Jonathan Waddingham

Turn AI ambition into shipped products and stronger teams.

I work with mission-driven founders and leadership teams to shape the product strategy, align the team, and get useful AI work into real hands.

  • £100m+ raised on products I led
  • 4,000+ organisations served at scale
  • 20 years building digital products that matter
Jonathan Waddingham
Track Record
£100m+
raised through JustGiving Crowdfunding
4,000+
organisations served through Lightful
20+
years building digital products that people actually use
>100%
net revenue retention on BRIDGE
Selected Work

A track record in scale, AI, and growth.

01 — Scale

Building JustGiving Crowdfunding

JustGiving had the brand and the platform, but no crowdfunding product. I led the strategy, team, and delivery from zero and built it into the UK's category leader for personal fundraising.

Part of a platform that has raised £100m+
02 — AI

Leading the move to AI at Lightful

Before AI became impossible to ignore, Lightful had no organised capability to move on it. I recognised the potential early and built and led the first cross-functional AI Squad, turning that urgency into shipped product work.

Deployed across 4,000+ organisations globally
03 — Growth

BRIDGE - From Promising to dominant

BRIDGE had real potential but it was not yet driving the business. I refocused the product around retention and expansion, built the measurement discipline to back it up, and made it the company's primary revenue engine.

>100% net revenue retention on BRIDGE
How I Help

Strategy, delivery, and the work in between.

Whether you need executive product leadership, hands-on AI delivery, or both, I help teams make sharper bets and turn them into working product.

01

AI Strategy

Clarify where AI creates real advantage, where it does not, and what is worth building first.

02

Responsible GenAI

Ship AI features with the right product thinking around trust, adoption, measurement, and governance.

03

Growth & Retention

Build the loops, experiments, and product habits that turn early traction into durable growth.

04

Team Alignment

Give leadership, product, design, and engineering a shared plan clear enough to execute.

Ways to Work Together

Two ways to bring me in.

I work either as a senior product leader inside the team or as a focused partner for AI, product strategy, and delivery.

Full-time

Senior Product
Leadership

  • CPO, VP Product, or Head of Product
  • Leading product, design, data, and engineering
  • Owning strategy, execution, and outcomes - not just the roadmap
  • Strongest in AI-enabled products and mission-driven organisations
Fractional · Consulting

High-Impact
Engagements

  • Part-time leadership where a full hire isn't the right move yet
  • AI prototyping, product strategy, and team capability building
  • Useful at inflection points: 0→1, scaling fast, or closing a capability gap
  • Designed for teams that need traction quickly