Currently Open to - Non-exec, Chair and advisory roles.

After nearly two decades building hedgehog lab, I stepped down as CEO at the end of 2025. I am now taking a breath, exploring new horizons and rediscovering who I am beyond the singular identity of founder.

When you build something for twenty years, it becomes hard to know where the company ends and you begin. Stepping away has meant rediscovering the edges of my own identity. It is uncomfortable and quietly exciting in equal measure.

What I built at hedgehog lab still matters to me. We grew from two people with laptops and borrowed furniture in a warehouse unit to a global digital product consultancy working across the UK, US and Europe. 

Along the way we raised nearly £10m across three PE transactions, navigated two major turnarounds including Covid and the 2023 market crash, acquired a company, and built a culture that consistently earned recognition as a great place to work. I am proud of what we created and the people who made it possible.

Today I serve as a Non Executive Director at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where I focus on digital transformation and governance. I also chair Health Call, a digital health company building products that improve care across the NHS. 

Both roles reflect something I have believed for a long time: technology is most meaningful when it serves people.

I continue to mentor founders and leaders navigating the messy reality of building and scaling businesses. I am also open to advisory and non executive roles, and curious about what else lies beyond the horizon.

If any of that resonates, I would love to connect.

Sarat Pediredla

📢 Some BIG news from me to begin 2026! 

After almost nineteen years at hedgehog lab, I have reached the moment where it feels right to step aside and make space for the next chapter of leadership. 

This company has shaped almost every part of my adult life. It has stretched me, grounded me, humbled me and given me more purpose than I ever expected when we started with two laptops, some broken furniture and a warehouse unit that rattled in the wind.

The journey has been full of moments I will never forget. The early scrappy wins that convinced us we might actually make it. The years of learning how to lead while building a culture that felt human. The surreal milestones where we found ourselves working with global brands or opening new offices. The tough seasons too, from painful restructures to the burnout I walked through in 2023 and 2024. Each high and low shaped me in ways I am still processing.

What stands out most as I look back is the people. There are far too many to thank in a single post, and I am not going to spam your feed with a long list, but please know this. I will reach out to each of you, because none of this would have existed without the countless hands, minds and hearts that helped build what started as a twenty five year old’s pipe dream.

I believe now is the right time to hand over the reins. I am proud of the Executive team we have built. They bring clarity, energy and a renewed sense of direction and I have complete confidence that they will take the company further than I ever could. I will step down as CEO immediately and support the business as an Advisor for the next twelve months.

As for what comes next, I am going to slow down. My family has carried the weight of my ambition and identity for many years and they deserve more of me now. 

After some rest, I will take my time exploring where I want to spend the next 20 years of my professional life. In the short term, I am open to advisory and non executive roles, so if you feel my experience could help, I would love to talk.

I leave with immense gratitude, pride and joy. Titles change. Chapters close. But once you learn to be the hedgehog, you never quite stop. 

#foreverahedgehog

Sarat Pediredla 

CEO & Founder in Consulting w/ PE experience | NED & Chair | Scaling digital companies through culture, growth, turnarounds & transformation | 🏆 AI 100 UK | 🏆 BIMA 100

💡 Excited and nervous to share this finally! I've had this idea for 10 years. I'm finally building it.

If you've spent the last three years running a consultancy or agency, you know how hard it's been. I've watched friends make redundancies they never thought they'd have to make. Studios closed. Founders burn out or sell for less than they deserved.

And through all of it, the tools that were supposed to help? Most of us see them as a necessary evil at best.

I'm building something different. A thinking partner for consultancy leaders, not another database to administer.

It's called thredspan. Professional Services Intelligence.

We've got 3 early pioneers helping shape what this becomes. I'm looking for 7 more to complete a founding cohort of 10.

I wrote about why in this article. If you run a consultancy or agency, I'd love to know if it resonates.

