About · Metis Point · Dr Alec Burns, AI & Emerging Technology Consultant

The short version

Why Metis Point exists

I set up Metis Point after seeing organisations pay for AI strategy from people who had never built an AI system. Metis Point is one senior person with real build experience, working directly with your leadership and engineers, on fixed or capped fees.

Senior from start to finish The person you meet on the first call is the person who does the work.
Evidence over opinion Where a decision can be tested with a working prototype, I build one.
Honest scoping Fixed or capped fees agreed upfront. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.
Handover, not dependency Every engagement ends with your team knowing more than when we started.

Skills

What I bring

PhD in Robotics, Nature front cover, 9 patents, and leadership from research labs to a $2B tech company.

AI & delivery

Board-ready AI strategy
Multi-agent & agentic systems
LLM engineering
Rapid prototyping
Vendor & build/buy evaluation

Blockchain & identity

Digital identity platforms
Verifiable credentials
CBDC design
Cryptographic signatures
Protocol architecture

Product & leadership

0-to-1 product delivery
Team building
Regulated product launches
Government advisory
Stakeholder briefings

Cross-industry

Sectors I've worked in

Industrial services

Board-approved AI strategy for a FTSE-scale group with 15,000+ employees
Financial services

Agentic AI tools, digital identity for banks, CBDC proofs-of-concept
Legal tech

Blockchain document signing, from feasibility study to launched product
Public sector & environment

National digital-identity frameworks, Mersey Forest partnership advisory
Web3 & emerging tech

Layer-1 blockchain R&D, partner programmes with global brands
Research & robotics

Multi-agent systems, autonomous vehicles, aerial additive manufacturing

Selected work →

Highlights

Key experience

Metis Point
Consulting · 2024 to present

Sole AI advisor to a multi-billion-dollar industrial group

Board-approved AI strategy at Altrad across three business units, now scaling company-wide.
VeChain
Head of R&D · 2024 to 2026

Built a nine-person AI organisation from zero at a $2B+ blockchain

Multi-agent systems at ~60% lower latency and ~80% lower cost. Partners included Formula E, ESA, UFC, and BCG.
nChain
Emerging Technology Lead · 2021 to 2024

Regulated digital-signing product from concept to launch

Five blockchain patents, CBDC proof-of-concept, government advisory on national identity.
UCL & Robotiz3d
Research & founding · 2019 to 2025

Nature front cover, robotics lab, autonomous road-maintenance startup

Led a 19-person lab at UCL; co-founded Robotiz3d (£600K seed, four robotics patents).