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- GenAI in practice - How firms use AI, featuring Dave Sellick
GenAI in practice - How firms use AI, featuring Dave Sellick
Dave Sellick’s building a client-facing data and insights app. Six months in, with no engineering background, he’s got his first clients trialling the MVP. Here’s how he’s done it.
Alastair Barlow
June 27, 2026
“I’ve never thought the way we do accounting could scale with integrity.” That’s what drove Dave Sellick to set up Sidgrove, a portfolio Head of Finance firm for fast-growing tech startups.
Today, Dave spends around half his time in Sidgrove on client work. The other half is spent developing his MVP (minimum viable product) app using Gen-AI - and the progress he’s made in the last 6 months “would have taken years” without AI.
There’s genuine commercial potential in what Dave’s building, but it’s more than just an economic venture. “I want to make sure I’m always staying ahead of the curve with any technology evolution,” Dave explains.
Like many firm owners I speak to, Dave views technology as central to the future of our industry. Importantly, though, he’s also advocating for better deployment of AI in firms.
He’s anti “making it slightly less broken for cheaper and quicker” and pro using new technologies to create new value for clients: “I love innovating; I want to feel like I'm doing something that is absolutely cutting-edge in terms of what my clients are getting and what I'm delivering in terms of value.”
So let’s take a look at how he’s doing that.