The Boardroom and the Ecosystem: Rethinking Governance for a Connected Future.
Why boards must evolve risk frameworks, metrics and culture to govern in an AI-powered ecosystem economy — with four imperatives for boardroom evolution.
Read the essayTechnology · Digital · AI · Deep Tech · Growth
Turn technology into enterprise value.
Third Horizon advises boards, CEOs, private equity and venture capital investors, portfolio companies and private offices on technology, digital, AI and deep tech transformation, business growth and strategic transactions. Every mandate is led personally by partners who sit on company boards and bring direct operating experience across private equity, energy and utilities, banking, defence, government, the built environment, software, deep tech and advanced technology.
Board-led adviceInvestment lifecycle supportStrategy through executionUK · Europe · GCCBoard-led adviceInvestment lifecycle supportStrategy through executionUK · Europe · GCC
What we do
Built for decisions where technology, capital and execution converge.
Third Horizon brings strategy, technology, operating capability, market potential, leadership and risk together — helping clients decide where to invest, what to transform and how to convert ambition into measurable business performance.
Consulting
Technology, digital, AI, deep tech and business transformation from strategy and investment case through operating model and execution governance.
Private Equity and VC Solutions
Opportunity scouting, technology, AI and deep tech due diligence, acquisition support and portfolio value creation.
GTM and Business Growth
Market entry, proposition, commercial model, business development, ecosystem and revenue acceleration.
Board and CEO Advisory
Independent counsel, board roles and fractional executive leadership for critical decisions and transformation.
Technology, AI and Deep Tech Capability Building
Technology, AI, deep tech and software engineering factories, delivery models, talent, data, cloud and governance.
Start-up, Deep Tech and Growth Investing
Selective investment in start-up, deep tech, scale-up and growth businesses, combined with hands-on board, technology, AI, commercialisation and growth support.
Private Equity and Venture Capital Solutions
Create value before, during and after the deal.
We work with investment teams, operating partners, boards and portfolio leadership to identify stronger opportunities, test the technology and transformation thesis, support acquisition decisions and accelerate value creation after close.
01
Scout
Define opportunity themes, scan markets, identify relevant businesses and assess where technology, AI or deep tech can create differentiated value.
02
Assess
Evaluate technology, product, data, AI maturity, intellectual property, technology readiness, delivery capability, scalability, specialist talent, technical debt, leadership and transformation risk.
03
Acquire
Strengthen the investment thesis, test technical and commercial assumptions, identify critical value levers, support management assessment and shape the transformation priorities for ownership.
04
Transform
Build and oversee the portfolio value-creation plan across technology, digital, AI, operating model and business transformation.
05
Grow
Accelerate proposition, go-to-market, business development, market expansion, partnerships and ecosystem growth.
06
Prepare for exit
Strengthen the technology narrative, operating metrics, growth case, management capability and diligence readiness.
Industries
Sector context matters when the decision is enterprise-wide.
Third Horizon combines cross-sector pattern recognition with current board and operating experience in the industries where we advise most deeply, including the built environment and advanced technology sectors.
Energy and Utilities
Technology, AI, operating model and business transformation for regulated, asset-intensive organisations, informed by senior operating experience at TAQA and E.ON.
- Enterprise technology and data strategy
- AI and connected operations
- Transformation governance and capability building
Built Environment and Infrastructure
Technology, digital, AI, commercial and business transformation across architecture, engineering, construction, infrastructure and major capital programmes, informed by senior leadership experience at Sidara and GHD.
- Digital engineering, data and AI strategy
- Enterprise, commercial and operating-model transformation
- Go-to-market, brand and ecosystem strategy
Banking and Financial Services
Board-level technology, digital, AI and transformation support informed by governance experience within an international bank and senior operating experience across financial services.
- Digital, data and technology transformation
- AI strategy, governance and operating model
- Investment prioritisation, risk and board challenge
Defence, Aerospace and Security
Advice where advanced technology, sovereignty, security, complex procurement and national capability intersect, informed by board and advisory experience with Thales and wider defence transformation.
- Technology, digital, AI and deep tech strategy
- Enterprise transformation and capability building
- Market, partner and ecosystem strategy
Software and SaaS
Strategy, product, commercialisation and go-to-market for software and SaaS businesses moving from early traction to enterprise-grade scale.
- Product and platform commercialisation strategy
- Market validation, GTM and revenue acceleration
- Enterprise sales motion and platform positioning
Deep Tech and Advanced Technology
Capability building and commercialisation strategy for deep tech and advanced technology ventures, from scientific or technical innovation through to a repeatable commercial product.
- Technology readiness and engineering capability
- IP, systems engineering and scale-up governance
- Operating model design for the research-to-product transition
Engagements
Engagements that connect strategic advice to measurable value.
Third Horizon's partners have led and advised complex growth, transformation, investment and governance mandates from inside businesses and from the boardroom. Examples below are anonymised where confidentiality is important and receive final factual approval before publication.
01
European Market Growth
Global software company
European growth strategy, go-to-market and major-pursuit support — positioning, executive engagement, business development and deal orchestration. Value created: contributed to the largest deal secured in the company's history.
