The Consortium

The Consortium

Senior minds. In the room.

Every business has access to AI. Very few have the leadership, systems, data and processes to make it effective. That is the gap we close.

We do AI outcome-led digital transformation. People. Process. Technology. In that order.

Read more at ncco.ieContact us

Our mission

To bridge the gap between AI and digital transformation strategy and human adoption, enabling leaders and teams to embrace new ways of working and turn AI investment into lasting business value. Driving true organisational growth and improving your bottom line.

The best technology in the world fails when the people meant to use it aren’t brought along with it, and 60 to 70% of digital transformations fall down on exactly that. So we start with your people and your leaders, hold their hands through the change, and build systems and processes that genuinely work for them, and feed your AI. Not the other way around.

As Brené Brown puts it, “the transformations most worth regretting are the ones where leaders tapped out when it got hard”. We keep leaders and their teams in the room, and stay in it ourselves, all the way through.

The problems we solve

If any of these statements resonate with you, please reach out.

  • You require an AI strategy that integrates with your systems
  • Your AI reporting is not trustworthy or consistent
  • One side of your business doesn’t know what the other side is doing
  • Your current systems and processes are preventing you from scaling
  • You need to create or improve your business processes
  • Colleagues tell you that you need new business systems but you don’t know where to start
  • Your business is siloed
  • You’ve heard a lot about digital transformation but don’t know what that really means
  • You want to align your AI, business systems and processes with design thinking and brand strategy
  • You want to create remote teams with strong internal communications
  • You know your company needs to embrace AI, digitisation and automation

Who we are

The Consortium is an independent AI operational and digital transformation, process improvement, project management and business development agency. We serve entrepreneurs, micro-businesses and SMEs, all the way up to national and global corporate entities, by providing focused, no-nonsense, practical advice and hands-on support for systems and solutions that actually speak to each other.

Sectors include engineering, finance, construction, pharmaceutical, technology, manufacturing, food & drink, health & wellness, professional services, publishing.

Where we started

The Consortium began with a few colleagues’ mutual passion for operational transformation, AI, project management, CRM, process improvement, product development and pricing structure, plus business development and optimisation. We’ve been helping businesses grow ever since, using dynamic, LEAN and sustainable forward-planning systems and solutions. Organisations must be viewed as a whole. Avoiding the dreaded “silo effect” is behind everything we do.

Award-winning. Vendor-agnostic. No junior delivery teams.

We are a boutique consulting house of senior, independent specialists, each with 25+ years’ experience delivering complex AI and business transformation programmes (people, process and technology) inside regulated, enterprise-scale organisations including financial services, utilities, pharma and engineering. We bring exactly the right senior expertise, 360° holistic transformation support, for exactly the gap that needs filling, for exactly as long as it’s needed.

Meet the team

Natalie Garland-Cooke

Founder

With 25+ years’ experience across business systems, CRM/ERP/AI, operational and digital transformation, process optimisation, customer care, sales and project management, Natalie has worked everywhere from agile start-ups to large banks, pharma companies, engineering firms and tax specialty practices.

She is vendor-agnostic by principle, not just by positioning. Every technology decision is made on genuine fit for the business, never on commission or convenience.

Natalie holds postgraduate qualifications from UCD in Digital Transformation Management and Project Management (with Distinction), and has won multiple awards from Thermo Fisher Scientific and Sage, was Highly Commended for STEM in Network Ireland Regionals, and is an All Stars Thought Leader in Process Optimisation.

Katie Tether

Consortium Lead

Katie is a senior business analyst and programme lead with deep experience translating complex, multi-stakeholder requirements into delivered outcomes across utilities, hospitality technology, health, financial services and insurance.

Business lead on a €180M national-scale smart metering transformation programme: requirements definition, multi-vendor evaluation and selection, and stakeholder alignment across business, operations and technology.

Built a customer success function from the ground up at a fast-scaling technology platform, introducing customer journey mapping, tiered service models, CSAT measurement and a customer-informed product roadmap.

Joseph Rose

Senior Technical Advisor

Joseph is the consortium’s senior technical voice. With 20+ years across full-stack software, enterprise systems (CRM and ERP), cloud and on-premise infrastructure, AI and automation, and CTO, COO and CEO-level roles behind him, he advises on technical strategy and architecture: where a system should be heading, what to build versus buy, how to approach AI and automation, and where the real technical risks sit.

Because he has personally built and run the core software behind multiple commercial platforms, that advice is grounded in delivery rather than theory, and he can stand the solution up as well as shape it.

Joseph regularly works with SMEs and manufacturers on quoting engines, system integrations and automation that take repetitive work off teams. He also founded the Open Readiness Foundation, developing plain-language standards for data protection, AI, automation and cybersecurity readiness.

Ron Kugler

Pricing, Monetisation & Commercial Negotiation Advisor

Pricing and monetisation specialist with 25+ years in enterprise software and SaaS, spanning venture-backed, PE-owned and public company environments. Built and led pricing and Deal Desk functions at VMware, Dell Software, Hortonworks, Poppulo and Cyncly, among others.

Ron combines pricing strategy and packaging design with hands-on commercial execution: Deal Desk build-outs, non-standard enterprise negotiations, and renewal and price-increase programmes run end to end. He designs logical, real-world pricing and packaging behind a product or AI transformation, and carries complex deals from structure through negotiation to best outcome.

Sinead Crawley

People, Leadership & Business Performance

With 30+ years in senior commercial leadership, leadership development and business coaching, Sinead helps organisations align their people and teams behind clear strategic and commercial goals, and deliver against them.

Her experience spans the financial, industrial, distribution, communications and SMB sectors, including senior leadership roles at IBM, where she led sales teams across Europe and held responsibility for a $1B annual quota across 28 countries. Recognised with IBM’s Global Sales Award for top-1% global performance.

Alongside her corporate career, Sinead is an experienced business coach and lecturer, focused on leadership capability, organisational alignment and team performance.

Happy clients

“ncco played a crucial role in guiding us in the selection and implementation of our new CRM/AI business system as part of our digital transformation strategy. Natalie’s expertise in artificial intelligence, CRM, management, transformation, optimisation, onboarding cross-functional teams and process improvement enabled us to enhance our operations and adopt best practices with confidence. Throughout the process, Natalie and the team demonstrated professionalism, deep knowledge, and a keen ability to navigate complex transitions smoothly. Thanks to their guidance, we now have a more efficient and effective system in place, positioning us for long-term success.”

More testimonials

Strategic partnerships

In addition to our core consortium team, we have developed powerful strategic partnerships allowing us to leverage even more expertise on behalf of our clients. Each expert is top in their field, authentic, award-winning and, most importantly, loves what they do.

If you’re ready to take control of your organisation, we can’t wait to talk to you.

Contact the ConsortiumFull details at ncco.ie