Return of David Richards with Yorkshire AI Labs will be one to watch in 2024: Chris Burn

As the Head of Business and Features at The Yorkshire Post, I’m in a very privileged position where I get to meet with and chat to some of the region’s top business leaders and get insights into their worlds.

Some of you may have read my recent interview with Sheffield-based tech entrepreneur David Richards this weekend.

It is fair to say 2023 was pretty much the dictionary definition of a “difficult year” for Mr Richards as he left WANdisco, the company he co-founded and led, in the fallout to a major fraud scandal at the firm.

The matter remains under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority but an initial independent probe found issues to have been caused by an unnamed single senior sales employee with more than $100m of “false” sales bookings uncovered.

The fallout saw WANdisco’s share price plummet by 96 per cent – costing Mr Richards personally more than £20m in paper wealth.

The new board of WANdisco subsequently made a public call for him and his former CFO Erik Miller to return their 2022 bonuses, while also calling into question a shirt sponsorship deal with Richards’ beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

As he met me at the Sheffield offices of his new venture Yorkshire AI Labs, Mr Richards said the terms of his departure meant he was unable to go into the specifics of the shirt sponsorship and bonus payment issues, as well as his perspective of what had unfolded in terms of the alleged fraudulent activity.

But the carefully-thought through and worded answers he did provide made clear he feels himself to be a victim of what has happened.

Others may well have a different perspective – and the nature of being a CEO is that when such issues occur on your watch, you inevitably end up carrying the can.

While the full facts are still in the process of being established, Mr Richards could have done what many in his position understandably would and maintained a low profile.

But he has made a swift return as managing partner of Yorkshire AI Labs, an intriguing new venture capital fund seeking to invest in promising regional businesses so they can make the most of the possibilities of artificial intelligence.

The first deal has already been announced and involves the creation of a new firm called IntelliAM, led by Tom Clayton, founder of leading UK maintenance engineering and asset management specialist 53North. 53North already works with many of the world’s largest food and beverage companies and the hope is the new deal will help those business giants boost productivity levels by identifying where improvements could be made with the help of AI.

The deal – and by extension the public return of Mr Richards – has heavyweight backing in the form of Professor Keith Ridgway CBE. The founder of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield has joined the board of IntelliAM.

It will be fascinating to see what IntelliAM can achieve – and where Yorkshire AI Labs next invests.