Leeds-based AI specialist Zygens has bolstered its founding team with three senior appointments as it advances development of agentic AI systems for regulated industries.
The agentic AI consultancy works primarily with financial services and professional services firms, where governance and compliance requirements complicate AI deployment.
Charlie Bartle, formerly CEO at development agency Decodifi, takes the role of COO. She is joined by CTO Tim Lewis, who has held senior technology roles at Sky, DAZN and Evri. Andy Roberts, who founded Digital Sport North and previously worked in marketing leadership at Sky Sports and 365 Media, has been appointed CMO. Both Lewis and Roberts join from Planet Sport.
Zygens was founded in 2025 by CEO Zandra Moore, who previously founded and led enterprise AI platform Panintelligence. It positions itself between strategy consultancies that advise on AI but don’t build the systems, and AI vendors that can’t operate safely in regulated environments, offering to do both.
Moore said: “Boards aren’t debating whether AI matters anymore. They’re asking why, after all the activity, presentations or pilots, that so little is working in practice. Some are paralysed by complexity, technology, legacy systems or fears around compliance. Zygens exists to resolve this with systems organisations can govern and trust.”
The hires come as the industry grapples with a widening gap between AI ambition and measurable results. In June 2025, Gartner predicted over 40% of agentic AI projects would be cancelled by the end of 2027 due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.
That concern appears well-founded. Deloitte’s 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise report found that nearly 60% of AI leaders pointed to legacy systems and compliance issues as the main barriers to adopting agentic AI.
Moore added: “If AI is going to be trusted to drive real productivity and growth, it has to be implemented properly, and for all. That means moving beyond hype and doing the hard work of delivery, governance and promoting wide adoption.”
