Martin Hartley is Group Chief Commercial Officer at emagine, one of Europe’s fastest-growing business and IT consultancies. Since stepping into the role in 2023, he has helped drive the company’s continued expansion, overseeing commercial strategy across 12 countries and supporting the growth of a business that reached £420 million in revenue in 2024.
Headquartered in Copenhagen, emagine specialises in digital transformation, technology and financial services consulting. The company employs around 900 people and works with more than 4,700 consultants, delivering projects for leading global organisations including HSBC, Bank of America, JP Morgan and RBC.
Martin’s career began in sales before he founded his own consultancy, Ampersand, at just 26 years old. Building a client portfolio that included the BBC and HSBC, he successfully scaled and sold the business before joining emagine in 2019. He quickly progressed through a series of leadership roles, from Sales Director to UK Managing Director, before being appointed Group Chief Commercial Officer.
Today, Martin operates at board level within a £700 million-plus international consultancy and is recognised for his expertise in commercial growth, sales leadership and organisational scaling. His insights span some of the most pressing issues facing modern businesses, including the growing impact of procurement scrutiny on sales cycles, the rise of blended workforces, vendor consolidation, bestshoring strategies and building high-performing sales teams across multiple markets.
Alongside his role at emagine, Martin serves on the Bank of England’s Decision Maker Panel, contributing insights on business conditions and economic trends.
You joined emagine in 2019 and have since helped grow the business to a £643m operation spanning 15 countries, a remarkable trajectory in a relatively short period. What has driven that commercial momentum, and what principles have underpinned your approach to scaling successfully across such diverse markets?
“emagine has now experienced a 17-year streak of uninterrupted growth, and the last three years have increased to double-digit growth, so we have certainly sustained momentum.
“The first driver is our USP and hybrid model; thanks to our in-house expertise, a trusted global community of consultants, and a unique AI platform, emagine provides the A-Team every time. Our model gives clients the speed and scale of a staffing firm with the governance structure, and quality of a consultancy firm. Our bestshore delivery model has grown to 25% of total revenue, and it’s still accelerating.
“The second driver is mergers and acquisitions across Europe, which have been a cornerstone of our strategy and have greatly supported this growth. emagine has completed 14 acquisitions in the past six years in multiple markets, including France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands and others. In 2025 this included expanding further in the UK with the acquisition of London consultancy Aveas, which has also been on a rapid organic growth journey.
“Alongside multiple acquisitions per year, we have invested heavily in building the framework to integrate these companies and their talented consultants into our culture and ensure we operate as ‘one emagine’. This principle of aligning all acquired companies with our values and way of working is crucial, and we only look to partner with firms that have a similar ethos and culture.”
Artificial intelligence is creating extraordinary opportunities for consultancies. How is emagine harnessing AI within its service model, and where do you see the most compelling commercial opportunities emerging from that shift?
“AI is already deeply embedded in how we work at emagine. We’ve moved well beyond experimentation and are applying AI across three core areas, including AI-augmented engineering, conversational AI and enterprise knowledge systems, and AI solutions for regulated industries.
“The biggest opportunity we’re seeing is helping clients move from AI ambition to real business outcomes that add value. That includes AI-augmented delivery teams, where we can increase speed and productivity while keeping costs competitive, as well as AI training programmes that help organisations build capability at scale.
“We’re also seeing strong demand from sectors such as financial services, energy and automotive, where organisations need to balance rapid AI adoption with complex governance and compliance requirements. At the same time, interest in practical applications such as agentic AI and RAG solutions is growing rapidly as businesses look to deploy AI in production rather than simply run pilots.
“Ultimately, our role is to be the partner that makes AI work in practice, helping clients deliver the best results. That’s where we see the greatest commercial opportunity and where emagine is particularly well positioned.”
Cyber security has become one of the most strategically important priorities for the financial services and technology sectors, both of which sit at the heart of emagine’s client base. How is growing demand for specialist cyber security capability shaping the consultancy market, and how are you positioning the business to lead in that space?
“Cybersecurity has become a board-level priority, particularly in sectors where operational disruption carries major financial or safety implications. For many organisations, the combination of increasing geopolitical risk and new regulations such as NIS2 and DORA means cyber resilience is now as much about business continuity and governance as it is about technology.
“Where in-house expertise is limited, organisations increasingly rely on specialist partners to strengthen resilience, improve compliance and respond more effectively to evolving threats. At emagine, that ranges from preventative strategy through to incident readiness and operational implementation.
“A recent example is our work with Ørsted, where we supported the design and implementation of a new OT Cyber Security function across its offshore wind operations, from governance and operating models to technical delivery. It’s a good example of the kind of long-term, strategic partnership clients are increasingly looking for.”
Before joining emagine, you founded your own consultancy, Ampersand, at 26, securing clients including the Next PLC and The FSCS. What did that experience teach you about building enduring commercial relationships, and how has that entrepreneurial foundation shaped the way you lead at board level today?
“I founded Ampersand at 26. I was young, probably overconfident in some respects, and didn’t have the playbook that comes from years inside a large organisation. What I did have was an almost obsessive focus on understanding what clients needed, not what they said they needed in the brief, but what was really keeping them up at night. That instinct drove everything.
“The FSCS relationship is one I still look back on fondly. We were a small consultancy competing against firms many times our size, but we won the work because we invested the time to understand the client’s real challenges rather than delivering a generic pitch. Once a client feels genuinely understood, the commercial relationship changes completely.
