Explore John Psaras’s work in digital strategy, business transformation and applied AI — from IBM and the Institute of Export to international retail and new customer experiences. Strategy, implementation and the commercial outcomes behind each project.
Rebuilding a National Institution for the Digital Age
The Institute of Export needed more than a website refresh. It needed reinventing for a digital-first trade landscape — new strategy, new infrastructure, new partnerships, built to last.
Over a multi-year transformation, we rebuilt the IOE from the ground up: strategy, digital platform, and the partnerships to back it. Working alongside RBS, HMRC, UKTI and the CBI, we turned a legacy institution into a genuine national platform for trade support — one now reaching over 100,000 exporters and recognised as a digital-first leader in UK trade.
When the stakes are national, half-measures aren't an option.
Pioneering Online Video. Building IBM’s Thought Leadership.
IBM's midmarket partners had the technical expertise. What they didn't have was a way to turn that expertise into commercial conversations decision-makers actually cared about.
We produced an online video platform that brought IBM’s technical expertise directly to business audiences. This pioneering use of video helped position IBM as a thought leader, making expert knowledge accessible through a dedicated digital channel. We ran the channel for five years, combining ongoing platform delivery with a scalable partner content strategy. The content strategy positioned partners as trusted experts rather than vendors — shortening sales cycles and generating higher-value leads across the board. The approach worked so well IBM adopted it globally as the model for partner-driven growth.
Sometimes the right strategy doesn't just solve the problem in front of you — it becomes the new standard.
Panther Logistics was a struggling regional operator with real potential and no clear path to realise it.
We led the full strategic transformation — repositioning, service development, commercial strategy — and rebuilt Panther into the UK's leading two-person white-glove delivery company. Revenue grew from £6M to £60M as major national retailers made Panther their go-to delivery partner. The business was ultimately sold in a successful buyout.
Growth like that isn't luck. It's what happens when strategy and execution actually align.
When founding Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing launched his new band, KK's Priest, he needed more than a website — he needed a digital identity that could carry decades of legacy into a genuinely new audience.
We built the brand from the ground up: ecommerce, content strategy, fan engagement, all designed to connect a global fanbase from day one. The result drove merchandise sales immediately and gave a legendary career a platform built for where music fandom actually lives now.
Legacy is an asset. It only becomes a business when someone knows how to build around it.
Entering a new international market is where most expansion strategies quietly fail — the product's right, but the market isn't listening.
We built WEX's full localisation and growth strategy for the German market: product ranges, messaging, and the operational framework to support it. The result was a major uplift in market share in one of the most competitive retail categories in Europe — recognised with Online Retailer of the Year and Best Email Campaign awards.
Good expansion strategy doesn't just translate the business. It rebuilds it for a market that doesn't yet know your name.
A major online retailer needed a way to give customers the same personalised guidance they'd get from a knowledgeable in-store consultant — without the overhead of scaling a human team to match demand.
We built a conversational AI virtual assistant acting as a luxury interior consultant — guiding customers through styling decisions and product choices in natural, real-time conversation rather than static product pages. The result gave the retailer a genuinely differentiated customer experience in a category where most competitors still rely on search filters and FAQs.
The best AI implementations don't feel like talking to a machine. They feel like talking to your best salesperson, at scale.
We're building a diagnostic report tool for a computer repair business — taking a technical specification straight to working software using AI-assisted development, without a traditional dev team or months of build time. It orchestrates industry-standard diagnostic tools into one automated, branded report, cutting a job that used to mean manual notes and a Word template down to a few minutes of setup.
We don't just recommend AI-assisted development to clients. We build with it ourselves.