Make what
matters
happen.
x Impact Studio is a senior-led build studio for leaders with something important to figure out, make real or get working.
We bring together strategy, design, AI and the right specialist expertise to turn ambiguity into decisions, and decisions into something real.
Strategy · Design · AI · Specialist expertise
When to call
Call us when it matters
enough to get right. Fast.
01A priority is too important to keep drifting.
02You need to make a consequential decision, and just getting more analysis isn’t the answer.
03You want to test something before committing serious time, money or organisational energy.
04You know AI changes what’s possible, but not yet where the real value is.
05Your team owns it, but needs focused senior capacity to get it done.
We help you get clear, make the decision and build enough to know what works.
What we do
Decide.
Build.
Make it work.
Not every challenge needs all three.
Start where the work is stuck.
01
Decide.
Find the way forward.
We make sense of complex situations, sharpen the real question, understand what matters and make better decisions.
02
Build.
Make the answer tangible.
We turn promising directions into things people can see, use, test or react to.
03
Make it work.
Get it working in the real world.
We stay close enough to turn the decision into action, align the right people, build the first version and create the capability to carry it forward.
Selected work
Know what to do.
Then do it.
Barclays
A global partnership built to scale impact ventures.
Partnered with Barclays to design and build a global impact strategy and series of programmes connecting high-growth ventures with capital, expertise and markets.
- 300+ impact ventures
- 1,000+ investors convened
Nike Foundation
An accelerator, designed and funded from scratch.
Helped design and build a multi-donor, multi-country venture accelerator backed by Nike Foundation, DFID and USAID.
- Multi-donor
- Multi-country
Pearson
Helping a global business move from strategy to execution.
Worked directly with Pearson’s CEO and Board to design and run a Global Advisory Network supporting the company’s transformation into a digital-first enterprise.
- 1,000+ employees engaged globally
- A clearer digital vision
Global Public-Private Collaboration
68 organisations. One global mission.
Created a multi-year global initiative with the U.S. Department of State, Fossil Foundation, Salesforce, Johnson & Johnson and others to accelerate organisations tackling the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
- 68 organisations supported
- Government + corporations + philanthropy
AMSTERDAM DATA COLLECTIVE
Collective Week 2026: strategy that lands in people, not slides.
Designed and delivered the new CEO’s first all-company week, including a hackathon that shipped working prototypes.
- 3-day company-wide gathering
- Strategy + hackathon + working prototypes
Lightbulb trust
From intent to a working investment practice.
Creating a private trust’s impact-investment thesis and process, then managing the investments and supporting the companies it backed.
- impact investment strategy
- Management of investments
Editor note — hidden on the live site.
Figures on these cards (300+, 1,000+, 68, multi-donor) were confirmed for publication on 22 Sept 2026. The full merged case set (including ADC, VOW for Girls, Lightbulb Trust and the Nike digital platform) is on the Work page.
AI + new ways of working
AI changes
what’s possible.
We help you
make it useful.
AI can materially change the economics, speed, quality or reach of the work. We help you identify where that matters, redesign around it and build enough to know what deserves to scale.
- Economics
- Speed
- Quality
- Reach
Where we’re most useful
For leaders with something important to make happen.
We work with leaders across businesses, nonprofits, foundations and family offices when something important needs focused attention, fresh thinking and the capability to make it real.
A strategic priority.
A consequential decision.
A new venture, programme or initiative.
A new operating model.
An AI opportunity worth pursuing.
A portfolio or investment approach.
An idea that needs testing before a bigger bet.
Something important that isn’t moving fast enough.
Leading a family office or foundation? There’s a page written for you.
Different organisations.
Different challenges.
The common denominator is something that matters enough to get right.
How we work
Senior people.
Small teams.
Working outputs.
Every engagement is led directly by Colman.
We build the smallest team the challenge actually needs, drawing on senior specialists and AI where they materially improve the result.
No layers between you and the work. No oversized team. No months of analysis before something becomes tangible.
We work alongside your team, make things tangible early and leave you better equipped to carry the work forward.
01
Senior from day one
The people you meet are the people doing the work.
02
Build to learn
Make the question tangible early and learn from reality.
03
Use what helps
Strategy, design, AI, research, technology and specialist expertise are tools, not products.
04
Build your capability
Build your capability rather than dependence on ours.
Ways to work
Start with the thing
that’s pressing.
Start small enough to learn. Go further when it’s useful.
01
About 2 weeks
Rapid sprint
Resolve a pressing question.
Identify the strongest way forward and build or test enough to make the next decision.
02
About 4–6 weeks
Build
Turn a direction into something real.
Take a promising direction and make it substantial enough to test, use or launch.
03
About 90 days
Launch partner
Get a consequential initiative operating.
An embedded senior partner and purpose-built team until permanent capability takes over.
What matters most right now?
Tell us what’s pressing, what you’ve tried and why it matters now. A few sentences are enough.
