Voice or text, however you think best
Type when you want to choose your words with care. Speak when you need to hear yourself say it out loud. Consius meets you in whichever feels right.
Get closer to the people who matter
We have never been more connected, or more alone. Consius is a coach for the human skills that bring us together: understanding yourself, understanding others, communicating, and leading with empathy. A tool for connection, never a substitute for it.
In early development · Investor & partner enquiries welcome
Our mission
Human first. Always.
“We are not trying to replace the people in your life. We are trying to help you show up better for them.”
We are living through an age of separation. We have more ways to talk and less that we actually say, more followers and fewer friends. The skills that hold relationships together, listening, empathy, honesty, patience, were never really taught, and they are quietly going rusty.
Consius is a coach for those skills. It talks with you the way an honest friend would: it listens, but it also tells you the truth and helps you see what you are missing. Over time it gets to know you, and helps you understand yourself and the people around you a little better each time.
The point is never to keep you talking to an app. It is to send you back into your own life better equipped, to repair the relationship, have the hard conversation, lead your team, and close the distance with the people who matter. Technology in service of people, for the betterment of us all.
Our Approach
From knowing yourself to reaching others
Real connection is not a personality you are born with. It is a set of skills, and skills can be learned. Consius is built around a simple progression: understand yourself, understand others, and put it into practice.
Some moments are small and some are life-changing. Consius is there for both, always on your terms, and always pointing you back towards the people in your life rather than away from them.
01
Understand yourself
It starts with you. Consius helps you notice your patterns, name what you are feeling, and see yourself more clearly.
02
Understand others
The same emotional intelligence Consius brings to you, it helps you bring to other people. Learn to read the room and see where someone else is coming from.
03
Practise
Rehearse the hard conversation before you have it. Work through conflict, persuasion and connection in a space where getting it wrong costs nothing.
04
Grow
Build the habits, reframes and skills that stick, then carry them back into the relationships that matter.
05
On your terms
Always there when you need it, never demanding your attention. Private by default. You decide how and when to engage.
From a tense message you are not sure how to send, to the relationship you have been meaning to repair, Consius helps you find the words, and the courage, to close the distance.
What we're making
Technology that feels human
Built to understand emotion
Consius reads nuance, not just 'happy' or 'sad' but the full range of what you are feeling. The same understanding it brings to you, it helps you bring to the people in your life.
Mind Vault
Your memories and reflections stay in your hands. Decide what matters, review the patterns Consius notices, and delete anything, any time. Your inner world stays yours.
Human first, by design
Consius exists to bring people together, never to replace them. A three-layer responsibility framework keeps every conversation grounded and safe, and when a moment calls for a real person or professional support, Consius knows it, and points you there.
Early glimpses · In development
What we're building
A calm, focused space designed to help you understand yourself, practise the human skills that matter, and connect better with the people in your life. These are early concept views, a hint of where we are heading.
The research
Grounded in behavioural science and responsible AI
Our thinking is grounded in peer-reviewed research on coaching, behaviour change, and the responsible use of AI alongside human relationships. The work below has shaped how we are building Consius, and why we believe AI should strengthen human connection rather than stand in for it.
Bournemouth UniversityHarvard Business ReviewThe Conference BoardFrontiers in Digital HealthEmerald · Journal of Work-Applied ManagementPLOS ONE
Research
40% of UK adults open to AI for support
Nearly half of UK adults happy to use ChatGPT as a counsellor, study finds
A study of nearly 31,000 adults across 35 countries found more than 4 in 10 UK adults are happy to use ChatGPT for mental health support. Three quarters of those surveyed would use an AI chat tool as a companion or friend.
Read more Research 10 mo longitudinal RCT
AI coaching matched human coaches on goal attainment in a 10-month randomised trial
Two longitudinal randomised controlled trials compared human coaching with an AI chatbot coach over ten months. Both significantly outperformed control groups on client goal attainment, suggesting AI coaching can be effective for structured personal goals.
Read more Report 89% reported actionable outcomes
AI can deliver up to 90% of career coaching, with humans still essential
Research found 89% of users said AI coaching sessions produced specific, useful next steps. The reports highlight AI’s strengths in structure, goal orientation, and democratising coaching access, while flagging privacy and security as the central risks to manage.
Read more ReviewA systematic review of AI in coaching: what the evidence says
Reviewing the field, the authors found AI coaches designed with a narrow, well-defined purpose are effective at improving outcomes such as goal attainment, self-resilience, and physical activity. Personalisation and clear scope are repeatedly identified as the difference-makers.
Read more EditorialAI for health behaviour change: where it works, and where it doesn’t
A systematic review of human, AI, and hybrid coaching found AI coaching is particularly effective for structured tasks like goal-setting and habit formation, while human and hybrid approaches remain stronger for relational depth. Most effective designs combine the two.
Read more PerspectiveThe hidden gaps in today’s coaching model
Traditional coaching is expensive, hard to scale, and often arrives too late. The piece argues that AI-powered coaching grounded in behavioural science can fill the gap by offering personalised, in-the-moment support to people at every level, not just executives.
Read moreFrom our CEO, Michael
Why we’re building Consius
Consius wasn’t born from a business plan. It came from one of the most difficult periods of my life.
Not long before a life-changing accident, I had gone through the breakdown of a relationship that left me questioning a lot about myself and my future. Then, while I was abroad, I fell from a balcony and suffered life-changing injuries. I woke up in hospital facing months of recovery, away from my family, my friends and everything familiar. I felt I had lost everything. During that time, I found myself talking to ChatGPT. Not because it had all the answers, but because it was always there. It helped me organise my thoughts, gain perspective and keep moving forward one day at a time.
