The gap between what AI can do and what organisations do with it is the defining problem of this era.
AI keeps getting more capable. Adoption has not kept up—and the reason is worth understanding. Making AI work inside a real organisation is a fundamentally different kind of problem from building it. It requires changing how people think, how decisions get made, how operations run, and how institutional knowledge moves.
From what we have seen, the industry is overwhelmingly focused on building models, tools, and features. The harder question—what happens after a company has access to all of it—is where the gap lives, and where the work matters most.
We call this applied intelligence. The work spans technology and organisational design and human behaviour—because the problem does. Engineering new capabilities is one part. Getting people to use them is another. Restructuring how a company operates around what becomes possible is where it gets consequential.
If that is the kind of problem you want to spend your time on, this is where we are building the team to do it.
The Substantial Team
Since 2006
The Work
Our work across four disciplines.
We work with companies across a wide range, from enterprises like Amazon and Google to the manufacturers, retailers, and food brands that most of the economy runs on. The problems are different every time. The underlying challenge is the same: how do you take what AI makes possible and apply it to a company that is already in motion, already serving customers, already running at full speed?
Strategy
Figure out where intelligence changes the game.
You sit with leadership and frontline teams to understand how a company actually operates. Not the org chart version, but the real one. You map where their distinctive knowledge lives, where AI creates genuine advantage, and you build the case for what to do first. The output is clarity that a leadership team can act on, grounded in how the business actually works.
Agentic Engineering
Build systems that carry judgment.
You build a new kind of software. Systems that encode business logic, carry context across workflows, and get smarter through use. This is a different discipline from application development, with different production standards and a different relationship between the software and the people who use it.
Enablement
Help real teams change how they work.
You help people adopt new capabilities in ways that stick, changing workflows, reshaping how teams operate, and making sure the technology serves the people using it. The measure is whether people are working differently in practice, not whether a system has been deployed.
Restructure
Rebuild organisations around what they do best.
You help companies restructure around their real strengths so the organisation gets smarter over time, not just the software. The goal is lasting capability that compounds long after any single engagement.
Who Thrives Here
Who belongs here
You are both strategic and hands-on. Strategists build prototypes. Engineers think about business models and organisational change. Everyone is in the work—the divide between thinking and doing does not exist here.
You find clarity in ambiguity. We work inside real organisations—messy data, competing priorities, institutional politics, leadership teams with conflicting goals. You are the person who makes sense of that and turns it into a direction.
You operate with full ownership. Small teams, high autonomy, high accountability. You will have real authority to make decisions—and the outcomes, good and difficult, are yours.
You care about how this technology is applied. Whether it strengthens the people and the organisation it is designed to serve—that matters to you as much as whether it works at all.
A community as much as a company. We bring together founders, operators, technologists, and clients—to share what we are learning and surface what is working.
What We Value
Life at Substantial
Ownership
Everyone is responsible for outcomes—the full arc from problem to resolution, including the parts that are uncomfortable. That means seeing problems through, challenging assumptions, and acting in the best interest of the company and our clients without waiting for permission.
Autonomy
Teams are trusted to decide how best to achieve their mission. Each person is free to shape their work, make decisions close to the problem, and adapt how they operate to deliver the best outcome.
Curiosity
Understand how things work and reason from first principles. We seek to understand why things are the way they are, challenge assumptions, and experiment toward smarter, simpler solutions.
Courage
Take initiative and make changes in pursuit of better outcomes, even when the path is uncertain. We value judgment over certainty, knowing that progress comes from learning fast, sharing openly, and having the conviction to act.
Integrity
Seek truth through open dialogue, disagreement, and shared learning. Disagreement is expected; what matters is approaching it with respect and a commitment to putting the outcome ahead of ego.
Get in touch.
If you see yourself in what you read, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you have built and what lasting impact it had. Tell us what work you want to be doing in three years. Send us whatever you think shows how you think.
Open Roles