About
A small, senior, engineering-led AI consultancy
Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, working with defence, government and regulated organisations across the UK. The people who sell the work do the work.
Why we exist
The gap we kept running into
UK organisations are not short of AI advice. They are short of advice that has survived an information governance review.
Strategy firms produce documents. Automation agencies produce demos. Neither reliably answers the question that decides whether a project happens in a bank, a trust, a law firm or a department. Where does the data go, who can reach it, and can you prove it?
That is an architecture question. Answer it in week one, with someone who will still be there for the build. Answered in month nine, it usually means a rebuild.
So we do both halves: assess and advise, then build and evidence. When the right answer is not to build, we say so.
Who you work with
The people on the call are the people on the work
Five leads, one per discipline, backed by associates named to you before they start. You deal with whoever is doing the work.
- Tom Founder · AI infrastructure & security lead
- Nigel Lead architect
- Dave Delivery lead
- Andy AI development lead
- Tammy Lead business analyst · AI assistive technology for SEN
Flowing Mind Ltd
Registered in England & Wales · Trading since 2020
Trading from Newcastle upon Tyne since 2020. When an engagement needs something we do not do, such as specialist legal advice, clinical safety or sector regulatory work, we bring in someone who does.
We are not trying to become a large consultancy. Small and senior is the point.
What we commit to
Four commitments in the contract
Your data stays in the UK
Every engagement starts by drawing the line your data must not cross. Everything we design sits inside it. Where a hosted model suits a low-classification workload, its residency and retention terms go in the evidence pack.
You own what we build
No proprietary runtime, no per-seat middleware licence, nothing that stops working if we part company. Open weights and open standards where they do the job, in a repository with tests and documentation your team can run.
Every build ships with its evidence
An evaluation set from your own material, measured results, a risk register entry and the documents an auditor or procurement panel will ask for. Produced during the build, while the people who made the decisions can still explain them.
We will tell you when not to build
A fair share of proposed AI projects should not go ahead. If the answer is a database query, a fixed rule or a better process, we say so in writing, with reasoning you can take to your board.
Things worth knowing up front
We are small
Need forty consultants next month? We are the wrong firm. Say so early and we will point you somewhere sensible.
We are not a law firm
We produce the technical and organisational evidence your DPO and counsel need. We do not give legal advice, and will tell you when a question needs a solicitor.
We publish our prices
The first meeting is more useful when both sides know the numbers are in range.
Clearance
Tell us the clearance level and any facility requirement in the first conversation. We will say whether we meet it as we stand and where we would work alongside your own cleared staff.
We are not your accreditor
We build to the baseline, produce the evidence and answer the questions. Accepting residual risk belongs to your security assurance coordinator, SIRO or accreditor.
We will talk you out of things
Many proposed AI projects should not be built. Finding that out in an assessment is a good outcome.
Next step
Find out whether we fit
Thirty minutes, no deck. Describe the problem and the constraint. We will tell you whether it is worth doing, what it takes and roughly what it costs.