The Birmingham-based AI-led venture studio has named Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie as its new CEO. That name might ring a bell. Oliver founded and ran BCB Group, one of the UK’s top regulated payments and banking infrastructure providers for the crypto world.
He built systems that allowed crypto businesses to scale under crushing regulatory pressure and one of the toughest financial environments imaginable. Now, he’s shifting focus to a different challenge: turning brilliant ideas into real, scalable companies.
According to Oliver, the UK isn’t short on smart founders or bold ideas. What it lacks is repeatable infrastructure that can reliably convert those ideas into companies and then scale those companies into meaningful economic impact. That’s where Greater Things comes in.
The studio blends AI-driven venture creation, structured company building, and regional talent, and Oliver sees it as something far bigger than a simple startup factory.
His goal? To scale this model into national innovation infrastructure, helping the UK stay competitive on the global stage instead of slowly fading from the tech conversation.
Greater Things doesn’t just hand out funding and hope for the best. They work with regional governments, universities, and corporate partners to back early-stage tech businesses. Founders get hands-on support with AI-led product development, commercial strategy, and a clear path to product-market fit. Basically, they remove the guesswork and compress the time it takes to build something that actually works.
With Oliver stepping in as CEO, founder Jof Walters moves into the COO role, continuing to run day-to-day operations while shaping the studio’s long-term approach. Walters is clear: the mission hasn’t changed. Serious tech companies don’t need to come from London or Silicon Valley to matter. Regional hubs can produce companies that deliver real social and economic value.
Bringing in Oliver sends a strong signal. This is about ambition, scale, and execution. He’s already built critical infrastructure in one of the most demanding tech sectors, and his decision to join Greater Things shows just how seriously the studio is taking its next phase.
From a crypto analyst’s perspective, this hire makes perfect sense. The people who survived and scaled during crypto’s toughest regulatory years obsess over systems, resilience, and long-term thinking. Those traits translate far beyond crypto.
If Greater Things can apply that mindset to AI-driven venture creation, this could be more than a CEO hire. This could be a blueprint for how the UK builds its next generation of tech companies.
