineering.

Raised £3m in venture funding, reached £200k ARR and led a 25-person team across product, engineering, AI, commercial delivery and partnerships.

Building the product and the business around it.

Spark New ZealandEnterprise Pursuits → Business Development Director, VenturesJuly 2015 – February 2018

A commercial proposition from every angle.

Led enterprise pursuits before moving into new product and business-model development. Launched a data analytics and advertising technology business unit within Spark Ventures’ Qrious business.

Developed two enterprise networking propositions for government and financial services, with responsibility for product development, marketing, financial modelling, channel and sales strategy.

Connected technical capability with a proposition customers could understand and buy, alongside multi-million-dollar enterprise and government contracts.

Sales, positioning, product and delivery working towards the same outcome.

Inland Revenue New ZealandSenior IT Consultant, Strategy & InnovationJune 2014 – June 2015

Useful change within a complex institution.

Worked on the New Zealand Government’s Telecommunications as a Service transformation programme within Inland Revenue, contributing to change strategy and implementation.

Developed partnerships, oversaw programme teams and designed a new approach to managing commercial risk. The Innovation Lab helped colleagues explore technology in the context of their own work.

Made emerging technology relevant to operational teams while working within the responsibilities and constraints of a revenue service.

Public value, commercial risk and practical delivery considered together.

TaxiClubCo-Founder & CEOMarch 2003 – February 2006

Build the network. Make the service work.

Co-founded an online, location-based ground transport and executive chauffeur booking service.

Negotiated agreements with more than 400 taxi, limousine and coach companies, creating a network of 6,000 vehicles.

Built the business to a multi-million-pound turnover. We sold the technology in 2006.

Founder experience from an early idea through commercial growth and a technology sale.

JukesFounderJuly 2018 – May 2024

Technology that changes the next attempt.

Developed headsets that let coaches give athletes real-time technical correction from up to 750 metres away, above or below water.

Brought together a physical product, a specific customer problem and a global market.

Used by 3,000 athletes in 15 countries, including two Olympians.

Start with what someone needs to do better, then build the technology around it.

The commercial thread

Good technology needs
a business around it.

At Fygo, I established the B2B sales process and technology, built a seven-person team across three locations and prepared the business for launch.

At Workbooks, I led the UK and European manufacturing, retail, distribution and technology sector, representing more than 40% of company revenue. At RescueMetrics, I was the first EMEA hire, establishing sales, customer success and partner development.

Earlier at Spark, my work included mobility solutions for NZ Police and Housing New Zealand. At Adlocate, I co-founded a business helping brands deliver relevant outdoor and digital advertising without relying on names, emails or browsing history.

That is the experience I bring to positioning, sales, product decisions and the practical question of how a leadership team moves together.

A perspective from the work

“The Innovation Lab was singularly the best piece of work I have seen around Wellington in terms of IT engaging with the rest of the organisation to help them understand the future of productivity, understand what matters to them and also build relationships.”

Peter Haigh · LinkedIn recommendation

Read my professional profile

My specialism

A second brain.
Grounded in your world.

The value is in the context you already have.

Your notes, conversations, decisions and working knowledge become a system you can consult and use. We agree the sources, respect access boundaries and keep the path back to the original information clear.

Alongside that, we build the briefs, workflows and applications that help you see across the organisation and act on what matters.

Explore Transform

Learning and sharing

Keep learning.
Make it useful.

I mentor at the Oxford Agentic Bootcamp and Techstars Startup Weekend, helping people turn ideas into practical work.

Oxford Saïd Business School — Fintech Programme, 2017–2018.
Y Combinator — Startup School, 2019.
London School of Economics and Political Science — Ethics of AI, 2023.
Heriot-Watt University — Finance and Business Law studies, 2002–2004; degree not completed.

Oxford Agentic Bootcamp

Outside the job title

A dad first.
Always curious.

I ride a long-tail electric cargo bike, swim, play tennis and have a weakness for offshore powerboats and good coffee.

In 2022, I worked with five charities on the Polish–Ukrainian border to help families with young children access shelter, provisions, medical support and transport to the UK. We established hubs in Norfolk, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to help connect families with sponsors and housing.

In 2013, I helped organise a Typhoon Haiyan relief concert at Wellington’s TSB Arena in support of UNICEF.

The environment matters

Startups SMEs Government

A conversation with Nicolai

What do you want to change?

Tell me a little about your situation in the short brief below. It takes about three minutes and only I read it. If it looks like a fit, you’ll get a link to book a free half-hour with me. If it doesn’t, I’ll say so plainly and point you somewhere more useful.

30 minutes with Nicolai

A half-hour,
in confidence.

Where most conversations begin.

Share your brief first so I have the context before we speak. You’ll then be able to choose a time on Cal.com. A free half-hour. No card details, no obligation.

Already spoken with me?Book a time directly

Before you decide

A little clarity.

What does Nicolai Thomson specialise in?

Nicolai specialises in second brains: systems that connect knowledge, conversations and decisions. His consultancy also covers organisational visibility, practical AI workflows and implementing change across teams.

What is his background?

Nicolai is an AI builder, fractional CTO and multiple founder with sales, product and commercial leadership experience. His 2026 work includes WatsonOS, CHIE, Foundation, Third Layer, UKOPRA, Tobin AI, IRISv2, GrowthJar and airgap, alongside an anonymous European VC engagement. Earlier experience includes Jenesys AI, Spark and Inland Revenue New Zealand.

Who does he work with?

Founders, executives and leadership teams in VC-backed startups, SMEs and government organisations, with the scope adapted to their responsibilities and operating environment.

Which programme should I consider?

I suggest starting with the Diagnostic: half a day on your own work, and the fee comes off Transform if you continue. Transform is six months to make the brief part of how you lead. Implement is twelve months alongside a CEO or board, taking it across the business. If you already know what you need, we can start further along.

I’m NicolaiThomson.

Current work.A broader perspective.