Formant — Strategic Advisory

The problem

Technology is changing faster than most organisations can respond. The gap between ambition and execution is where value gets destroyed.

Most leaders can see the change. What they lack is time to understand it properly, confidence about where to place bets, and a practical route from strategy to measurable enterprise outcomes.

Formant is led by Martin D. Adams, who has spent two decades at the frontier of AI and emerging technology: founding, scaling and exiting pioneering businesses, advising boards, and helping leadership teams across industries close the gap between technological possibility and commercial reality.

How I work

One practice. Two contexts.

Whether you lead a function inside a large enterprise or you are building a company, the core value is the same: better decisions, fewer expensive mistakes, and a plan that survives contact with reality.

For senior executives

Navigating AI-era transformation

Strategic advisory for commercial, customer and transformation leaders who need to understand what is changing, decide where to place bets, and turn ambition into operating reality.

Frontier insight applied to your commercial context Clarity on where technology creates real advantage Practical priorities that survive board and execution scrutiny Applied AI workshops that move teams from aware to confident

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For founders and CEOs

Scaling without breaking

Selective advisory for high-potential startups and scale-ups between product-market fit and scale, particularly around fundraising or strategic inflection points.

Surface the issues most likely to derail a raise or scale phase Pressure-test commercial strategy, positioning and GTM Build an operating plan that stands up to investors and boards Non-linear growth: partnerships, distribution, strategic leverage

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About Martin D. Adams

I am an AI entrepreneur, board adviser, former intellectual property lawyer and international keynote speaker. Over the past 20 years, I have founded, scaled and exited pioneering AI and data businesses, most recently Metaphysic.ai, named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies, acquired last year in a billion dollar deal.

My unusual background combines AI entrepreneurship with legal expertise in intellectual property, privacy and digital rights, alongside board-level experience advising major organisations. I hold patents in generative AI, have raised capital, navigated multiple exits and advised leadership teams across industries.

Today, I work with leadership teams in large consumer-facing organisations to rethink how they use AI, moving beyond productivity and efficiency to understand changing customers, identify unmet needs and build more responsive, innovative and valuable organisations.

I am the youngest appointed member of the Council of UCL, a World Economic Forum Global Innovator, and a Maserati Top 100 UK Entrepreneur. I sit on the AI Advisory Board of The Marketing Society and, through my role as Founder at Metaphysic, helped establish the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). I advise leadership teams and boards, speak globally on AI and exponential change, and help organisations close the gap between technological possibility and commercial reality.

Multiple exits TIME 100 company founder AI patents Board adviser IP lawyer Harvard Law WEF Global Innovator

Keynote speaking

I deliver keynotes globally on AI, exponential change and the future of commercial strategy, for conferences and corporate clients. My presentations give leadership teams practical frameworks they can act on immediately.

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A fair shot

If you are a founder from a working-class or underrepresented background, I regularly make advisory time available on a reduced-fee or pro bono basis. The quality of your thinking matters more than the size of your budget. Get in touch.