Who We Are.
Clarity, confidence, and meaningful progress for leaders embracing AI.
Our Story
Built by practitioners, for leaders
Foremost was founded by experienced business and technology professionals alongside leading AI experts. We saw boards and executive teams overwhelmed by AI noise, surrounded by technology vendors and consultancies, but lacking access to partners who could sit alongside leadership, bringing strategic clarity and the hands-on capability to design, build, and deliver AI solutions that work.
We are passionate about bringing clarity to the human side of AI implementation. Technology alone doesn't transform organisations; people do. Our work focuses on helping leaders manage the fears, uncertainties, and organisational dynamics that determine whether AI initiatives succeed or stall.
We believe UK and EU businesses must embrace AI to remain globally competitive. Our role is to accelerate that adoption, from strategic clarity through to hands-on delivery, with governance that enables confident execution.
Team
Where rigorous thinking meets practical execution.
Vitalij Farafonov
Partner & CEO
Vitalij bridges technology and business with over twenty-five years of operational experience spanning Board, non-executive director, CFO, and COO roles. In early 2025 he pivoted his career to focus entirely on AI, enrolling on MIT's AI for Senior Executives programme. He advises companies from large multinationals to SMEs on embedding AI within their organisations, combining strategic clarity with hands-on building of AI-enabled tools that deliver measurable value.
Oscar Gavin
Partner
Oscar is an AI practitioner and full-stack developer with broad expertise spanning classical and modern AI approaches. He specialises in LLM-powered applications and agentic systems, with particular depth in reasoning and memory architectures. Oscar holds a BSc in AI and Computer Science from the University of Sheffield and an MSc in AI from the University of St Andrews, and has a proven track record delivering production AI solutions for UK and European businesses.
Larry Ockene
Partner
Larry brings over forty years of experience leading software engineering and product organisations, the last thirty split between Amazon and Microsoft. He has a strong track record of guiding innovation initiatives from conception through delivery across enterprise systems, web and mobile applications, voice and graphical interfaces, platform APIs, and developer tools. Larry now advises companies on technology strategy, product direction, and strengthening the collaboration between business, product, and engineering teams.
Dean Davey
Partner
A former corporate advisor at Deloitte and EY turned entrepreneur, Dean has advised leading AI labs on talent strategy and traditional enterprises on technology adoption from a people perspective. He brings deep expertise in organisational change, leadership coaching, and building high-performance teams, with a focus on people, culture, and the strategic development that underpins lasting change.
Our Values
What we stand for
Clarity
We cut through noise to surface what matters. Complex situations deserve clear thinking, not more complexity.
Rigour
Our advice is grounded in evidence, not fashion. We do the analytical work that earns the right to an opinion.
Flexibility
Of thinking, of approach, and of engagement. Every business is different. We adapt our methods to your context, not the other way around.
Impact
We focus on outcomes that move the P&L, not impressive slide decks. If it doesn't change a decision or a number, it isn't advice.