Minibit is an AI-first IT consultancy founded by Steven Minnikin that helps regulated and non-regulated UK businesses integrate AI into the systems they already run. My 25-year career spans software engineering, technology leadership and computing education, including 11 years’ experience in regulated financial services. I help teams adopt the systems I build, with a person signing off every decision that matters.
No cost, no obligation and no sales deck. Just a straight answer on what AI can do for your firm.
Financial advice firms, wealth managers, fintechs and other regulated businesses. AI that fits your controls: human approval, audit trails, and client data that stays where it belongs.
Owner-run firms, agencies, professional services and product teams. Practical AI that removes repetitive work, answers the phone and builds the features your customers keep asking for.
Minibit has been trading since October 2025. The experience behind it goes back 25 years. These numbers come from systems I designed, ran or shipped, and you are welcome to ask about any of them.
I have built software for power transmission and distribution and aerospace engine asset management, led technology at an advice firm with £1bn+ in client assets, and built a live investment platform. Most of my client work is private. These are the organisations I have built for or worked at.
See the workEvery engagement starts with the work, not the tool. Pick the entry point that matches where you are, and the rest can follow when it has earned its place.
Know what AI can do for you before you spend on it. A short, fixed-fee look at how work actually flows, where the time goes and where the risks sit. You get a written report with costed options, and you can act on it with me or without me.
About discoveryAI your staff can use without anyone wondering where the data went. Approved business tools, a written AI policy your compliance officer will sign, assistants set up for your templates and processes, and hands-on staff training.
About safe rolloutAgents, connectors and assistants inside the systems you already run. MCP servers, Claude connectors, voice agents and automations, each with permission checks, spend caps and an audit log. I have shipped six of them.
About integrationClean data, reports that stay current, migrations that reconcile. Every record linked to the right client, duplicates and gaps fixed, reporting inside the system rather than a spreadsheet, and tested migrations when you change platforms.
About data workAll four can roll into monthly support you can stop on a month's notice.
AI-first is a way of working, not a product. Three rules sit under every engagement, whether you are regulated or not.
I map how the work actually flows before choosing any tool, then put AI on the steps that cost the most hours or carry the most risk. Everything else is left alone.
AI drafts, checks and proposes. A named person approves every output that touches a client, a regulator or your money, and the system records who approved what and when.
I design, build and support the systems myself. My independent products demonstrate the agentic tools I recommend, including memory, voice interaction, approval workflows and cost controls.
The controls are designed in, not bolted on. Non-regulated clients get the same discipline, minus the paperwork they do not need.
Approval steps, audit logs and sign-off trails are designed in from day one, so your compliance team can see exactly what the AI did, what it was checked against, and who signed it off.
Client data stays in the systems you run or in approved business tools, under a data-processing agreement. No consumer AI accounts, no copy-and-paste into chatbots, and personal data redacted where a task does not need it.
I work with your compliance team to agree the controls, records and evidence your workflows need.
Standard tools, open protocols such as the Model Context Protocol, and code you own. Every vendor sits behind a seam that can be swapped, and you can stop support on a month’s notice.
Designed, built and now operates a UK structured-products investment platform for retail investors and their advisers. Delivered in under a year and live on the web with its first investors.
Selected workNo account managers and no hand-offs. The person on the first call is the person who designs, builds and supports the work.
I design and build agentic AI systems for industries where mistakes are regulated: MCP servers, Claude connectors, agents with a person in the loop, and the guardrails around them. My 25-year career spans software engineering, technology leadership and computing education, including 11 years’ experience in regulated financial services and seven years as Head of Software Development at Lowes Financial Management. I led a team of five and technology supporting 80+ staff and £1bn+ in client assets.
I have 11 years’ experience in regulated financial services, spanning financial advice, software development and technology leadership. I also spent ten years in teaching and teacher training, including PGCE placements, and now brief directors on AI and train client teams in plain English.
Short, practical pieces written for owners, directors and compliance leads, not for other engineers.
A plain definition, how it differs from a traditional IT consultancy or an AI vendor, and five questions to ask before you hire one.
Read the articleA ten-step checklist for advice firms, wealth managers and fintechs that want the benefit of AI without a data or compliance problem.
Read the articleAI is good at drafting and checking and bad at being accountable. Here is how human approval works in practice, and why it does not slow you down.
Read the articleMinibit Ltd is an AI-first IT consultancy based in Newcastle upon Tyne, founded and run by Steven Minnikin. I help regulated and non-regulated UK businesses integrate AI into the systems they already run. My work ranges from a fixed-fee AI-readiness review to building agents, connectors and data pipelines, always with a named person approving anything that reaches a customer.
It means three things. I start every engagement from what AI can now do for the work, rather than from a list of systems. I build with the same agentic AI tools I recommend, which is why one person can deliver quickly. And I keep a person in charge: AI drafts, checks and proposes, and a human signs off. Read the full explainer.
No. I work with FCA-regulated firms such as financial advice firms, wealth managers and fintechs, where the controls have to be built in from day one, and with non-regulated businesses that want the same discipline without the overhead: owner-run firms, professional services and product teams.
Whatever you already run. In advice firms that is usually Intelliflo Office and Microsoft 365. On the build side I use TypeScript, Python, Next.js, React Native, Supabase and Postgres, Vercel, AWS and Google Cloud, with Claude, LangGraph and the Model Context Protocol for agents. Every vendor sits behind a seam so it can be swapped later.
Client data stays in your systems or in approved business tools under a data-processing agreement. No consumer AI accounts and no copy-and-paste into chatbots. Personal data is redacted where it is not needed, every AI action is logged, spend is capped, and a person approves every output before it reaches a client.
I am based in Newcastle upon Tyne and work remotely with firms across the UK. On-site days are easy across the North East and can be arranged elsewhere.
With a 30-minute call about what is slowing your team down. If it makes sense, a two-to-four-day discovery follows, with a written report and costed options you can act on with or without me. Then a small pilot on live work, measured before anything grows, and monthly support you can stop on a month's notice.
No. Your firm keeps responsibility for advice. I make the technology safe and efficient. I have 11 years’ experience in regulated financial services, spanning financial advice, software development and technology leadership, so I understand how advice firms operate and the responsibilities they carry. Minibit does not advise clients.
No cost and no obligation. You will leave with a clear view of what AI can and cannot do about it, and what it would take.
steve@minibit.co.uk · Newcastle upon Tyne, working across the UK