About
Hello, I'm Simon.
I run Incubate Labs from Cambridgeshire. I build practical AI and automation for small businesses, the kind that don't have an IT department and don't want a consultancy's slide deck.
Most of my career has been about delivery: taking something that needs to happen and making it happen properly, in the real world, with the people and constraints that are actually there. That's the same job, whether it's an Army operation, a reconstruction programme or an invoice workflow for a ten-person business.
Background
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1996–2003
British Army
Intelligence and operations. Where I learned to plan carefully, work with incomplete information and get things done under pressure.
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2003–2015
Post-conflict reconstruction, Iraq
Twelve years working on reconstruction in Iraq, where a plan only matters if it survives contact with reality.
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Ocado
Lead Product Delivery Manager
Delivering technology and operational change in one of the UK's most automated businesses.
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Now
Incubate Labs
Building practical AI and automation for small businesses that don't have an IT department to do it for them.
What I believe about AI in small businesses
Most "AI problems" aren't. Plenty of them are a missing integration or a process nobody wrote down. I'd rather fix that simply than sell you something clever.
AI projects are data projects. When AI disappoints, it's usually because the information going in was messy, scattered or missing. That's where I start.
The aim is more capacity, not fewer people. The best outcome is your team spending their time on the work they're good at.
I build in public. You can see my own projects on GitHub.
Let's talk.
Tell me what's taking up your team's time. If I can't help, I'll say so, and point you somewhere that can.