The programme
An embedded consultancy for AI user‑centred design.
Senior practitioner expertise on AI‑enabled services, embedded at a day rate.
01The shapes
Three shapes of engagement.
Advisory sits with the head of profession, community with the profession, delivery inside a build.
-
i.
Advisory
Profession advisory
A senior practitioner available to the head of profession. Strategy questions, hiring shape, capability uplift, and assurance on AI‑enabled work. The same person, ongoing.
-
ii.
Community
Community of practice
A recurring programme for a UCD profession or cross‑profession group. Sessions, materials, and office hours that lift the community's AI‑enabled capability.
-
iii.
Delivery
Project delivery
A senior practitioner inside a delivery team, hands on the work. Discovery shaping, alpha review, AI‑systems specialism on a digital build. Used where the team needs delivery support.
02How it works
From first call to close, in five steps.
Fast to start, simple to run. The shape stays the same whether the work runs one month or six.
-
Step 01
Intro call
A thirty‑minute call to test fit. What you're after, where to start, what shape suits.
-
Step 02
Scoping note
A two‑page note covering scope, cadence, and success criteria.
-
Step 03
Kick‑off
A working session in week one. Read the artefacts and agree the first three moves.
-
Step 04
Fortnightly review
A standing thirty minutes to check the work is biting. Written summary after each.
-
Step 05
Close
A handover note: what was done, what's left, what to read next. Continuation, or stop.
03When to reach
Which shape, and when.
Each shape answers a different problem. If one of these sounds like your team right now, that's where to start.
-
Advisory
When AI work moves faster than the team.
- AI‑enabled work is landing faster than the team can absorb.
- You need a draft hiring or capability case to argue with.
- Your approach to assurance is informal and you want it written down.
-
Community
When the same questions keep arriving.
- You're fielding the same AI question from one team after another.
- You're anchoring a community of practice and need a senior voice.
- Your profession's AI methods are uneven and need a shared baseline.
-
Delivery
When a digital build needs senior hands.
- A digital build needs senior AI‑systems specialism in the work.
- A discovery needs shaping and a permanent hire would take too long.
- An AI‑enabled service is heading into Service Standard assessment.
04Commercials and procurement
How to buy.
Day rate
Sold at a day rate, set by the shape, length, and security profile of the work.
Rates are shared in writing on the intro call. They hold for the length of the contract.
Half‑days are billable. Week minimums apply for project delivery.
How you buy
By direct procurement, shaped by the scoping note.
Open to any central‑government department, arm's length body, or devolved administration, bought through your own procurement route within its thresholds.
If a framework route suits your team better, say so on the call and we'll work to it.
Supplier facts
- StatusUK small to medium enterprise
- ProcurementDirect, within your department's own routes and thresholds
- InsuranceProfessional indemnity, public liability (certificates on request)
- SecurityCleared to handle OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE. Security Check (SC) clearance where an engagement requires it.
05The practitioner
Chris Leo. Senior UCD on AI‑enabled work.
Fifteen years in UCD, seven in UK central government. Cross‑government and HMRC Service Standard assessor, and led a UCD assurance function whose team read around 200 services against the Standard. Trained on Cambridge's HCI for AI Systems methodology, the public reference for the practitioner's approach to AI‑enabled service design.
The programme is a 1:1 service. Chris is the practitioner on every engagement. Every engagement runs on the same senior reading.
Drawn from
Cambridge HCI for AI Systems·MRS Diploma·BSc Psychology
Get in touch
Tell the practitioner what you're trying to do.
Send a sentence on the work and a date or two that suit. Reply within five working days with a calendar link, or a pointer elsewhere if the programme isn't the right fit.