Strategic Technology Advisory
Most technology challenges facing organizations today aren't about tools. They're about judgment — knowing which questions to ask, what you're not being told, and what the decisions in front of you will actually cost you two years from now.
That's what 15th Floor Advisory exists to do.
Some clients engage on a retainer basis. They have a standing relationship with someone they can call when something lands on their desk that doesn't fit neatly into a board presentation or an IT department's mandate. A strategic acquisition surfaces a technology question no one internally is well-positioned to answer. AI is suddenly everywhere in the organization and the CEO can't tell whether the enthusiasm is warranted or whether someone is about to spend a significant amount of money on the wrong thing. The CTO is smart and well-intentioned but the CFO isn't sure they're getting the full picture.
That kind of advisory relationship — confidential, ongoing, outside the org chart — is something a lot of senior leaders quietly need and rarely have access to.
Other engagements are more defined. A specific decision to make, a strategy to pressure-test, a technology investment to evaluate. Those work as time-boxed projects with a clear beginning and end.
Both models are available. The conversation usually makes it clear which one fits.
Clients typically reach out when:
Founders
Founders who are building something real and need someone in their corner who has sat on the other side of the table — the operator side, the buyer side — and can tell them what they're not yet seeing.
Senior Executives
Senior executives at established organizations who are navigating technology change without a trusted, independent voice to think out loud with. Not a consultant with a deliverable to protect. Not a vendor with a product to sell. Someone who has no stake in the answer.
My background is in fitness and health technology — a decade as Group CIO of Canada's largest fitness company, followed by VP Technology at a mid-sized telecom acquired by TELUS. The domain knowledge is real and the network is active. But the capability travels. The problems I'm most useful on are the ones that sit at the intersection of technology decisions and organizational reality.
Steve Groves is the founder of 15th Floor Advisory, a boutique advisory practice based in London, Ontario.
He co-founded and built ISMG, a digital services company that grew to 15 people before being acquired by a publicly traded technology firm — which means he has sat on the founder side of the table, not just the operator side. He spent a decade as Group CIO at GoodLife Fitness, leading technology across 400+ locations, 12,000 employees, and 1.4 million members, and navigating multiple acquisitions along the way. More recently, VP Technology at Start.ca through its acquisition by TELUS.
If something above resonates and you want to have a conversation, email is the right starting point.