About Human in Residence

Two bad ideas. One good instinct.

Three founders. Two reckless decisions. One belief — that the gap between what AI can do and how businesses actually use it is too consequential to leave to chance.

Origin

The two bad ideas that worked.

Human in Residence started with two bad ideas and one good instinct.

The first: Nick told James they could stand up a company in thirty days. James said yes before anyone had time to think it through.

The second: Belal met James poolside in Dubai. Both in shorts, no deck. He made his case straight. “You’re the young tech guys. I’m the old one with the grey hair. Between us we have AI, tech stacks, product design, strategy, business models, industry depth. Let’s go.” That was the pitch. It was enough.

One belief: the gap between what AI can do and how businesses actually use it is too consequential to leave to chance — or to people who have never had to make payroll.

What’s in the room

Most teams have one of these. We have all of them in the same room.

Built venture-backed companies from nothing — including some of the most exciting AI companies and projects of the last five years.

Run change management across multi-billion-dollar P&Ls.

Spent a decade building the network, and the technical bench, this work needs — across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

How we move

Fast. Faster than most people expect.

Speed and intensity are not slogans here — they are how the work gets done. We ship in days what others scope in quarters.

Speed

We ship in days what others scope in quarters. Momentum is a deliverable, and we protect it.

Intensity

We move like the outcome is ours — because for the length of the engagement, it is.

The people

Three managing partners. Three continents of work.

Managing Partner · Dubai

James Roycroft-Davis

Leads UK, Europe & the Middle East

Ten years building zero-to-one. Built and exited an AI-powered mental health product to a US healthcare company in 2024, then moved into venture with a fund behind early rounds in Calm, BetterUp, and Grow Therapy.

Managing Partner · Toronto

Nick Lebesis

Leads North America & the firm’s engineering

The original human in residence. Product lead behind Boardy, taking the company from inception to a $100M valuation in eight months. Previously built and placed full-stack teams inside KPMG Global.

Managing Partner · Dubai

Belal Atiyyah

Owns Infrastructure & Natural Resources

Twenty-six years at BP across finance and commercial roles, upstream and downstream, from Anchorage and Baku to Houston, Riyadh, Dubai, and London HQ. Led major change programmes inside the company: acquisition integration, ERP implementation, and the redesign of BP’s upstream planning process. Later ran US technology company Omnovia, launching a new platform and winning clients including Amazon.

The bench

Behind us, some of the most capable AI operators on the planet.

Talent from OpenAI, Uber, Shopify, Careem, Paradox, and venture-backed AI startups, with Fortune 500 enterprise experience. Operators across product, ops, growth, strategy, and change management — shipping in production every day.

Talent from