Advice from people who actually build it.
Most AI advice comes from people who have never had to make it work on a Monday morning. Our consultancy is led by Gavin Thorne, who has spent more than 30 years helping businesses adopt software, and it is backed by an EngageAI team that deploys what we recommend. So the plan you get is one we know can be delivered.
30 years of watching software succeed, and fail.
Gavin has spent three decades helping organisations adopt software across sales software, security, government and financial services. Those are sectors where getting it wrong is expensive, visible and sometimes regulated. He has seen what makes a rollout stick: clear ownership, clean data, a process people actually follow. And he has seen the opposite many times over.
AI is the newest wave, not the first. The same lessons apply. Tools do not fix broken processes. They speed them up.
Consultancy and delivery under one roof
Stixx Digital does the consultancy. Our EngageAI team, a trading name of Stixx Digital Ltd, carries out the AI deployments: VoiceAI agents, chatbots, CRM integrations and workflow automation.
That matters for you. Every recommendation we make is tested against what our own team can build, integrate and support. No slideware. No theoretical roadmaps that fall apart at the first API.
And you are free to take the plan elsewhere. We will happily tell you when buying an existing product beats anything we could build.
Seven ways we find where leads, time and money leak out.
Take one in isolation or combine them into a single programme. Each one ends with a written set of recommendations you can act on.
Sales process and CRM review
We follow an enquiry from first contact to closed deal. Where does it wait? Who forgets to log it? Which fields in the CRM nobody trusts? You get a map of the real process, not the one in the manual, and the fixes ranked by impact.
AI opportunity mapping
A clear-eyed look at where AI would genuinely help: answering calls, qualifying leads, reading documents, chasing paperwork. And, just as important, where it would not. Each opportunity comes with effort, risk and a realistic payback view.
Lead source and cost-per-sale audit
Cost per lead tells you almost nothing. We trace each lead source through to closed sales and work out what you really spend to win a customer from each one, so you can cut what does not pay and back what does.
Build-vs-buy advice
Our rule is simple. Buy off the shelf for anything every business does the same way. Build tailored only where your process is your edge. We help you sort which is which before you spend a penny.
Integration roadmaps
Your CRM, accounts package, case management system and spreadsheets probably do not talk to each other. We plan which connections to make first, in what order, so each step pays for itself and nothing breaks along the way.
Vendor selection
We write the requirements, shortlist the options, sit in on the demos and ask the awkward questions about contracts, data ownership, integration and exit. Vendor-neutral, including when the right answer is not one of ours.
Compliance-aware AI adoption
AI that answers your phones or reads your documents touches personal data and, in some sectors, regulated activity. We build compliance into the plan from day one: UK GDPR and PECR, AI disclosure on calls, SRA considerations for law firms, and Consumer Duty for FCA-regulated firms, where AI should hand regulated advice to authorised staff.
GlobalSign
GlobalSign, a global certificate authority, first worked with our EngageAI team on a VoiceAI support agent, "Helena", trained on more than 208 support articles and answering 24/7 with under three seconds of latency, AI disclosure on every call and no personal data captured.
After that success, GlobalSign engaged us for strategic AI consultancy across sales, finance and operations at its UK and Belgian offices. Delivery earned the right to advise.
Read the results →The commodity versus differentiator rule
Most wasted technology spend comes from building things that should have been bought, or buying things that should have been built.
Commodity work is anything every business does in roughly the same way: payroll, email, accounting, calendar booking, basic CRM. Off-the-shelf tools do these well, cheaply and with someone else maintaining them. Building your own is vanity.
Differentiator work is where your process is genuinely your edge: how you qualify a claimant, how you price a complex install, how you route an out-of-hours enquiry to the right fee earner. Here, a generic tool forces you to work like everyone else. That is where tailored automation earns its keep.
Most businesses need a bit of both, joined together properly. Which is why integration, not invention, is usually the answer.
What a good engagement looks like
We start by listening. Then we look at the evidence: your CRM data, your call logs, your lead spend, your team's actual day. Opinions are cheap. Data settles arguments.
You get recommendations in plain English, ranked by impact and effort, with an honest view of cost. Where something should be built, we can quote for the EngageAI team to build it. Where it should be bought, we tell you what to buy. Where it should not be done at all, we say so.
Who it suits
- Owners and directors who know leads are leaking but cannot see where.
- Law firms, insurers and trades businesses weighing up AI and worried about getting compliance wrong.
- Teams with a CRM they paid for and nobody uses properly.
- Businesses about to sign a big software contract who want a second opinion first.
Start free. Scope it properly. Stay as long as it helps.
Free discovery call
Thirty minutes to understand your business, your systems and what is bothering you. No charge, no obligation and a straight answer on whether we can help.
Scoped workshop or audit
A defined piece of work, such as a CRM review, AI opportunity map or cost-per-sale audit, with a fixed scope and a written outcome. Scoped and quoted after the discovery call.
Ongoing advisory
For businesses that want a senior adviser on call as they roll out change: regular sessions, vendor reviews and a second pair of eyes on big decisions. Also scoped and quoted after the discovery call.
Consultancy questions, answered.
Who will I actually work with?
Consultancy is led by our founder, Gavin Thorne, who has more than 30 years of experience helping businesses adopt software across sales software, security, government and financial services. Technical questions are checked with the EngageAI team that carries out our deployments.
How much does consultancy cost?
The discovery call is free. Workshops, audits and ongoing advisory are scoped and quoted after that call, once we understand what you need, so you only pay for work that is relevant to you.
Will you just recommend your own products?
No. We follow a simple rule: buy off the shelf for anything every business does the same way, and build tailored only where your process is your edge. If an existing product is the right answer, we will tell you.
Do we have to use EngageAI to implement the recommendations?
No. The plan is yours. Many clients ask the EngageAI team to deliver it because the advice was written with delivery in mind, but you are free to use your own team or another supplier.
We are a regulated firm. Can you help with compliance?
Yes. We build UK GDPR, PECR and AI disclosure into every plan, and take account of SRA rules for law firms and Consumer Duty for FCA-regulated firms. We are not your legal adviser, so we work alongside your compliance team.
What do we get at the end of an audit?
A written set of findings and recommendations in plain English, ranked by impact and effort, with an honest view of cost and what to do first.
Is this only for large businesses?
No. We work with owner-run businesses as well as larger organisations such as GlobalSign. The questions are the same; the scale of the answer changes.
Get a straight answer on where you are losing out.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Gavin. Bring your biggest headache. Leave with a clear view of what to do next, whether or not you work with us.