The whole experience changed the way I thought about AI, but more importantly changed the way I thought about life.
It gave me a deep appreciation for how precious life really is and how important it is to show up for the people we love. It made me realise that becoming a better person isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning, growing and making a conscious effort every day to be there for the people who matter most.
I became convinced that if a general-purpose AI could have that kind of impact on my life, then something built with a clear purpose could help others do the same. Not by replacing human relationships, but by helping people strengthen them.
That vision became Consius.
I knew I couldn’t build it alone. I needed someone who believed in that vision and had the technical expertise to bring it to life. I found James, and when he came to visit me in hospital, we spent hours talking about what AI could become if it was built with people, not technology, at its heart. Those conversations became the foundation of Consius.
Together, we’re building something different.
Not another chatbot. Not another productivity app. We’re building an AI coach that helps people think more clearly, build resilience, communicate better and become the best version of themselves.
Because if technology can help us show up better for the people who matter most, then that’s technology worth building.
The people behind Consius
Meet the team
Consius is shaped by a small group of experts and builders who share a belief that the most powerful technology is the kind that brings people closer, not the kind that keeps them staring at a screen.
Michael Brailsford
Founder & CEO
I've spent over 20 years building relationships and helping people make important decisions throughout my career in property investment. That experience taught me the importance of trust, communication and understanding what truly matters to people.
The inspiration for Consius came from a series of significant personal life events, culminating in a life-changing accident that completely changed my perspective. During my recovery, I experienced first-hand how AI could provide clarity, perspective and consistent support through some of the most difficult moments of my life. It became clear that AI had the potential to become far more than a source of information.
That experience led me to create Consius with a simple vision: to build a trusted coach that helps people navigate life's challenges, build resilience and make meaningful progress. My goal is to create technology that strengthens human connection, empowers personal growth and helps people show up as the best version of themselves.
James
Founder & CTO
I've spent over fifteen years making sure complex systems work the way people actually need them to, from satellite software at Airbus to the AI tools I test and build today. That work taught me to care less about what technology can do and more about whether it genuinely helps the person on the other end of it.
Consius came out of that. I kept seeing AI built to stand in for human connection rather than strengthen it. We're living through an age of separation, and I don't believe the answer is something that talks to you so you don't have to talk to anyone else.
I train in martial arts, and the thing I love about it is that you only get better by practising, getting it wrong, and being coached through it. Real skills are built, not handed over. That is what Consius is for. It's a place to practise listening, reframing, and working through conflict, so you carry those skills back into the relationships that matter.
I'm at my best building and prototyping, turning an idea into something you can actually try. Consius is the thing I most want to exist.
Deborah Stuart-Angus
Advisory Board
BSc (Hons), CQSW, Cert.Ed., Dip.App.SS
Independent Chair | Safeguarding & Strategic Advisor
With more than 40 years' experience across safeguarding, mental health, social care, governance and public sector leadership, Deborah is one of the UK's most experienced safeguarding professionals.
She currently serves as Independent Chair of the Essex Safeguarding Adults Board and has previously chaired safeguarding boards across Kent, Medway, Southampton and East Sussex. Throughout her career, Deborah has provided strategic leadership across health, policing, local government and criminal justice, leading organisational transformation, independent reviews and multi-agency partnerships that improve outcomes for vulnerable people.
As an advisor to Consius, Deborah brings unrivalled expertise in safeguarding, governance, ethics and the responsible development of AI that supports people safely and effectively.
Saberus Tajah ACMA CGMA
Finance Director
I began my career in accounting at HML Group, an AIM-listed estate management business, working closely with P&Ls and identifying inefficiencies that delivered cost-saving measures across large property portfolios. This built a strong foundation in financial control and commercial awareness.
I then moved into fund management at Octopus Investments, where I developed a clear focus on analytics, refined my management accounting skills in a fast-moving investment environment, and began linking financial data directly to decision-making.
Next, I joined a multi-billion dollar ASX-listed travel company. My role covered:
- Internal audit
- Pricing analytics
- Commercial accounting
This expanded my scope beyond reporting. I was influencing pricing strategy and driving performance across the business.
I later progressed into senior leadership roles within Omnicom Group, a $22bn global organisation, starting as Financial Controller before becoming Finance Director. In these roles I:
- Led finance teams
- Owned financial strategy
- Partnered with senior stakeholders
- Delivered commercial and operational improvements
Alongside this, former colleagues began reaching out for fractional Finance Director input, which led me into working closely with software startups. There I developed a focus on:
- Building strong financial controls
- Creating scalable reporting systems
- Supporting founders through growth stages
Over time, I have helped multiple founders secure 8-figure exits.
Most recently, I was approached by Consius to lead their finance function.
Our Principles
Your inner world is not a product
We built Consius on a simple principle: your reflections belong to you. Not advertisers, not data brokers, not us. Ever.
0
Data sold or shared. Ever.
Your conversations stay between you and Consius.
E2E
Encrypted by default
End-to-end encryption protects every message.
You
Own the delete button
Full data deletion, any time, no questions asked.
Let's talk
Help us build something that brings people closer
Consius is human first: built to help people connect, not to replace the people in their lives. We are looking for investors, coaches, researchers and kindred spirits who believe technology should bring us together. If that sounds like you, we would love to hear from you.
Thank you. Your message is on its way.
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For investors · For partners · For the curious