Independent technical and commercial assessment for investors, boards and companies evaluating emerging technologies.
A technology can work in a laboratory and still leave an investment case exposed. I examine the connection between technology, manufacturability, economics, deployment, market demand and investment risk, so the decision rests on evidence about the whole system.
Who this is for
Investors considering an emerging-technology investment or acquisition; boards deciding whether to commit more capital; founders preparing for diligence; and corporate strategy or technology teams evaluating a technology, partnership or development programme.
Questions the work can answer
- Does the technology do what is claimed, under conditions relevant to its intended use?
- Which results remain laboratory evidence, and which demonstrate repeatable product performance?
- Is the technical differentiation defensible, and what evidence supports that position?
- Which assumptions underpin the claimed cost advantage, and can the product be manufactured economically?
- What must happen between prototype and commercial deployment?
- Which dependencies sit outside management’s control?
- Is the development roadmap credible, and what does the company need to prove next?
- Which technical risks could materially affect the investment case or valuation?
What is assessed
From technical claim to investment consequence
The starting point is the decision and the claims on which it depends. I review the available evidence, distinguish measured results from forecasts, and examine whether the test conditions represent the proposed product and market. Missing evidence is recorded as an unresolved question, rather than treated as proof of success or failure.
Manufacturing review connects process choices, yield, materials, supply dependencies and quality control to unit costs and capacity. Deployment review asks what customers must change, what infrastructure is needed, how performance will be maintained and whether adoption creates enough value to justify the cost and risk. Economics are examined through the assumptions that control them, including utilisation, scale, operating costs and timing.
The scope can cover robotics and Physical AI, sensing, advanced materials, hydrogen, energy infrastructure and industrial technology where my published experience is relevant. Robotics & Physical AI due diligence applies this approach to sensing, manipulation, system reliability and deployment economics. A narrowly specialist test or assessment is identified separately when it is needed; an evidence review does not imply that every claim has been independently laboratory-tested.
What the client receives
Outputs are agreed around the decision, available evidence and timetable. An engagement may produce:
- An independent technology assessment and evidence review, identifying what is demonstrated, projected or still unknown.
- A technical-risk register and red-flag analysis explaining the investment consequences of unresolved assumptions.
- A commercial-readiness assessment and deployment or economics analysis.
- A management question set and recommendations for further tests or specialist diligence.
- A concise board or investment-committee briefing setting out the findings, limitations and next proof points.
The agreed scope determines which outputs are needed. The purpose is to make the material risks and evidence gaps understandable before a decision is made.
Relevant experience
I have worked for more than 25 years at the intersection of emerging technology and commercial deployment. My published biography records engineering at the European Space Agency, co-founding NanoSight, founding Cientifica, co-founding G2O Water Technologies and Element 2, and founding Evove. These businesses span scientific instruments, market intelligence, advanced materials, industrial water treatment and hydrogen infrastructure.
My public experience and references include written and oral Parliamentary evidence on graphene commercialisation and intellectual property, and a public speaker profile describing international technical and M&A projects. This is the experience behind the assessment approach; published research below shows how I examine claims, costs and deployment conditions.
Related research
- Technology commercialisation and the Seven Barriers to Deployment — why technical readiness alone does not establish commercial readiness.
- Where robotics investment is going — the relationship between capital, capabilities and deployment.
- Tactile sensing for robotics — performance, integration and manufacturing economics.
- Hydrogen economics — the assumptions connecting production and a usable market.
- UK hydrogen infrastructure — deployment dependencies beyond the underlying technology.
Discuss a project
Send a few lines about the company or technology, the decision being considered, the investment or project stage, the principal question and the timescale. Share what you have; these are useful starting points rather than required form fields. The first conversation establishes scope, access to evidence and any independence considerations.