Phil has that rare ability to flip between strategy and execution seamlessly. He helped us find clarity quickly and land some early wins that made a real impact.
Case Study
Uncovering £8M+ in Data-Driven Growth
Telecoms Fintech / Next Gen Clearing
The Opportunity
Nextgen Clearing is one of the world's leading roaming and financial clearing vendors, working with global telcos including Orange Group, MTN Group, and others across more than 100 countries. While the business had deep domain expertise in telecoms and a suite of mature products across financial clearing, data clearing, and network analytics, the leadership team knew they were sitting on a goldmine of data—but weren't sure how to unlock its commercial potential.
That's where I came in. My remit: uncover new revenue streams hidden in the data, and create a commercially viable path to market.
The Approach
I started by engaging the entire organisation. I ran senior leadership workshops to map internal hypotheses and assumptions, extended discovery interviews to key staff, and deployed a company-wide survey to capture front-line ideas. I also spoke directly to telco customers to understand their pain points and explore how our data might help solve them.
In parallel, I ran a data audit to assess both the quality and depth of Nextgen's data assets. The results were compelling: trillions of high-quality, near real-time data points across roaming, IoT, SIM management, and financial clearing. The dataset had commercial potential well beyond its current use.
The Insights
Customer interviews revealed a host of unmet needs—from fraud detection and traffic analysis to cross-border performance insights. I mapped these against our data to identify actionable opportunities, scored them by feasibility and revenue potential, and validated initial concepts with a handful of engaged customers.
At the same time, I conducted desk research, industry analysis, and expert interviews (including Gartner) to identify broader market trends. This highlighted significant non-telco opportunities—particularly in transport, logistics, tourism, and smart infrastructure—where anonymised movement data could create value.
The Output
- Identified £8M+ in potential ARR across new data products
- Developed a groundbreaking data monetisation concept to serve sectors beyond telecoms
- Built a robust business case backed by internal buy-in and customer validation
- Designed a structured go-to-market approach, including outbound strategy and 2,000+ qualified leads
- Created a framework for prioritising and evaluating data products going forward
The Outcome
The project catalysed a new strategic direction for Nextgen, putting data monetisation at the heart of its growth strategy. With clear opportunities mapped, validated, and financially modelled, the leadership team was able to move forward with confidence.
It turned a fuzzy ambition ("we think there's value in our data") into a concrete roadmap with millions in potential new revenue—all while preserving data privacy, complying with global security standards, and creating value for both Nextgen and its telco customers.