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VelvetGiraffe

About

We fix how the work works.

Velvet Giraffe helps organisations identify expensive operational problems, redesign how the work happens, build the automation, AI or software required to fix them, and measure the result.

Positioning

Technology is the means. Better operations are the outcome.

The company was built around a practical belief: many organisations already know which processes are painful, but nobody has had the time, capacity or cross-functional ownership to fix them properly.

We are not here to sell a tool, a stack or an abstract AI strategy. We work across the messy overlap between operations, people, systems, controls and data — then build what is needed to make the better way of working real.

Find it. Fix it. Automate it. Prove it.

  • 01Where is expensive work being hidden in the day-to-day operation?
  • 02Which handoffs slow the business down or create rework?
  • 03What gets copied, chased, checked or reconciled more than once?
  • 04Which processes rely on one person knowing how things really work?
  • 05Where are existing systems being underused?
  • 06Which parts of the work should be simplified before they are automated?
  • 07What evidence will prove the change has worked?

What we can build

Advice only matters if the operation changes afterwards.

The delivery work may involve process redesign, automation, integrations, AI agents, dashboards, knowledge systems or internal tools. The choice follows the operational case.

  • AI agents
  • Workflow automation
  • Low-code applications
  • System integrations
  • Operational dashboards
  • Knowledge systems
  • Internal tools
  • Process controls
  • Custom software where appropriate

Founders

We understand the business problem. And we can build the fix.

Operational transformation and technical delivery, together.

Velvet Giraffe brings together two complementary disciplines: senior operational transformation and hands-on AI and technology delivery.

Between us, we’ve worked across operations, finance, risk, controls, automation, data, programme delivery and enterprise technology. We focus on the problems that are commercially important, operationally messy and genuinely worth fixing.

We don’t start with a technology. We start with what isn’t working, what it is costing the organisation, and what a better way of working should look like.

Two disciplines, one engagement

Two curved sculptural ribbons interlocking, one aubergine and one ivory

Co-Founder | Operational Transformation & Commercial Lead

Sarah-Jane Lewis

Sarah-Jane is a Chartered Management Accountant and senior transformation leader with around 20 years' experience across finance, operations, process improvement, automation, risk, controls and enterprise change.

She has led complex transformation programmes, redesigned operating models, built and scaled teams, improved end-to-end processes, strengthened controls and helped organisations navigate periods of rapid growth and change.

At Velvet Giraffe, Sarah-Jane focuses on understanding how the organisation really works, identifying where time, money and capacity are being lost, challenging unnecessary complexity, and building the commercial case for a better way of operating.

Her focus is simple: is this problem worth fixing, what should the future state look like, and how do we make the change deliver measurable value?

  • Transformation
  • Operating Models
  • Process Improvement
  • Commercial Case
  • Finance & Controls
  • Programme Leadership
  • Change Delivery

Co-Founder | AI, Automation & Technical Delivery Lead

Iain Macaskill

Iain is an AI solutions and technology delivery leader with more than 17 years' experience turning complex business problems into practical technology solutions.

His background spans AI solution design, automation, data, cloud technology, architecture and complex programme delivery.

His work includes structured AI discovery, assessing where AI can create genuine value, designing solutions, building the right governance around them, and moving ideas through into working implementation.

His experience also includes AI and data readiness, Azure and Databricks environments, low-code delivery and work in regulated enterprise environments.

At Velvet Giraffe, Iain takes opportunities from “could technology solve this?” through architecture, prototype and implementation.

His focus is on using the right combination of AI, automation, integration, data and software rather than forcing every problem into the same platform.

  • AI Solutions
  • Automation
  • Solution Architecture
  • Data
  • Cloud
  • Technical Delivery
  • Working Software

Why the combination matters

Most transformation firms are stronger on one side of the equation.

They can understand the business problem but rely on somebody else to build the solution.

Or they can build technology but need the client to tell them what should be built.

Velvet Giraffe connects the two.

Sarah-Jane

  • The operation
  • Commercial value
  • Process
  • People
  • Risk
  • Controls
  • Business outcomes
  • Transformation

Iain

  • Technology
  • Architecture
  • AI
  • Automation
  • Data
  • Integration
  • Prototyping
  • Implementation

Together, we can go from

“This process is driving everyone mad.”

“Here is why it is happening, what it is costing you, what should change, what technology should do, and how we can actually build it.”

Operating philosophy

Practical, evidence-led and outcome-focused.

Senior people do the work

Clients are not sold senior expertise and handed to a junior delivery team.

AI-native delivery

We use AI internally to accelerate analysis, documentation, prototyping, software development and delivery.

Technology agnostic

We use the technology that fits the problem rather than forcing every problem into one platform.

Business first

We start with operational value rather than technology preference.

Build + transform

We can move from diagnosis into implementation when the business case is there.

Measured outcomes

Success should be visible in operating performance, not just in a slide deck.

FAQ

About Velvet Giraffe.

Have a process nobody has had time to fix?

Tell us what is costing time, money, service quality or control. We will help you decide whether it is worth fixing and where to start.

Show us the problemSee how we work

Show us the problem

What’s the process everyone complains about?

The spreadsheet. The workaround. The queue. The approval chain. The process only one person understands.

Show us the problemBook a conversation