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I’m James Tennant, an independent AI consultant.

I help businesses of every size work out where AI will save time, choose tools that are safe to use, and put them to work. No software to sell, no commissions and no referral fees.

Book a free intro call What I do
James Tennant, independent AI consultant

Big-programme experience, sized for your business.

I’ve spent 25 years delivering technology, including Critical National Infrastructure programmes for UK Government and major IT programmes for FTSE 100 companies. Now I bring that rigour to businesses of every size, including those without an IT department to spare.

I started as a software engineer in the late 1990s, moved into solution and AI architecture, and co-founded an AI consultancy working with large corporate clients. Since then I’ve reviewed agentic engineering practice for a global systems integrator, led legacy modernisation, and trained hundreds of engineers to use AI well.

I set up Contextric so clients get that experience directly. The person you meet on the first call is the person who does the work.

Who I work with.

Businesses of every kind and size: law firms, accountants, finance, manufacturing, distribution, charities and more. Most come to me in one of three situations.

Your people already use AI

Staff are using ChatGPT, Copilot or something else, and you’re not sure which tools, with what data, or whether it’s within your policies and UK GDPR.

You’re about to choose or buy

A supplier is pitching, or you’re weighing up the options, and you want an answer from someone with nothing to sell.

The same work fills the week

Chasing invoices, writing quotes, answering the same questions: work that AI could take on, with a person checking anything important.

Start with an AI health check.

A fixed-price review of how your business uses AI today, and what to change.

  • The tools your people use, including the ones nobody signed off
  • Better options, where they would save time or money
  • Data protection: where your data goes, who can see it, and any UK GDPR concerns
  • Clear next steps, in a short written report that’s yours to keep

£750 + VAT, fixed price.

Book a free intro call Questions about working with me

What I do.

Independent AI advice
Copilot, ChatGPT or something else? Which tools fit your firm, what they will really cost, and what to check before your client data goes anywhere near them.
AI training for your team
Hands-on sessions that get everyone using AI well and safely, adapted to your tools and your policies.
AI agents and bespoke AI
Agents that take on whole jobs, like credit control, quotes and tenders, and AI built around your documents and systems.
AI for software teams
If you have developers: reviews of how they use AI, modernising old systems, and tooling built with them.

Why independent matters.

Most AI advice comes from someone with something to sell: a platform, a partnership or a large team to keep busy. I’d rather be paid for being right.

  • No commissions or referral fees from any vendor
  • Straight answers, including when the answer isn’t AI
  • Fixed scope and a fixed price, agreed before we start
  • Reports and plans are yours to keep, whoever does the work next

Recent work.

Read the full write-ups

Questions about working with me.

  • What does an independent AI consultant do?

    Helps you decide where AI is worth using, choose the right tools and suppliers, and get it working, with no product to sell you. For me that covers advice and strategy, building AI agents and bespoke AI, reviewing engineering teams and training.

  • Why an independent consultant, rather than a large consultancy or a vendor’s partner?

    A vendor’s partner is paid to recommend that vendor’s platform. A large consultancy often sends senior people to the pitch and a junior team to the work. I take no commissions or referral fees, and I do the work myself, so the advice is about what’s right for you.

  • How much does it cost?

    Most of my work is fixed price, with the scope agreed before we start, so you know the cost up front. The simplest place to start is an AI health check, at £750 + VAT. For ongoing advice, or work that’s hard to scope in advance, my day rate is £1,500 + VAT.

  • Is it safe to use AI with our clients’ data?

    It can be, with the right tools and settings. I check where your data would go, who could see it, and whether that fits UK GDPR, your client terms and your regulator’s expectations, then set out the policies and settings you’d need.

  • We’re a small firm. Is this for us?

    Yes. For most smaller businesses, the value of AI is in a few well-chosen tools used well, and that’s exactly what I help with. You get the rigour of large programmes without paying for a large team.

  • Where are you based?

    Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. I work with clients across the UK, in person or remotely.

  • What happens on the intro call?

    We talk for 30 minutes about what you’re working on. You’ll get an honest view of whether I can help and what a sensible first step would be. There’s no obligation.

Book a free 30-minute intro call.

Tell me what you’re working on. You’ll get an honest view of what would help and what a sensible first step would be. No obligation.

Choose a time

Or email hello@contextric.com