ABOUT AI GOVERNANCE DIRECT
Independent governance. Built by a Financial Controller.
Independent governance and financial assurance for leisure and hospitality operators. No vendor relationships. No conflicts. No agenda.
Terence Picken — Founder
With 40 years of board-level financial and governance experience across hospitality, leisure, healthcare, engineering and property, Terence Picken founded AI Governance Direct to address a gap he identified clearly: leisure and hospitality operators are running complex, technology-driven businesses with the governance infrastructure of a corner shop.
The systems running these operations make thousands of commercial decisions every day. Nobody at board level is watching. Nobody is measuring whether it is working. Nobody is checking what it costs when it goes wrong.
AI Governance Direct provides the independent financial controller function that most leisure operators have never had — without the full-time cost. The framework draws directly from four decades of hands-on board-level accountability: cash, stock, payroll, margin, regulatory compliance, and the governance of the AI systems quietly running behind all of it.
Terence's experience spans NHS hospital finance at Aintree, luxury hotel groups, Stanley Leisure, and a portfolio of medical aesthetics companies — each sector adding a layer to what became The Picken Responsible AI Adoption Framework™.
Forty years of board-level financial control across hospitality, leisure, healthcare, engineering and property means every finding is grounded in real sector experience — not theory.
Why Independence Matters
No Vendor Affiliations
We are not affiliated with any technology vendor, software provider, or AI company. We never have been. We never will be. Our analysis cannot be influenced by commercial relationships.
No Referral Fees
We receive no referral fees, commissions, or incentive payments of any kind from any technology provider. Our recommendations are driven by your numbers alone. Nothing else.
Paid Only By You
We are paid by you. We answer to you. Our interest is your financial outcome — not the sale of a platform, a technology upgrade, or an ongoing vendor relationship.
40 Years Board-Level FC Experience
Hospitality, Leisure, Healthcare, Engineering & Property
CMI Level 7 — Professional Consulting
Chartered Management Institute
MBA — Business Administration
Staffordshire University
AI Governance Certificate
Oxford Saïd Business School
Trusted by boards. Backed by independent research.
Built by a Financial Controller. Not a consultant.
Postgraduate Certificate — Business & Management Research
Level 7 — Cambridge Professional Development
Postgraduate Certificate — Corporate Governance
Level 7 — Cambridge Professional Development
Generative & Agentic AI Certificate
Oxford Saïd Business School
Generative AI for Executives & Business Leaders
IBM
Find out what your systems are costing you.
All enquiries by email. Response within 24 hours.