The people behind the work.

Alex is an engineer, technical consultant and company director whose work spans computational engineering, software architecture, data systems and applied AI. He works at the intersection of technical strategy and hands-on delivery, helping organisations turn complex business requirements into practical, production-ready systems.

His background includes doctoral research in computational biomechanics, which shapes the analytical, research-driven approach he brings to consulting. He works closely with clients to understand their business, operational workflows, constraints and commercial objectives, and to identify where technology can add real leverage. From there, he develops a technical specification, compares possible approaches, recommends an architecture and technology stack, and stays involved through implementation, integration, deployment and refinement.

His technical work includes designing and building data ingestion and processing pipelines, integrating systems via microservices and third-party APIs, and developing event-driven or event-sourced architectures where reliable state, auditability and replay matter, as well as implementing agentic and AI-enabled workflows. He works across cloud infrastructure, databases, APIs, automation and bespoke software platforms, favouring architectures that stay understandable, maintainable and proportionate to the problem.

Alongside this technical and client-facing work, Alex helps run the company itself — overseeing project scoping, client relationships, technical direction and delivery planning.

With a decade of experience spanning industrial technology, machine learning, data engineering, software architecture and consulting, James brings a broad technical background to Irksome’s software and AI services.

His career has included designing and delivering production machine learning systems, modernising data platforms, improving anomaly detection and inspection capabilities, and building the engineering foundations required to move data and AI solutions reliably into production. James has also designed and delivered custom software, data and AI solutions across application and data engineering, systems integration, solution architecture, machine learning and AI-enabled automation.

His experience spans industrial and technology-focused organisations as well as consulting engagements, giving him exposure to both large-scale enterprise systems and smaller businesses requiring pragmatic, end-to-end solutions. This has included work across machine learning, computer vision and inspection systems, data platforms, cloud architecture, event-driven systems, systems integration and MLOps.

At Irksome, James works directly with businesses to understand how they operate, identify where AI and automation can create meaningful value, and then design and implement the software, integrations and AI systems required to put those solutions into production. This includes AI agents and agentic workflows that automate business processes, connect with existing systems and data, and augment the capabilities of existing teams.

His approach is grounded in practical engineering and close collaboration with clients. Rather than treating AI as a standalone capability, James focuses on the surrounding software, data, architecture, integrations and operational controls required to make AI systems useful, reliable and maintainable in real-world business environments.

James is an experienced software engineer whose background includes his work at Air New Zealand. He brings experience working in an established engineering environment, collaborating across teams, and contributing to software that needs to be reliable, maintainable and practical to operate.

At Irksome, he applies that production-minded approach to bespoke software delivery, systems integration, and the steady refinement of client platforms. He is experienced in AI-enabled software delivery and works with established industry practices and standards to build systems that are reliable, secure and maintainable. His focus is on clear implementation, dependable engineering, and software that can continue to evolve as business requirements change.