“Next PLC reinforced a different lesson: in large organisations, urgency and complexity can easily obscure where decisions are actually made. We learned the importance of slowing down, identifying the real stakeholders and building trust before pushing for outcomes.
“Those experiences still shape how I lead today. As businesses scale, there’s always a risk that process and governance begin to outweigh client reality. My focus is on making sure we stay commercially grounded and close to the challenges our clients are trying to solve.”
Your seat on the Bank of England Decision Maker Panel gives you a genuinely distinctive vantage point on economic conditions and business confidence. What are the most encouraging trends you are observing, and what opportunities do you believe business leaders in your sector are best placed to capitalise on right now?
“Sitting on the Bank of England’s Decision Maker Panel gives me a valuable real-time view of how UK businesses are thinking and investing across sectors. What’s clear is that, while caution remains, confidence is gradually returning, particularly in financial services and technology, which continue to drive much of the UK economy.
“After a prolonged period of delay caused by interest rate uncertainty and geopolitical pressures, many organisations are now moving from ‘wait and see’ to selective investment. The cost of standing still is becoming clearer, especially in areas like AI, digital transformation, and regulatory compliance.
“One of the strongest themes I’m seeing is what I would call the ‘end of deferral’. Businesses are no longer asking whether transformation is necessary, but how quickly they can implement it in a way that delivers measurable value. There is growing recognition that AI, automation and data-driven decision-making are now commercial priorities rather than future ambitions. The organisations likely to succeed in this environment will be those able to balance ambition with execution.”
The bestshoring model, securing talent and capability in the most strategically appropriate locations, is an approach you have championed with considerable success. How does it create stronger outcomes for clients, and what does building that strategy effectively across 15 countries look like in practice?
“We have taken the concept of ‘nearshoring’, the successful practice of outsourcing certain functions to nearby European countries, and developed it a step further. Through what we call ‘bestshoring’, we take the best of what the global workforce has to offer for any given project and apply that to building and innovating our offer in the most efficient way.
“For clients, the benefit is access to highly specialised skills, greater flexibility and more efficient delivery. A programme might be led locally for proximity and sector understanding, while drawing on delivery or technical expertise from other markets where it makes commercial and operational sense. That balance helps organisations move faster without compromising on quality or governance.
“What makes the model effective is emagine’s combination of international reach and local market knowledge. Understanding regional regulations, working practices and cultural nuances is just as important as technical capability when delivering complex transformation programmes.
“Looking ahead, we expect demand to continue growing in areas such as AI implementation, cyber resilience, cloud modernisation and regulatory transformation. Increasingly, clients want partners who can combine strategic guidance with access to specialist talent that can scale quickly as priorities evolve.”
With 7,000 consultants deployed, the quality of that talent base is a competitive strength. You are known for prioritising capability over charisma in the hiring process. Why do you believe that approach is so central to sustained commercial performance?
“I’ve always believed that long-term commercial success is built on capability, not charisma. Strong client relationships are sustained by consistent delivery, charisma is a nice to have.
“At emagine, our focus is on the quality of the consultant teams we deploy and the measurable impact they create for clients. With a network of more than 600,000 specialists globally, we invest heavily in understanding not just technical skills, but how individuals perform in complex programme environments. That allows us to tie expertise to client challenges with far greater precision.
“You see the difference in outcomes. One recent example is our work with Allianz, the insurance provider, where our consultants have supported major transformation programmes across project management, technical delivery and business change. The feedback has been consistently strong because clients value people who can combine expertise with the ability to operate effectively within real commercial and operational constraints.
“For me, the most valuable trait in any consultant or commercial leader is curiosity. People who ask thoughtful questions, understand the client’s challenges and stay focused on delivering meaningful results create stronger partnerships and trust.”
As organisations place greater emphasis on measurable returns from their technology and consultancy partnerships, those with a clear and demonstrable value proposition are well placed to strengthen client relationships. How has emagine refined its commercial approach to meet that demand, and what has that meant for the depth of the partnerships you are building?
“Rather than just take on and deliver projects for our clients in a timely but detached way, emagine goes much deeper. Our projects are delivered meticulously and with full transparency. Our experts also consider the full picture beyond our work alone to consider wider implications. We identify potential opportunities and red flags that our clients should be aware of, and how to manage these. The approach goes far beyond service line agreements to deliver real added value and build trust.
“It is in our interest to take this partnership approach and build a stronger relationship. It helps our clients to thrive and grow and by earning trust they are also more likely to keep working with us as a strategic partner.”
emagine is clearly well positioned for its next chapter of growth. Where do you see the greatest opportunities, whether in geography, capability or the sectors you serve, and what qualities do you believe will define the leaders who make the most of them?
“We expect emagine’s revenue to grow by a further 20–30% this financial year, despite ongoing market uncertainty. This is being driven by our strong position in AI and increasing demand for project-based and managed services.
“As businesses move from AI experimentation to implementation, access to specialist talent remains a challenge, creating strong demand for consultancy-led expertise. Our bestshoremodel across Poland, Romania, Portugal, India and Brazil is well positioned to support this need and remains a key competitive advantage.
“We see the greatest growth opportunities in Financial Services and Insurance, Energy and Utilities, Pharma and Life Sciences, while our strengths in AI-augmented delivery, managed teams and regulatory advisory services continue to set us apart.
“At the same time, successful transformation is about more than leveraging the latest technology. Leaders who invest in their people, communicate clearly and lead with empathy will be best placed to succeed.”