Valliance, a new breed of consultancy set up to create true value from AI, launches today with £11 million in private equity backing from Siguler Guff and Company, LP, a private markets investment firm. The news comes as data shows traditional consultancies are failing to help enterprises achieve AI success, all while charging businesses billions for services that aren’t fit for purpose.
Valliance, which is AI native by design, aims to end this unnecessary waste with a radical new model: charging based on value delivered, without relying on billable hours and impractical solutions.
A survey of 1,000 senior leaders at some of the UK’s largest enterprises (annual tech spend >£20m), revealed businesses are accelerating their investments into AI across the board (90%). A fifth of that spend (21%) is attributed to external consultancies, yet half of these projects are falling short of expectations.
Respondents spent an average of £39.2m on AI in the last year, with consultant fees accounting for £8.4m of the total from each business. With 8,335 large enterprises in the UK, that equates to a national AI bill of some £325bn, with more than £65bn of this going on consultancies, mostly without ROI. Just 45% of all projects have metrics set from the start, meaning that for more than half, true success is near impossible to gauge. When asked why AI projects fail, the most common reason was being too focused on technology over business outcomes (30%).
The biggest firms, those spending over £100m on technology saw an average of £53m going towards AI projects alone, meaning they pay out more on consultants (£11.30m) annually, more than a third (31%) of enterprises do on any tech at all.
Valliance’s founding team is made up of entrepreneurs who have honed their skills across global businesses, and who have witnessed legacy consultancy failure firsthand. Tarek Nseir, a leading consultant in the digital transformation era, led groundbreaking work for clients such as ASOS, Allianz, Aston Martin, and JK Rowling as the founder of TH_NK. Tarek’s turning his focus to unlocking the value in the UKs largest businesses alongside Anita Rajdev a seasoned commercial leader, who brings deep expertise in building trusted partnerships with major enterprises. With a proven track record of shaping high value deals for companies like EPAM Systems and Gemalto, Anita will be instrumental in defining Valliance's value driven client relationships. Rad Parvin (previously founder of Just BI), led global data strategies for brands like Nike, Shell, Heineken and Vodafone. Rad’s focus is using his expertise to build customers’ trust in agentic systems. The founders have already gathered a team of 15 experts in their field, including Dom Selvon, one of the founders of the composable architecture movement and a longtime member of MACH Alliance’s board.
Bolstered by industry leading system architecture, data and product design skills from their wider team, Valliance has already signed three clients.
Shaun Khubchandani and Justin Eskind from Siguler Guff have joined Valliance’s board, and will be advised by Stephen Treloar who has held senior roles at global insurance giants like Aviva and Allianz.
