Adam Bates

I lead Operations and Technology at X4 Group, driving strategic transformation across systems, data, and processes to support scalable growth across multiple markets. I own the delivery of our tech and operations roadmap, aligning automation, AI tools, and business intelligence with commercial priorities and measurable outcomes. This includes improving sales productivity, streamlining internal workflows, strengthening reporting and data quality, and embedding tech-led decision-making across the business. My remit spans IT operations and infrastructure, vendor and budget ownership, security and resilience, onboarding and enablement, and change adoption across sales and operational teams. I work closely with senior leaders across Sales, Finance, People, and Compliance to ensure technology investment translates into real operational impact. Key focus areas include increasing time spent on high-value activity, improving adoption and effectiveness of core platforms, reducing operational overhead, and building scalable processes that support sustainable performance and long-term growth.

As Head of Operations and Technology at Franklin Fitch, I lead the evolution of our operational infrastructure and technology landscape—enhancing systems and processes to enable sustainable, commercial growth across our offices in London, Cardiff, Frankfurt, and Austin. I am responsible for defining and delivering the organisation’s technology and operations roadmap, working in close partnership with the Board and senior leadership team. My focus is on driving measurable improvements in efficiency, performance, and profitability through strategic vendor management, systems innovation, and data-led decision making. Key achievements & responsibilities: ● Defined and executed a cross-functional operations and technology strategy, driving performance across all business units. ● Oversee all internal IT operations, including vendor negotiations, MSP relationships, systems architecture and infrastructure development. ● Lead the business intelligence and analytics function, enabling real-time reporting and actionable insights for senior leadership. ● Manage all vendor and infrastructure partnerships, ensuring commercial value and operational resilience. ● Lead and mentor a high-performing ops and compliance team across IT, contractor care, back-door process, and systems training. ● Deliver operational change initiatives focused on sales enablement, automation, and scalability. ● Own onboarding and systems training programmes for all new hires globally. ● Act as internal product owner for critical platforms (CRM, ATS, BI tools, automation technologies). ● Oversee systems governance and compliance, ensuring data protection, audit readiness, and operational risk management. ● Partner with legal and finance to manage vendor risk and ensure contract compliance. ● Champion cross-functional change adoption and embed a culture of operational excellence and technology enablement across the business.

As Head of Systems and Data, I led the company's Data and Technology Strategy, ensuring the alignment of technical solutions with strategic objectives to enhance operational efficiency and foster data-driven decision-making. Recognised as the 'Best Newcomer' in 2023, I focused on impactful innovation and transformational change. ● Leadership and Team Management: Oversaw a team of 8 across Data Engineering, Data Visualisation, System Administration, PMO, IT Infrastructure, and Support, driving a collaborative and high-performance culture ● Strategic Enhancements: Increased tracking of consultant leading indicator metrics by 40%, significantly improving forecast accuracy, budgeting, and user experience ● Operational Efficiency: Delivered on-time, on-budget initiatives to boost operational efficiency through automation, configuration, data hygiene, workflow re-engineering, documentation and training. Led on Finance Transformation Audit and design and tender for new Data Warehouse project ● Agile Continuous Improvement: Cultivated an agile, continuous improvement culture for strategic project delivery, establishing effective prioritisation mechanisms with Senior Leadership, optimising resource management, and capacity building ● Change Management: Launched a Change Advisory Board with cross-functional representation to streamline change management and enhance change communications across the business ● Procurement and Technology Integration: Led the procurement of new tools and vendors, streamlining the organisational tech stack and enhancing core platform integrations. Explored AI technologies to secure a competitive edge ● Revenue and Cost Optimisation: Identified new revenue streams through statistical analysis, increased competition among vendors, and negotiated cost reductions on service agreements

EaaS Transformation Project Manager The Transformation Project team (within the Energy as a Service business function) are benchmarking existing ‘as is’ processes before designing and implementing a programme of work to transition the business to a Target Operating Model

Worked cross-functionally with professional services, product, support, and sales departments to identify, prioritise, and lead initiatives to improve delivery quality and efficiency ● Developed a submission and triage process for continuous improvement (CI) initiatives (circa 300 opportunities identified in 24 months) leading to a 28% net reduction in goodwill change orders from 2021 to 2022 ● Productively partnered with functional leaders to implement improvement opportunities aligned with business objectives ● Facilitated 136 root cause analyses (RCA) to identify process improvements, leading to 104 completed RCA output initiatives ● Created and deployed an agile retrospective project review framework to identify improvement opportunities, risks to project health and support project governance ● Coached functional heads to support and deliver the retrospective process ● Developed a quality management programme to monitor adoption and outputs ● Set up data reporting parameters to trigger automations and streamline process ● Successfully designed, rolled out and coordinated the professional services change board featuring 10 cross-functional representatives ● Responsible for change communication, created and delivered training to drive awareness and support cultural change, created feedback structures to drive organisational buy-in ● Developed CI ROI, to track and report KPIs, reported trends analysis to leadership on monthly basis

Managed implementations of Bullhorn's product portfolio to large enterprise clients. Project types delivered included discovery, customisations, platform upgrades, data mapping and migration, and end-to-end implementations for new customers ● Successfully delivered 15+ ATS/CRM projects for leading global enterprise customers, with recurring licence revenues in excess of £3m p/a ● Led project planning activities, partnering with key stakeholders to identify and drive key business objectives ● Managed project schedule and critical path; prepared and presented internal and external status reports to stakeholders ● Utilised high level of understanding of the software development life cycle to manage resources across functional teams, to meet project goals and milestones ● Provided ongoing monitoring and management of project budgets ● Proactively managed scope, risks, and issues, enforcing project governance ● Provided input and drive on continuous improvement initiatives for PMO's methodology and best practices, including standardised processes, tools, templates and techniques to benefit all project delivery teams

● Oversaw the delivery of all new technology implementations, customisations, and enhancements into the business ● Managed the day-to-day running of global company IT infrastructure ● Managed acquisition management process, facilitating >£2m private equity investment ● Responsible for improving the profitability of the operation, and new acquisitions through financial analysis & annual budget review process ● Held strategic and operational responsibility for compliance & risk management, contracts, budgeting, credit risk review process, commercial support and sales process ● Designed, trained, and implemented the company data protection policies and processes, including updates for GDPR, for a database of approximately 4 million records ● Maintained relationships and service management levels with technical 3rd parties, identifying opportunities for the business to leverage new functionality ● Managed a variety of internal process improvement projects, managed risks and dependencies and ensured successful delivery within agreed timescales and budget ● Supported business development by participating in recruitment process outsourcing client meetings and presentations, scoping technical platforms and integrations, acting as a technical subject matter expert during the tender process ● Specific projects included: o Re-engineered commercial placement approval process o Implemented technical solutions to enhance candidate acquisition strategy o Managed compliance requirements for IR35 and AWR o Developed 3rd party partnerships and additional revenue streams o Built financial analysis & annual budgeting tools, including custom business reporting, KPI monitoring, management accounts and billing leagues

● Best in class contractor care including contract management, resolution of payment queries, technical support, reporting and compliance