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About Us

We are a Bristol-based British startup, established at the start of 2025, dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies. Unlike a research lab, we operate as a commercial vehicle: focused on high Technology Readiness Levels, production-grade integration, and solutions that can be deployed and scaled today. With research and experimentation handled by our sister companies, we concentrate on real-world delivery — bringing innovation out of the lab and into industry.

Through Nvidia's Inception Program, we are part of a global ecosystem shaping the next generation of digital twins and high-fidelity simulation. We also serve as advisors to UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA), contributing our expertise in AI and sustainability to national strategies and innovation programmes.

Our proven delivery record includes strengthening UK national resilience, enabling crowd and transport optimisation with Deutsche Bahn, and driving collaborative innovation through the Co-AIMS Hub. Each engagement highlights our ability to combine advanced technology with practical, production-level integration, delivering measurable value where digital innovation meets operational complexity.

Member / Supplier in

Nvidia Inception Program member Supplier, Made Smarter - Smart Manufacturing Data Hub Supplier, Made Smarter - Digital Supply Chain Hub Supplier, Maryland Made 4.0 Member - Unido Global Community on AI for Industry and Manufacturing

Our Consulting Experts

Andrew King profile picture

Andrew King

With over 20 years of engineering, project & programme leadership in high-stakes sectors (defence, nuclear, advanced engineering), Andrew bridges the gap between complex systems and real-world operational performance.

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At Darkonium AI, he plays a pivotal role in enabling our digital twin and AI-optimisation solutions to deliver measurable impact:

  • Helping define & validate KPI-driven optimisation goals (throughput, waste, energy, downtime) during early-phase modelling.
  • Advising on risk & lifecycle management — understanding regulatory, manufacturing, and operational constraints so that models are realistic, compliant, and deployable.
  • Designing technical & commercial project plans: laying out how to move from readiness assessments → virtual twin + pilot → full-scale rollout.
  • Ensuring the solutions are not just "lab-grade" but production-practical: maintaining alignment with Darkonium’s mission of real factory deployments that reduce cost, energy, and inefficiencies.

Andrew has delivered leadership roles and consulting engagements for leading organisations including Cavendish Nuclear, United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory, Terrestrial Energy, and Nuvia.

Adam Hardisty profile picture

Adam Hardisty

Organisational design and HR transformation expert, Adam turns Darkonium’s AI-driven digital twins into enterprise change — restructuring teams, hard-wiring governance, and selling disruption across the whole organisation so optimisation delivers on the ground.

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Across the COVID period Adam led major healthcare restructuring — working within a ~6,000-strong workforce and redesigning multiple teams (often cut by up to 80%) while maintaining operational readiness and service quality. He is a specialist in translating simulation insight into structures, roles and rhythms that stick. He focuses on:

  • Designing Target Operating Models and workforce plans that align people, process and data to throughput, quality, cost and energy KPIs.
  • Selling change at every layer — from board and unions to frontline teams — with clear decision rights, lean forums and cadence (stand-ups, reviews, benefits tracking).
  • Standing up programme governance that ties CAPEX/OPEX moves to verified outcomes, with benefits cases and dashboards executives trust.
  • De-risking live transitions in complex environments (national health, science hubs, large infrastructure) with minimal service disruption.
  • Building people-performance analytics that convert operational signals into confident, evidence-led decisions.

Relevant experience includes organisational change on construction and science-hub programmes, People/OD leadership for Public Health England and the UK Health Security Agency, and cost/operating-model work with the Ministry of Defence — embedding decision velocity, resilient services and measurable savings.

Approach: co-create with those who live the change; make trade-offs explicit; keep rhythms simple and relentless; track outcomes and leave the organisation stronger.

Erika Fucsok profile picture

Erika Fucsok

Economist-turned-data scientist, Erika connects Darkonium’s AI-driven digital twins to the business levers that matter — converting factory data into clear ROI, resilient plans, and board-ready decisions for manufacturers and logistics operators.

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At Darkonium AI, Erika ensures every engagement ties engineering outcomes to commercial value, so pilots scale with confidence rather than faith. She focuses on:

  • Translating shop-floor signals into KPI targets (downtime, waste, energy, throughput) and business cases that justify investment.
  • Building cost/benefit and cash-flow models across CAPEX/OPEX, pricing, and risk — aligning twin scenarios with measurable savings and implementation roadmaps.
  • Designing demand, inventory and production simulations that stress-test resilience to shocks and supply variability before changes hit the real line.
  • Packaging results for stakeholders — clear narratives, assumptions, and sensitivity checks that turn complex analytics into confident decisions.

