Our team

Founder-led leadership, backed by a wider delivery team.

Traversally pairs hands-on founder leadership with a tiered team of consultants and a trusted specialist network. Every engagement is staffed with the right expertise for the mission: from executive strategy to principal-level technical delivery.

See how we work: our operating model

Co-Founder

Dr Phininder Balaghan

Co-Founder and CTO of Traversally

A globally experienced AI and transformation leader, speaker, and strategist with a track record across defence, national security, enterprise delivery and public-sector innovation.

Lead AI Consultant for National Defence and Security
Former Global AI Capability Lead, shaping strategy across people, partnerships and IP
Hosted workshops and keynote sessions across AWS, Google Cloud Next, RUSI and Manchester Tech Festival
Part of UK international technology delegations including Lithuania and UK-Ukraine TechBridge
PhD in Computational Graph Theory and long-form systems delivery background

Co-Founder

Ian Makin

Co-Founder, CEO and Executive Consultant at Traversally

A transformation and software leader with 25+ years of experience delivering measurable value across AI, data, enterprise architecture, and organisational change.

Scaled a £600k pilot into a £5M+ per annum enterprise transformation programme
Built and grew a specialist data and software consultancy to 225 people
Led software and technical strategy roles across QinetiQ, Naimuri, and Atos
Recognised for governance, continuity, and optimisation in mission-critical delivery
BEng in Software Engineering, University of Sheffield

How our team is structured

A tiered consulting team, scaled to each mission.

We operate a tiered access model so the right level of expertise leads every stage of your programme: from boardroom strategy through to hands-on technical delivery.

Executive Consultants

Board-level strategy and assurance

Elite advisors who set direction, own governance, and lead our Apollo and Opportunity engagements with C-suite accountability.

Strategic Consultants

Vision translated into roadmaps

Architects who convert ambition into actionable strategy and orchestrate the people and process change across Opportunity and Voyager work.

Principal Consultants

Hands-on technical delivery

Technical leads across cloud, security, and data engineering who build, secure, and optimise solutions on Voyager and Perseverance engagements.

Specialist network

Depth on demand across the full programme lifecycle.

Beyond our core team, we draw on a curated network of trusted specialists and delivery partners, so we can scale capability up or down to match the exact shape of your engagement.

Executive advisory AI governance Security assurance Cloud architecture Data engineering Solution delivery Change management Partner specialists

One accountable leadership thread

Founder-led oversight stays constant, even as specialists join and leave across the programme.

Right expertise, right stage

Each mission is staffed with the specific skills it needs, rather than a fixed one-size-fits-all team.

Capability that compounds

Shared methods, artefacts, and playbooks keep the wider team aligned and improving with every engagement.

Traversally leadership representing UK AI in Lithuania — Representing UK AI leadership in Lithuania as part of international trade-focused engagement.

Traversally leadership on UK-Ukraine TechBridge panel — Panel speaker on UK-Ukraine TechBridge opportunities, focused on growth and secure innovation.

Traversally leadership during UK-Ukraine delegation discussion — Contributing to bilateral dialogue on practical AI leadership and responsible adoption.

Work with our team

Tell us about your mission, and we’ll bring the right people.

Whether you need executive strategy, governance assurance, or hands-on delivery, we’ll assemble the right mix of leadership and specialists for your programme.

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