By Poss Apostolou

Nine months ago, I stepped into the role of Managing Director at Oxford Insights. To nobody’s surprise, it’s definitely not been straightforward. There have been weeks that felt like a scramble and others where things just clicked. But looking at the whole, I can’t complain (the balance sheet is healthy!), and I want to take a moment to recognise our growth, before turning to what’s next.

A period of real growth

The clearest signal is the team itself. We’ve brought fourteen new people into Oxford Insights in the past 6 months alone. This represents a significant expansion for us; one that required people to sift thousands of applications, give up the odd lunch break (sorry!), and make tough “50-50” decisions. 

That growth has been matched by the breadth of what we’ve delivered: completed projects across the regulator and health sectors in the UK; a data operating model for Sport England; four different projects across DEFRA; a big project with a Latin American country; a new index for a United Nations body; and continued work across the Middle East and Central Asia that builds on relationships we’ve held for years.

Back in May, I wrote about the OI Way – the culture of thoughtfulness we’ve built around a simple belief: that technology only serves the public good when the people delivering it get the fundamentals right. I argued there that in government transformation, the “hard” stuff only really works if the “soft” stuff is right first. Looking back at these last nine months, I like to think that’s been proven project by project. Different sectors, different countries, different clients – but the same underlying discipline each time. Like a stick of rock with the same core message running through it.

Scaling without losing the soul of it

That piece also said something else: that as we grow 25–50% a year, we can’t rely on cultural intuition alone to hold our standards together. Values that live in a handful of people’s heads don’t survive a doubling of headcount. They have to be written down, taught, and made visible in how every engagement actually runs, without turning into the kind of rigid process that squeezes the life out of good work. We called this building “Minimum Viable Processes”: just enough structure to protect quality and psychological safety, and no more. 

That’s exactly the gap Holly Davis, as our new Director of Delivery, is joining us to close.

Welcoming Holly Davis

Holly joins us from Torchbox, the employee-owned digital agency, where she was Head of Delivery. She brings exactly what the OI Way needs at this stage: not just experience as a practitioner who has led complex delivery, but a track record of building capacity and capability in high-performing teams, coaching people rather than managing them, and building the frameworks that let good judgement scale rather than get diluted.

In practice, that means Holly will own the stewardship of the OI Way itself: codifying what “good” looks like at Oxford Insights, building the portfolio-wide quality and assurance discipline that lets us learn from every engagement rather than just complete it, and acting as the senior voice for delivery risk when commercial pressure and quality standards pull in different directions. She’ll sit on our Senior Leadership Team alongside our CEO and Director of Operations & Performance, and she’ll be the person making sure that as we scale toward fifty, then a hundred people, the thing that makes Oxford Insights worth joining doesn’t get lost along the way.

If you’ve worked with us before, you’ll meet her soon. If you haven’t, this is as good a moment as any to say hello.

Looking ahead to 2027

Holly’s arrival is the first move in a bigger plan. Oxford Insights turns ten next year, and I want that anniversary to mark real momentum rather than a milestone we celebrate with a glass of wine. Three things are already in motion.

First, we’ll publish the next edition of the Government AI Readiness Index (GAIRI) in Winter. Our flagship piece of research, GAIRI is the clearest expression of what evidence-based public sector AI policy looks like in practice. It’s used by governments, the G20 and UNESCO, and each edition raises the bar on what we ask of ourselves as much as what we ask of the countries we assess. I recently wrote about how, after UNGA81, AI readiness is now front page news. 

Second, we’re launching a recruitment campaign for a Commercial Director, a new Senior Leadership Team role starting in January 2027. If Holly’s role is to steward how we deliver, this one is about stewarding how we grow: owning our pipeline, sharpening how we tell our story to UK and international audiences, and turning research like the GAIRI into products and services that extend our reach rather than sitting still after publication day. Growing revenue only matters to us if it grows our capacity to do good work. That’s precisely the discipline the OI Way asks us to hold onto as this role beds in.

Third, and running through all of it, is more of what got us here: helping governments use technology, data and AI for genuine public good, without the hype that so often surrounds this space. That’s true whether we’re advising a regulator in the UK or supporting governments thousands of miles away, and it’s the thread that connects a Director of Delivery, a future Commercial Director, and everyone who has joined us this year.

Nine months in, I’m more convinced than ever that Oxford Insights is a company of people first, and methodology second, but only just. Holly joining us, and the Commercial Director role we’re about to open up, are both about strengthening that balance, not upsetting it. After almost a decade spent perfecting the fundamentals, we’re proud to have developed a culture strong enough to carry us through the next ten years. If this is a future you’d like to be part of then get in touch – I’d love to hear from you.

Grid image by Reuben Juarez on Unsplash.com