The Situation

EDF was spending £40M annually to maintain SAP, resulting in high operational costs and a lack of competitiveness in a price-sensitive market. They struggled with recruiting and retaining talented engineers due to the monolithic nature of their systems. The inefficiencies were severely delaying customer-facing updates, with some projects taking years to deliver, bringing the business to a halt.

The Task

I was brought in to support the discovery phase, define the value stream, create a migration strategy, and help recruit 50+ local engineers. My role also included solution assessment and recommendation to help EDF modernise their systems, improve customer experience, and reduce support costs.

The Action / Approach

  • Discovery & Strategy: Led the discovery process to understand EDF’s strategic goals, defined the value stream, and developed a clear migration strategy.
  • Team & Recruitment: Worked closely with EDF to recruit over 50 local engineers and provided guidance on team composition.
  • Agile Transformation: Led the delivery of 6 teams, directly managing 2. Defined an agile framework and ways of working, coaching delivery managers to drive efficiency, continuous improvement, and value delivery.
  • Client & Stakeholder Engagement: Built strong relationships with the client through regular face-to-face meetings, collaborating on vision, clearly communicating progress, and celebrating successes. Focused on data-driven decision-making, trust, and effective escalation management.

The Result

The project was a massive success, implementing Kraken (Octopus Energy’s SaaS product), new web and mobile applications (React/React Native), 2 internal-facing apps, and migrating 5.5M customers. This resulted in £25M in annual savings, a significant improvement in customer (NPS) and agent experience, and a 50/50 increase in internal engineering capability.

Relevant Business Perspectives

Relevant Industries

Practice