One mission. Two connected initiatives.

GATE was founded in 2026 in Leeds, United Kingdom, by Dean Whitby and David Adesina.

The idea grew out of two things happening at once. Through social impact work in Africa, the founders gained direct access to highly capable technical talent that is routinely overlooked internationally. At the same time, they were seeing UK businesses struggling with a different problem: how to implement AI, how to redesign their processes for an AI-driven world, where to start, and who inside the company should actually own that change.

Experienced AI leaders capable of doing that well are scarce and typically cost £80,000–£120,000 a year — out of reach for most growing businesses. GATE closes that gap by identifying professionals with strong existing skills — in areas like marketing, product, cybersecurity, front-end and back-end development, engineering and operations — and preparing them to bring AI leadership into the role they already specialise in. The business gets the specialist it needs, plus someone who can drive AI adoption, process improvement and change management from inside the organisation.

AI implementation created a role that didn't really exist five years ago: someone whose job is to continuously find, build, and drive adoption of AI-driven improvements inside a business. That role doesn't require decades of tenure at the company — it requires the right preparation and the discipline to own the work.

That's a genuinely new kind of opportunity, one that can be prepared for deliberately rather than accumulated over a twenty-year career, and it's why GATE's timing and model exist now rather than a decade ago.