#thredspan #seearoundcorners #focusongreatwork

For 19 years I ran hedgehog lab, a digital product consultancy. And for most of those years, I wrestled with a problem I couldn't solve. It wasn't the

Open article: thredspan - Building Professional Services Intelligence by Sarat Pediredla • 3 min read

thredspan - Building Professional Services Intelligence

Accenture acquiring Faculty for billion dollars (or so) is one of those deals that tells you more about where the market is heading than about either company individually.

Faculty has spent a decade building something genuinely AI-native. Not AI bolted onto existing services, but AI as the foundation. Their work with the NHS during COVID, their safety work with OpenAI and Anthropic, their decision intelligence product. This is what it looks like when AI is the starting point rather than the add-on.

The signal here is clear. There is no separate “AI market” anymore. AI is simply how technology gets built now. Every digital product, every software platform, every consultancy engagement will be AI-native or it will be irrelevant. The days of AI as a distinct service line are ending. It’s becoming the water, not the fish.

Marc Warner becoming CTO of the entire company is the tell. This isn’t a tuck-in acquisition. This is Accenture admitting they need to rewire how they think about technology from the top.

The question is whether Faculty’s culture and approach can survive inside a 784,000-person organisation built around a very different model. Specialist acquisitions by large consultancies have a mixed track record. The thing that made them special often gets absorbed into the machine.

What I find most interesting is what this signals for the market. If Accenture needs to acquire AI-native capability rather than build it, that says something about the opportunity for consultancies that are AI-native from the ground up. 

Plenty to still play for. Feels like the mid 90s with the Internet. Exciting times!

For most of my early years at hedgehog lab, I was the primary commercial driver. 
 
When I co-founded the company in 2007, I did not think of myself as a salesperson. I was a technologist who happened to start a business. But the work needed to come from somewhere, and for most of the journey, that responsibility sat with me.
 
I originated most of our key accounts. I led the pitches. I built the relationships that turned into long-term clients. For a long time, I thought this was just what founders did.
 
Over 18 years, I learned a few things that might be useful if you are in a similar position.
 
𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. The best opportunities I ever won came from understanding what the client actually needed, not from presenting what we wanted to sell. I used to walk into pitches with a deck full of capabilities. The wins came when I put the deck down and asked better questions. What is the real problem you are trying to solve? What does success look like for you personally, not just the business? What have you tried before that did not work?
 
𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. Some of our biggest clients came from connections I made five or ten years earlier. Not because I was strategically nurturing them, but because I stayed curious about people and kept showing up. Consultancy sales is a long game. The founders who treat it as transactional tend to struggle.
 
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. We spent years chasing new logos before I understood that the clients who already trusted us were the real growth engine. Referrals and repeat business built most of what we became. The energy I put into new business would have been better spent making existing clients genuinely successful.
 
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. This was the hardest lesson. I was comfortable being the commercial engine. It felt safe. But it also meant the business depended on me in ways that were not sustainable. I started building broader commercial capability later than I should have. If you are the founder and you are also the primary seller, that is fine for a while. It is not a permanent strategy.
 
If you run a consultancy and you recognise yourself in this, you are not alone. Most founders I mentor carry the same weight.
 
The path to distributing commercial responsibility is not obvious. But I think it starts with being honest about the dependency.

Purple Sky Consulting - Leadership Development and Coaching

Leadership Coach - Founder

The Leadership Development Network UK

The Leadership Development Network UK is a place for HR / L&D Professionals to come together and share ideas, challenges, opportunities, and solutions related to Leadership Development.

You can become a member of the Network (it's free to join), and you'll get an invite to a monthly Network Call and a Newsletter each month summarising the focus topic for that month.

You are welcome to join Network Calls as a Guest, too.

Founder and Network Leader

Nottingham Trent University

Supporting the HR Director and HR Leadership as they transition to a new leadership structure.

