Ian Hook

I help Series A–B software founders whose teams ship more but grow less | Redesigning the execution operating system for the AI era

London Area, United Kingdom

About

The operating model that worked at thirty people is breaking. Teams ship more — often thanks to AI — but growth decelerates, forecasts slip, and the numbers the board cares about don't move. Decisions bottleneck at the exec layer. Initiatives multiply faster than the team can absorb. AI increases execution leverage faster than organisations increase decision capacity. The exec team's ability to decide and coordinate didn't scale with the execution capacity below them. Most founders respond by hiring someone — a Chief of Staff, a COO, a VP Ops — to bridge the gap with their own bandwidth. The hire is rarely wrong. The timing usually is. Hiring someone to fix an undesigned operating system fails predictably. Hiring someone to operate a designed system succeeds. Eranovus redesigns the 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 first. Decision architecture, operating cadence, prioritisation discipline, execution visibility — the leadership mechanisms that determine whether AI-era throughput compounds into growth or collapses into coordination failure. To find out more visit https://eranovus.co.uk

Experience

  • Founder & Principal at Eranovus
    Mar 2020 - Present · 6 yrs 5 mos

    Independent advisory work alongside selected operating roles Partnering with founders and leadership teams in B2B SaaS and data businesses to translate strategy into execution and scale without adding organisational drag. Typical focus areas include: • Executive operating cadence and decision architecture • Company-wide prioritisation and capacity discipline • Delegated authority and decision ownership • Go-to-market alignment and commercial execution • Operating visibility and execution health Engagements range from structured diagnostic work through to embedded leadership support. More recently this work has focused on redesigning executive operating models for AI-enabled scale — ensuring decision-making, authority and focus evolve as execution leverage increases.

  • Chief of Staff (fractional) & Commercial Development at Eticas.ai
    Sep 2025 - Feb 2026 · 6 mos

    Worked with the CEO in a fractional capacity on commercial development and leadership coordination for an early-stage company in the emerging field of independent AI assurance. My role focused on: - Supporting go-to-market development and partner engagement - Connecting commercial activity with delivery and research priorities - Contributing to the practical positioning of lifecycle, evidence-based evaluation of AI systems alongside governance, risk and audit functions This provided hands-on experience of AI-enabled workflows in day-to-day execution and deepened my familiarity with Responsible AI from governance frameworks through to system-level testing and assurance. It directly informs my current work on executive operating models for AI-enabled scale.

  • Chief Operations Officer at OpenCorporates
    Aug 2022 - Mar 2025 · 2 yrs 8 mos

    Responsible for translating strategy into execution for the world’s largest open legal-entity data platform, used by financial institutions, governments and global enterprises. At the time the platform supported 5M+ searches per month and was used by 80% of the largest banks in North America and Europe, underpinning mission-critical KYC, KYB and AML workflows. Accountable for: • Converting strategy into a clear company operating plan • Coordinating delivery across product, data, commercial and operations • Scaling organisational capability to support new markets and use cases • Establishing performance visibility and execution discipline Built the operating foundations required to scale a global data platform into regulated and high-compliance environments.

  • Chief Marketing Officer at Paytia safe and simple phone card payments.
    Jan 2021 - Jul 2022 · 1 yr 7 mos

    Led go-to-market strategy and execution for a payment security platform operating in regulated and high-trust environments. Built and aligned the commercial function across product, marketing, partnerships and sales around a clear market entry strategy. Focus areas included: - Category positioning for an emerging technology - Commercial operating rhythm in an early-stage scale-up - Cross-functional execution in a founder-led business

  • VP and GM Europe at Smarsh
    Aug 2017 - Feb 2020 · 2 yrs 7 mos

    P&L leadership for the European business of a US-based leader in communications compliance, archiving and supervision for financial institutions. Led a team of ~30 within a 400-person global organisation during a scale-up phase, with accountability for growth, market development and operational performance across multiple countries. Directed the post-acquisition integration of Cognia, establishing a unified operating model across teams and markets. Accountable for: • Growth strategy and execution across multiple European markets • Post-acquisition organisational integration and alignment • Scaling regional presence in a highly regulated enterprise environment Developed deep experience in running multi-country execution systems and integrating organisations at pace.