Diagnosis before advice.
An independent advisory practice led by Prof. Daniel Russo. I diagnose engineering organisations the way research is done: from the inside, against validated models, with findings you can trace back to evidence.
Who I advise
CTOs and CIOs
The transformation delivered process, not outcomes. Before spending again, you need to know which layer of the organisation actually needs fixing.
VPs of Engineering
A few teams keep improving; most plateau. The difference between them is measurable, and it is rarely the process.
Consultancies
Your clients expect frameworks that survive contact with reality. Models co-developed and validated in the field hold where generic frameworks do not.
Every engagement runs on the discipline I use in research. Four phases, each with published instruments behind it.
Observe
Fieldwork inside the organisation: structured interviews across roles and levels, observation of how work actually happens, analysis of processes and documents. Not a questionnaire from the outside.
Model
Findings are set against validated models of how engineering organisations behave: team effectiveness, agile transformation success, AI adoption, and software quality. All four models are published and peer-reviewed.
Validate
Explanations are tested before they become recommendations. Where the evidence is thin, the report says so; a diagnosis you can trust states its own limits.
Translate
You receive findings in decision language: what to change, what to leave alone, and what the evidence says about each. Recommendations trace back to observations, not to convention.
Short Diagnostic
A focused investigation of a specific organisational question. You receive a written report with findings, their evidential basis, and specific recommendations, for organisations that want a rigorous, independent answer before committing to something larger.
In practice: what separates effective teamsEmbedded Organisational Audit
A comprehensive diagnostic of the organisational dynamics shaping your engineering practice: structured interviews across roles and levels, process analysis, and a traceable account of what is actually happening inside the organisation.
In practice: three years inside a transformationOngoing Advisory Retainer
Monthly access for engineering leaders who want a standing, research-grounded perspective on organisational decisions, team design, and transformation as it unfolds. It can also take the form of one-to-one coaching of a leader.
In practice: a multi-year model built with DeloitteAdvisory work is confidential by default. These four engagements can be discussed, at different levels of disclosure. Each one links the work to the published evidence behind it.
Deloitte ConsultingTechnology strategy28
A Big Four practice needed more than opinions about software quality.
Deloitte’s banking clients kept raising the same concerns about complexity and cost. A multi-year collaboration turned them into SQuAP, a validated quality model connecting three ISO standards, now an open ontology.
Read the engagement →
Government agencyMission-critical40–50%
A transformation that delivered on paper and still felt wrong.
Three years embedded in a mission-critical agile transformation: cost per line of code down 40–50%, certification passed, and evidence that the decisive investment is in developers, not process roles.
Read the engagement →
The LiberatorsTeam effectiveness1,978
From a research question to a commercial diagnostic product.
A seven-year collaboration with The Liberators produced a validated model of Scrum team effectiveness, tested across nearly 2,000 teams. That model is now the scientific foundation of Columinity, their team-improvement product.
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Client under NDAAI adoption55%
Their engineers saw the value of AI tools. Adoption still stalled.
Work for a client that cannot be named became a two-phase study of 283 engineers, published in TOSEM. The finding: workflow compatibility, not perceived usefulness, decides whether AI tools stick.
Read the engagement →Not every engagement can be shown. Confidential work includes one-to-one coaching of engineering leaders.