Deputy Director Of Human Resources (interim)

The University of Salford

The People Strategy Team are shaping the employee experience at the University and are leading the delivery of; strategic projects, policy and process improvements, learning, organisational, leadership and management development, talent and workforce strategy, reward and recognition, HR systems, data and insights, and how we create a truly inclusive and diverse organisation.  I am leading the development of the University’s People Strategy so that it enables the sustainable, long term success of the organisation.

Associate Director, People Strategy

Partnering with the Executive Director of Marketing, the Chief Information Officer and a Dean of School for Health and Society.  Working with them and their teams to develop and implement the right strategies and plans to support their business area and the University’s objectives.  

The HR team operates a shared service approach with a team that supports the administrative and operational ER requirements for the business.  

Some key focus areas include:
•	Partnering with the Dean of School for Health and Society on the review of their School structure.  
        Coaching and influencing the approach taken towards the review of the roles required, the 
        engagement and communication plans, planning for selection and planning the implementation 
        phases for induction and development of new leaders.
•	Partnering with the Chief Information Officer on the preparation for the launch of a new Digital 
        strategy including a complete review of the senior structure to enable the success of the new 
        strategy.  This included facilitating sessions to understand core requirements, developing new 
        roles, planning the communication and engagement as well as reviewing the change leadership 
        development requirements for the team.  Including the development of a People Plan to support 
        the successful delivery of the Digital strategy.
•	Leading the review and follow up of the employee engagement survey results across my partnered 
        teams – working with the departments to effectively communication and share the results and to 
        identify the appropriate actions to build on successes and address areas of concern.
•	Support the Executive Director for Marketing and External Relations with the realignment of his 
        structure to more effectively support the business and improve overall service.
•	Consulting and engaging with the Trade Union on key changes and developments.

Interim Human Resources Business Partner

British Gas

I have held several HR Business Partner roles during my time at Centrica allowing me to build my experience in terms of environment and customer base:
•	I started by partnering with the Head of Operations as part of their Central, East, Wales and South 
        West Leadership Team covering 134 leaders and over 2500 engineers in a fast moving, field based 
        customer focused business unit.  
•	Following this I moved to partner with the Head of Customer Service for the Manchester Contact 
        Centre supporting an inbound customer contact centre of 850.  I lead an HR team of 3. An FCA environment.
•	Finally, I moved to Credit and Collections as part of their leadership team with responsibility for a 
        diverse group varying from a contact centre focused on vulnerable customers in debt to 
        Continuous Improvement, Analytical and Field Operational teams. I lead an HR team of 2.

During all my partnering roles I have had full responsibility for partnering with the leadership team and working with them to develop and deliver people plans for their business based on the business and HR strategies.  

I’ve successfully influenced and coached the leadership teams to develop their organisation and improve employee engagement.  This has been achieved by creating a positive focus on performance, employee communications and development delivered by successfully on-boarding great leaders, focusing on developing a pipeline of great leaders and addressing reward and performance risks.  

Change leadership has been continuous and was a key part of my role and skill set.  I have been involved in large to small, day to day pieces of change mainly focused on preparing and supporting the business to deliver change effectively.

I opted to take redundancy as part of a large central functions re-organisation.  This was a great opportunity for me to look for a new challenge and build on my experience and skills.

HR Business Partner

From June 2012 until October 2012 I was asked to undertake an interim position as HR Business Partner for the London & SE Area within the Operations, Service and Repair team whilst a permanent replacement for recruited and during this period I led the people agenda for the area.

I was involved in the full HR remit during this period and also maintained my responsibilities as HR Business Partner for Operations Support as well as my case management responsibilities for absence under the HR Manager role.

HR Business Partner (Secondment)

Advising and coaching line managers as part of a team of 4 HR Managers.  Providing case management support on all disciplinary, grievances, performance, absence and other people management matters, this included policy advice and support.  Project activity as required to support the development of the team and the services provided to the business.  