02
Agentic AI Transformation
Global software company
Defined the product ambition, client outcomes and enterprise value case for an agentic enterprise product — proposition, category, operating model and route to market. Value created: a differentiated agentic platform proposition built around business transformation, not technology alone.
03
AI Product Launch
Global software company
Took an AI product from technical capability to a launch-ready commercial offer — positioning, target customer outcomes, launch strategy, GTM and sales enablement. Value created: a clearer proposition and structured launch platform for enterprise adoption.
04
Acquisition Support
Leading private equity investors
Assessed the technology, digital and AI dimensions of potential acquisitions — diligence, management challenge, investment-thesis testing and post-close priority setting. Value created: a clearer view of scalability, risk, transformation need and value-creation opportunity.
05
Digital, AI and Technology Governance
International banking board role
Board oversight and challenge of transformation strategy, investment and risk — technology priorities, AI governance, operating model and executive challenge. Value created: stronger board visibility, accountability and alignment around the transformation agenda.
06
Ecosystem and Market Growth
Leading UAE free zone
Created new growth engines and deepened the value delivered to businesses and partners — ecosystem strategy, new business creation, partnerships and accelerator development. Value created: new ecosystem businesses and a start-up accelerator connecting ventures with corporates, investors and the UAE market.
Ecosystem advisory layer
The operating logic beneath strategy.
Most organisations have become ecosystems without being designed as one. Value flows across shared clients, data and delivery platforms — creating interdependencies that AI accelerates but cannot resolve on its own. The EightIQ Model is Third Horizon's proprietary diagnostic for identifying where ecosystems stall and designing the structure that allows them to scale.
Proprietary framework · EightIQ
EightIQ examines eight interdependent dimensions that determine whether an ecosystem can operate and scale. Used as both a diagnostic and a design tool, it gives leaders a clear view of what is missing, misaligned or overcomplicated — and a structured path to address it. It underpins every Third Horizon engagement where ecosystem performance is a material factor in outcomes.
01
Strategic Intent
Why the ecosystem exists and what it is designed to achieve. Without clarity here, everything else misaligns over time.
02
Value Proposition
Differentiated value exchange for every participant — the reason the system attracts and retains contributors.
03
Participants and Roles
Who plays what role and how responsibilities and accountability are defined across the whole system.
04
Governance and Decisions
How decisions are made without creating friction, bottlenecks or dependence on specific individuals.
05
Platforms and Commerce
Where value flows and how transactions are enabled at scale. Ecosystems cannot grow sustainably on manual coordination.
06
Incentives and Economics
Reward structures that align participant behaviour with ecosystem-level outcomes rather than local optimisation.
07
Operating Model
The processes and capabilities that allow the system to perform consistently — without constant central intervention.
08
Evolution and Scale
Feedback loops and growth mechanisms that allow the ecosystem to adapt and compound value as conditions change.
Insight
Perspectives for leaders navigating complexity.
Unmanaged ecosystems fragment. AI-accelerated unmanaged ecosystems fail fast. Designed ecosystems compound value.
Leadership
Operators first. Advisors always.
Third Horizon is led by two operating partners who continue to hold company board roles while advising clients. Together they bring technology, capital, transformation, growth, government and governance experience into one senior-led proposition.
Matthew Timms
CEO and Founding Partner
Matthew Timms advises boards, investors, government and executive teams on technology, digital, AI and deep tech strategy, transformation, investment and business acquisition. He brings more than 25 years of experience building digital growth businesses and leading technology, data and enterprise transformation. At E.ON, he led a global digital, data and technology organisation of more than 3,000 people and approximately €1.5 billion of annual investment and operating spend. Matthew leads Third Horizon's technology, AI, deep tech, private equity and transaction-related work.
- Board and advisory roles: Calisen Group, National Bank of Kuwait International, Thales, UK Government Digital Advisory Board
- Senior operating career: E.ON · TAQA and ADDC · SAP · Santander · Lloyds Banking Group
- Strategic scouting, technology and AI due diligence, acquisition support
- Engineering and capability development, transformation governance
Julia Timms
Managing Partner
Julia Timms advises boards, investors and leadership teams on business transformation, go-to-market, business growth, ecosystem strategy, brand and portfolio value creation, with particular depth in the built environment, software and technology-led businesses. Her experience includes leading major business and brand transformation across global built-environment organisations, launching new businesses, supporting major software growth, and building commercial and partner ecosystems. Julia created EightIQ, Third Horizon's ecosystem growth methodology.
- Non-Executive Director, SnapShot Live — AI-powered visual-intelligence company
- Senior executive, commercial strategy and P&L roles: Sidara · GHD · Air Partner PLC · IFZA
- Group strategy, ecosystem business development and the Scale360 startup accelerator (IFZA)
- Creator of the EightIQ ecosystem intelligence framework
Engage the firm
The work starts with a conversation.
Third Horizon engagements begin with a conversation, not a pitch deck. We work with a small number of clients at any one time to ensure depth of engagement and quality of outcome. All enquiries are treated as confidential.