Proportional.
Right-sized governance for where you are now. Not a 200-page framework when one page will do. Most SMEs need 80% of the answer in 20% of the time, not the other way around.
← Front page · About
From the masthead · The person behind the practice John Archbold.
A 25-year technology leader who started Underfold because smaller businesses deserve the same quality of AI governance support that enterprises get — just right-sized for their reality.
The hardest part of AI is rarely the technology. After 25 years across financial services, cyber security, and global infrastructure teams — Man Group, Generation Investment Management, Crossword Cybersecurity — the pattern is consistent. The technology either works or it doesn't, and you usually know within a quarter. The harder questions are the human ones. Who decides? What do we say to our clients? What do we measure? And — increasingly — what do we do about the work that AI is quietly absorbing while no-one is watching?
Underfold is my answer to those questions, packaged for the organisations that don't have a Chief AI Officer and probably never will. The 5-to-50-person businesses. The professional services firms. The small fintechs, the care providers, the agencies, the schools.
I started this practice because I kept having the same conversation: a competent IT manager or operations director who knew what they wanted to do about AI, but who couldn't find help that was proportional to the size of their problem. Not a 200-page framework. Not a six-month engagement. Not a £50k consultancy fee. A practitioner who'd been where they were and could help in weeks, not months.
The practice runs on four principles, two services, and a research habit. The research is honestly the part I'd do whether or not anyone bought anything — the writing, the field notes, the source library, the slow build of Untitled. The rest exists because the conversations I have through the research and the writing usually lead, eventually, to someone asking for help.
If anything here lands — book a call. Thirty minutes, no deck, no pitch. If Underfold isn't the right fit, I'll tell you who is.
The career page.
2026
Founder, Underfold
Underfold LtdAI governance & technology advisory for smaller organisations. Untitled research. ISO 42001 implementation in-house.
Now
2024
Security Services Director
Crossword CybersecurityDirector responsible for managed cyber security services. Built and ran the operations capability, certified to ISO 27001.
2024–2026
2019
Director, Infrastructure & Operations
Generation Investment Management45%→85% staff satisfaction over four years. Rebuilt platforms ground-up post-major-incident.
2019–2023
2014
Head of End User Technology
Man Group60-person global department, ~$10m budget. Across London, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney. Hedge-fund-grade everything.
2014–2019
2003
From Sys Admin to Senior
Several FS & tech firmsThe career started here. Walked into environments going down daily. Learnt to hold my nerve through major incidents.
2003–2014
The four principles.
The rules I'm trying to run the practice by. They're public because being wrong about any of them in private is too easy.
Always evolving.
Governance that keeps pace with ISO 42001, EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, the UK regulatory regime — and with your business as it grows. Build small, build well, change with the field.
Your ethics, our boundaries.
Your governance should reflect what you stand for — B-Corp values, ESG commitments, CSR posture, or just your own principles. I don't bring a fixed ethics. I bring a structure for yours.
Human hero, AI sidekick.
AI accelerates the research. The judgement is always human. Every recommendation, every call, every essay — human in the loop where it matters. AI in the loop where it pays. Transparent about which is which.
Let's have a conversation.
If anything here resonates, the next step is a 30-minute call. No deck, no pitch, no pressure. We'll talk through where you are with AI, what's keeping you up at night, and whether Underfold is the right fit. If it isn't, I'll tell you who is.