About Stu
Why Stu?
I've been the CEO buying technology, the founder building it, and the technologist making it work.
For more than 25 years I've worked at the intersection of technology, data, strategy and the cultural sector. I built and led an international audience technology company, sold it to TRG Arts, joined TRG's senior leadership team and became its Chief Innovation Officer. Today I'm building and deploying AI and data products while helping leadership teams work out what technology means for their organisations.
So I can help you make the big decisions - and I understand what it takes to make them real.
I understand your world.
I co-founded and led Purple Seven, building it into an international audience analytics business working with cultural organisations across the UK, US and beyond.
In 2021, Purple Seven was acquired by TRG Arts. I subsequently joined TRG's senior leadership team, ultimately becoming Chief Innovation Officer, working across technology, data, product and innovation.
Today, through Nicolle Consulting Services, I continue to work with TRG as an innovation partner while working directly with organisations that want to make better use of technology, data and AI.
I've spent enough time in cultural organisations to understand the reality: ambition is usually greater than resources. People wear several hats. Technology teams are small - if they exist at all. There are legacy systems, specialist suppliers and limited budgets.
Whatever we do has to work in that world.
I can operate at both ends of the telescope.
I've sat around the executive table making decisions about strategy, investment, people and risk.
I've also founded businesses, designed products, interrogated databases, built prototypes and worked with developers to turn ideas into things people actually use.
I can have the strategic conversation with the CEO in the morning and get into the detail with the people making it happen in the afternoon.
That combination matters.
I'm unlikely to hand you a 60-page strategy and disappear.
Sometimes the answer is a strategy. Sometimes it's fixing something. Sometimes it's building a prototype and finding out whether the idea actually works.
I'm working with this stuff now.
A significant part of my work today is exploring how AI, automation and data can change the way organisations operate.
I'm currently developing and deploying AI and data-driven products in the cultural sector - experimenting, learning what works and discovering what doesn't.
So when we talk about AI, this isn't theoretical advice based on a conference I attended.
I'm building with it.
I'm independent.
I'm not a reseller and I don't arrive with a preferred technology platform or a large implementation team that needs feeding.
If the best answer is to use something you already have, I'll say so.
If you shouldn't build something, I'll say that too.
And if I think you're about to spend a lot of money solving the wrong problem, you can expect me to challenge it.
My job is to help you make good decisions - not create technology projects.
I like making things happen.
I'm naturally curious about what comes next, but I'm equally interested in getting something out of the door.
I like taking a slightly fuzzy:
“Could we…?”
and turning it into:
“Let's find out.”
Then working out what it would take to make it real.
Fancy a conversation?
You don't need to have a technology strategy. You don't even need to know exactly what the problem is.
If there's something about technology, AI or data that you're wrestling with - or an idea you're wondering whether you could make happen - let's talk.