Her background spans automation and its commercial application, plus European “Factories of the Future” work within 5G-VICTORI — giving her practical context for data-rich industrial environments and cross-site operations. Earlier roles include Managing Director for an Eastern-European homeware distribution firm.

Education: Budapest College of Management — B.A. (Non-Profit/Public/Organisational Management). UK-qualified bookkeeper.

In her words: "Data is just the beginning — it's the economic application that decides success or failure."

James Stevenson profile picture

James Stevenson

Industrial IT & security leader focused on manufacturing, logistics, and high-compliance operations. Ex-Head of Information Services at ONEPOST (Royal Mail subcontractor), with scale insights from Amazon Logistics, prior oil & gas systems engineering, and enterprise security at Dyson & Computershare.

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At Darkonium AI, James embeds security-by-design so digital twins and AI optimisers deploy safely and deliver measurable uptime:

  • Logistics: led multi-site tech/services at ONEPOST—sortation/WMS, ERP links, SLAs, and data protection as DPO.
  • Scale ops: Amazon Logistics exposure to barcode/scan flow, routing accuracy, and throughput pacing.
  • Industrial: earlier oil & gas IT/systems engineering (OT/IT reliability, network hardening, controlled patching).
  • Security & compliance: Dyson & Computershare—ISMS (ISO/IEC 27001), GDPR/UK DPA, supplier assurance, audits.
  • Resilience: incident response playbooks, least-privilege, change/release tied to downtime and quality KPIs.

James helps ensure clients don't face a JLR-style cyber shutdown—the kind that forced weeks of halted production and a UK-backed £1.5bn loan guarantee to stabilise the supply chain.

John Tapsfield profile picture

John Tapsfield

Industrial technology and product leader focused on automotive, first-responder safety/compliance, and factory-grade digital programmes. Industry Advisory Board member at Kingston University, helping align curricula with real-world engineering needs.

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At Darkonium AI, John guides customers from problem framing to secure, production-ready deployments—bridging product, engineering, and compliance in complex operational environments:

  • Automotive & industrial: led multi-stakeholder technology initiatives across vehicle platforms and plant/field operations, balancing performance, safety, and regulatory constraints.
  • First-responder safety/compliance: ran an Innovate UK firefighter-tracking programme over multiple years, coordinating with academia and OEM partners to deliver high-TRL outcomes.
  • Kingston University Industry Advisory Board: contributes practical insight on emerging tech, data, and product readiness for engineering cohorts.
  • Product & delivery leadership: end-to-end ownership from discovery to rollout—requirements, partner/supplier orchestration, pilot design, success criteria, and scale-up plans.
  • Data & systems: experience with IoT/edge, telematics, spatial/RTLS, and integration into enterprise backbones (ERP/PLM/MES) with security-by-design practices.
  • Commercial focus: ties roadmaps to measurable KPIs—throughput, safety metrics, downtime, and cost—so programmes move decisively from proof to production.
Robert Sugar profile picture

Robert Sugar

Entrepreneur, physicist, and technologist with 25 years' experience in simulation, optimisation, and AI. Robert specialises in turning complex data into practical solutions that deliver measurable results on the factory floor.

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At Darkonium AI, he leads client engagements from concept to deployment, ensuring digital twins and AI optimisers deliver real impact:

  • Advised global clients including BMW and Siemens on digital transformation, optimisation, and data-driven decision making.
  • Paid consultant and registered assessor for UKRI and the UKSA, trusted to evaluate and shape high-impact innovation projects.
  • Delivered two Horizon Europe programmes and two Innovate UK projects, applying simulation and AI to real-world industrial challenges.
  • Guides teams through live modelling, KPI setting, and shift optimisation — balancing throughput, energy, cost, and downtime.
  • Applies deep expertise in simulation and spatial intelligence (manufacturing, logistics, security, insurance, transport, maritime) to resolve bottlenecks and disruptions.
  • Bridges strategy with hands-on deployment — supporting leadership, engineers, and operators so solutions work in practice, not just on paper.

Contact Us

hello@darkonium.ai
Robert Sugar, Director
| robert.sugar@darkonium.ai
Erika Fucsok, Operations
erika.fucsok@darkonium.ai