18 Months In: The Journey to Sales Scale-up
An interview with Steve Waterman, Chief Commercial Officer, and Bradley Malloy, Sales & Alliance Director
Eighteen months after launch, FOIL has made its mark as a specialist data and AI consultancy that does things differently. We sat down with Steve Waterman, Chief Commercial Officer, and Bradley Malloy, Sales & Alliance Director, to reflect on the journey so far, the challenges of building partnerships from scratch, and what it means to truly disrupt the consulting model.
Bradley Malloy, Sales & Alliances Director and Steve Waterman, Chief Commercial Officer
So let's start at the beginning. From a personal perspective, what were your initial goals when you first established FOIL?
Bradley - For me, the exciting part was recognising that we were seeing a shift in how customers acquire capability and technical skills. The opportunity to become a niche specialist data player was really compelling, especially when you look at the market landscape. Many of the partners we'd previously competed against have been acquired by larger organisations, creating a relative shortage of specialist, independent data partners.
Steve - The excitement for me was just being part of something really different, whilst continuing to be surrounded by a great bunch of people with the same ambitions, principles, and energy. We wanted to be massively provocative and disruptive in the market, breaking away from the traditional consulting models we'd all come from. It was about trying to do things differently right from the start, and with a bang.
Looking back on those goals, how do you think you've done?
Steve -- From a team perspective, it's played out exactly how I expected. Full of enthusiasm, full of energy, riding the highs and lows as a collective. But if you reflect on the commitment, support, and belief we've had from customers and partners, I think that validates why we did this. The fact that they believe in us and continue to support us in such significant volumes speaks to the foundation we've built, and shows that our vision is resonating amongst a very noisy industry.
“Many of the partners we’d previously competed against have been acquired by larger organisations, creating a relative shortage of specialist, independent data partners.”
Brad, the Microsoft partnership has been crucial. How has that journey been – working with them when we’re a small, brand new firm?
Bradley - It's been both brilliant and challenging. The enthusiasm, willingness, and trust from Microsoft folk we've had relationships with for years has been absolutely fantastic. They've been supportive of what FOIL is about and how we're approaching the market differently.
Starting from zero has been more challenging than I originally anticipated, but it's like all these things – it takes time, investment, and ensuring we meet all the required standards to play on a level playing field. The relationship Steve and I have had with Microsoft over the years has certainly put us in a strong position to ensure FOIL are a constant at the table.
Steve - Just to expand on that – one thing that's really landed well with Microsoft is our ability to get outside of technology and into business conversations, leading with value and outcomes. We've built our careers on truly understanding business problems and how to solve them. I think Microsoft and Databricks really value the way we get into the business and explore what the quantifiable opportunity actually is. Then prove it.
Trust seems to be a recurring theme for you, how important has that been?
Steve - Trust comes from open and frequent communication back to Microsoft and Databricks. They've put their faith in us and put us forward to their customers. I think it's really poor form if you don't keep continuous communication flowing back to the partners, in addition to our customers.
We quote this internally all the time: let Microsoft and Databricks be the filters of what we share. We're never going to get viewed negatively if we overshare updates, because at some point all those parties need to come together. That open communication is how trust is earned.
Bradley - We're not a "yes partner." We're never going to overcommit or say yes to everything. We qualify hard, and if we don't think something isright, we're quite happy to say no. Microsoft and Databricks understand and appreciate that honesty. The trust comes from our ability to qualify properly, and when we do decide to go after an opportunity , we'll do the right job and ensure we keep everyone informed.
“That open communication is how trust is earned.”
You both know the market well and have done for a long time. How has the market changed from your experience over the past 18 months?
Steve - The diversity of where customers are in their data and AI journey is massive now. You have customers still in the foundational world building solid data governance – AI is of interest, but they're not quite there yet in their capability, data literacy or data maturity.
Then you have clients at the absolute other end who've done all that, having invested in the accessibility and integrity of their data, and are ready to really get behind AI, which comes with its own challenges around identifying the right use cases and having proper AI governance.
When you go into a client conversation, it's really important to understand where they truly are in that journey. The breadth of difference between organisations is far greater than it ever used to be, and empathy and understanding unique to each client takes you a long way
Bradley - From a partner perspective, the landscape has changed massively too. We've both worked in the Microsoft ecosystem for over 20 years, so we had a good handle on the movers and shakers. But coming back as FOIL, AI is everywhere and every partner is an AI specialist now.