In addition to my HR Manager role from January 2012 I undertook additional responsibilities as HR Business Partner, Operations Support which allowed me to further develop my business partnering skills within British Gas.

HR Manager

EC Harris

Working with the Location Leader as his business partner to create and deliver the North West & Ireland People Charter (People Plan).  A generalist HR partnering role for the North West & Ireland region (Manchester, Liverpool, Warrington, Wales, Ireland) within a matrix based partnership organisation.

HR Advisor

SSL International

This was a generalist role supporting the Group functions (Finance, IT, Marketing, Supply Chain, Product Development, Project Management) as well as the UK Commercial Teams.

I was involved in supporting the business with resourcing, reward, disciplinary, grievance, attendance and performance activities.  

During my time at SSL I was also responsible for delivering a review of the absence management procedure as well as rolling out a development programme for line managers.  

I was also involved in other project activities including reviewing the approach for the development for trainee accountants and relocating employees to Australia to support the business' SAP roll-out.

Turning Point

Part of a new HR Shared Services Team providing Helpdesk HR Advice Service focused on Case Management.  This was a team that provided a remote service.  As this was a new team I was involved in developing our ways of working and processes.

Providing advice, support and coaching Business Directors and Line Managers on all Employee Relations matters within a complex unionised environment.  

I was also involved in providing operational HR support for TUPE and restructuring.

I would also manage relationships between the business and our legal counsel for Employment Tribunals

During my time I was involved in managing a CRB amnesty closure project, being the lead Senior HR Advisor for the implementation of a new Performance Review process and facilitating the performance review panel for the North area.

I was involved in coaching and development our HR Assistant/Admin team from a case management perspective.

Senior HR Advisor

Tetra Pak

Proving HR advice and partnering for the Technical Division as well as other Head Office functions (Finance, IT, Sales, Marketing and Environment).  

This involved working with the business area to deliver changes to working patterns whilst agreeing a 3 year pay deal as well as supporting on other areas including resourcing, attendance, reward, employee relations, development and performance management.

Personalised Leadership Development for Heads of + Directors - put THEM at the centre of their experience. ⭐️ Improve Confidence, Capability and Effectiveness - for Happier, Healthier and Higher-Performing Teams.

Helping HR and executive teams create confident and effective managers and leaders - who stay human! 

Helping them have teams that want to work with them because they are engaged, energised and higher-performing.

This is done through three important steps: Engage, Enable, Empower.

⭐ ENGAGE

Leaders can’t excel if they don’t know what’s expected of them or what success looks like.

We fix that, by:
→ Getting clear on what success looks like.
→ Creating our plan of action to achieve this. 
→ These become the foundation of our work together.
The result: Your managers and leaders get the clarity they crave (and the motivation to succeed).

⭐ ENABLE

60% of new managers and leaders start their roles with zero training or development. That’s a huge problem.

We change this, by:

→ Co-creating the success plan mentioned above.
→ Giving them a 24/7 online workspace packed full of high-impact resources.
→ Peer accountability from other leaders in our exclusive community.
→ 1:1 coaching with me: ILM Level 7 Executive Coach (with Next Level experiences)
→ Group workshops, Q&A sessions, and live events.

The result: Your leaders feel supported and have access to everything they need to thrive.

⭐ EMPOWER THEM TO LOVE WHAT THEY DO

Managers and Leaders who aren’t equipped to take action are less accountable and that leads to them not enjoying it!

We solve this problem, by combining:

→ Their clear success plan to create their personal development plan.
→ Our always-available self-development resources and tools.
→ 1:1 coaching to work through workplace challenges in real-time.

The result: They confidently OWN their role and responsibilities and perform with impact.

WANT MORE INFO? Let's talk 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

✉️ Ask me about BOOST for Next Level Managers and Leaders.
🤙🏻 Book your discovery call (in featured and at the top of my profile).

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Sarat Pediredla

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The Battle

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Anwen Bottois

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