A new Leeds AI consultancy founded by one of the region’s best-known tech entrepreneurs is scaling up, betting that boards want less AI hype and more delivery.
Zygens was launched in 2025 by Zandra Moore MBE, the former founder and CEO of Panintelligence. It is positioning itself at regulated industries such as financial services and professional services, where leaders are under pressure to show productivity gains from AI without falling foul of compliance and risk concerns.
READ MORE: Agency lands hi-fi manufacturer brief as it ramps up Manchester hub growth
“Boards aren’t debating whether AI matters anymore,” said Moore. “They’re asking why, after all the activity, presentations or pilots, that so little is working in practice. Some are paralysed by complexity, technology, legacy systems or fears around compliance. Zygens exists to resolve this with systems organisations can govern and trust.”
The company says many organisations remain stuck at proof-of-concept stage, with compliance fears acting as a brake on deployment. Zygens is focusing on so-called “agentic AI” systems designed to act within real workflows, with governance and human oversight built in.
Moore is no stranger to the AI space. At Panintelligence, she built an enterprise analytics and AI platform used across regulated sectors, and has been a prominent advocate for inclusive growth in tech. She was awarded an MBE in 2025 for services to gender equality in business and has been involved in government-backed initiatives to increase funding into women-led companies.
Now, less than a year after launch, Zygens has added three senior figures to its founding team as it looks to scale.
Charlie Bartle joins as co-founder and chief operating officer. She previously led development agency Decodifi through what the company describes as a turnaround and transition into an AI-native consultancy, and was recognised at the Yorkshire Business Woman Awards in 2025.
Tim Lewis becomes co-founder and chief technology officer. A familiar name in the Northern tech scene, he was previously CTO at Planet Sport and has held senior roles at Sky, DAZN and Evri. He was named Prolific North Tech Leader of the Year in 2025 and has founded Leeds chapters of CTO Craft and Rust Meetup.
Andy Roberts joins as co-founder and chief marketing officer, moving from Planet Sport where he was CMO. Earlier in his career he held roles at KPMG, 365 Media, Sky Sports and DAZN, and founded Digital Sport North.
The firm says it works with clients to identify high-value use cases before building AI systems that integrate with existing infrastructure rather than sitting alongside it.
Peter Turvey, CEO of Fleximize, an early customer, said: “We found the Zygens Programme eye-opening. It demystified AI for our team and helped us map our lending process end-to-end, pinpoint where agentic AI can make the biggest impact, and build a roadmap that leverages our existing systems while staying compliant. We now have a clear, actionable plan to integrate AI into our operations and deliver faster, smarter decisions for our customers.”