We're often competing against partners we've never even heard of, which is actually great – there's more opportunity out there than there are partners able to deliver. But trying to understand who your true competition is and how to differentiate has become much more complex.
“The fact that our reputation from what we’ve done previously still stands strong with vendors like Microsoft and Databricks is incredible. This industry is incestuous, and people recognising the FOIL team and having an appetite to engage is phenomenal.”
It really has been an incredible 18 months for FOIL, what are you most proud of personally?
Bradley - I'm really proud of the people we're working with. The team is absolutely phenomenal – fantastic skills and some really great early-career people too through FOIL Talent. The fact that our reputation from what we've done previously still stands strong with vendors like Microsoft and Databricks is incredible. This industry is incestuous, and people recognising the FOIL team and having an appetite to engage is phenomenal.
Steve - As an early-stage company, everything's full gas, it's fast and edgy, and change is constant. You don't really have time to reflect. A client recently commented on how much we've achieved in 18 months, and in reality, 18 months is nothing. Without sounding like humble brag, it takes some organisations a long time to achieve what we've done – going from a name without a brand, without presence, without customers, with absolute reliance on our network, to having a market presence, being heard, and having such visible support from customers and partners alike.
And what about as a business, there is a lot of noise in the AI space. How has FOIL both differentiated and served clients needs?
Steve - We saw a shift in how customers buy services – wanting to focus on niche, agile partners that do things differently, and not through traditional consultancy models. There's a lot of noise around AI, but what's become apparent is the focus on people and clients' ability to be self-sufficient and create data products that live and breathe within their organisation.
We set out with a mantra of "consulting with an anti-consultancy ethos," and I don't think our values, offering, or approach have changed significantly. What we've done well is see an opportunity, stick to it, and evolve it.
And what’s really cool is that we’ve welcomed so many talented colleagues during the past 18 months that are also now part of it.
Bradley - If you look at our customer engagements, each of our three core capabilities are resonating really well. What we set out to achieve is still standing true today, and our beliefs about what we're bringing to the market continue to resonate with customers.
For those that don’t know, tell us about the FOIL Talent proposition? It’s shown incredible success, why is that do you think?
Steve - I'm surprised but not surprised at the level of interest in FOIL Talent. We've all built careers creating smart, technical solutions, and many partners do that well. But we've seen a massive shift in clients wanting to get the best from their own workforce and bring in resources that support enduring capability, becoming their own.
Pretty much every project we're working on, and every client partnership has taken us up on that offering to help focus on building internal capabilities. Rather than the traditional partner model of "you can't have our people," we're being radical – why don't we enable those people to become their people? And it's worked really well. Beyond this, whats also been nice is the ability to help shape operating models, governance frameworks etc, and how FOIL Talent feeds into this. So, it’s not just about shaping the day to day capability, but also shaping the model in which their workforce will be successful.
So, what’s next for FOIL, looking ahead to the next 18 months?
Bradley - Continuing on the current path feels right. The more conversations I have with partners and customers, the more I see the opportunity to support. It's surprising how many customers are becoming tired of traditional consulting models and genuinely looking for creative ways to speed up their journey and improve their own workforce.
We'll continue focusing on the things we believe in and where we see gaps in our customers' capabilities. Most importantly, let's be honest, truthful, and trustworthy – all the attributes we built FOIL on from day one, while continuing to offer incredible value to our customers.
Steve - More of the same, definitely. What's landing well with clients are the frameworks and methodologies we bring – we're not coming in with a blank sheet of paper. We're about accelerating time to value. Over the next 12 months, our priority is to continuing building out those frameworks and accelerators.
As we work with more customers across more industries, I can see us going much deeper into specific sectors. The opportunity to help educate and mentor at C-suite level about where real value can be derived from data and AI is huge – focusing on driving genuine business value rather than just implementing technology.
Any final thoughts?
Steve - From a commercial perspective, 18 months in we now have greater financial stability, customer evidence, established IP, and proven capabilities and scale. Every year we grow, we get better positioned to be on procurement frameworks and be as relevant as possible to all customers across all industries. That's a really important milestone for us this year, to be able to engage with our clients through multiple channels.
FOIL's anti-consultancy ethos continues to challenge industry norms while delivering genuine value to clients. As we move forward, our focus remains on building lasting capabilities rather than creating dependencies – a refreshing approach in the consulting world. Get in touch to learn more about how FOIL is redefining what a data and AI consultancy can be.