Founded in 2023, DJB Strategies has grown fast — from a solo practice into a team of partners and specialists, each leading a strand of the work, all senior and hands-on.
David founded DJB Strategies after 15 years in leadership roles across global media. He was Director of Public Affairs and Platform Strategy at the Financial Times, where he led the company's response to artificial intelligence, oversaw its interfaces with big tech, and managed relationships with governments and legislators.
Earlier, as Global Commercial Marketing Director, he led the international team behind much of the FT's commercial performance. Before the FT he held senior marketing and communications roles at Pearson and in the education and consulting sectors.
He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, contributes regularly to Press Gazette on media and technology, and sits on the board of the Independent Publishers Alliance.
A growing team of senior specialists across audiences, audio and video, analysis and data engineering — each leading a strand of the practice.
Leads DJB Strategies' audience practice and its product practice. Most recently SEO Director at The Telegraph, Harry brings more than a decade of audience leadership across agency, affiliate and publishing. He advises clients on defending and growing audience as AI remakes search, and builds tools media leaders can use every day. He writes the Leadership in SEO newsletter and contributes to Search Engine Journal and Lumar.
Brings over 20 years in a fast-changing media industry. At the Financial Times he held senior commercial roles — developing editorial partnerships, branded content, video and native advertising. He went on to transform the FT's audio offering from a hobby into a fast-growing, financially sustainable operation, and built YouTube-led podcast initiatives. He also established the FT's media rights framework, resulting in IP partnerships with Hollywood studios, including two major projects in development with Apple TV.
Leads DJB Strategies' modelling and policy work. A senior AI policy specialist, Sophie previously ran AI and creative-industries policy at the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport. There she designed the government's approach to AI, IP and copyright, and represented the UK in international AI governance negotiations. Earlier roles at HM Treasury spanned fiscal modelling and financial-services regulation. She pairs quantitative rigour with a deep grasp of the regulatory landscape shaping AI and media.
Builds the data infrastructure behind the practice — the pipelines, measurement and tooling that turn raw platform and traffic data into reliable, repeatable insight. Ethan brings a track record spanning data consultancy and product, having worked as a data consultant at Freemavens and a data analytics lead at Zima Dental, and as part of the founding team at HR-tech startup HelloHR. He is also the founder of Vexis and mentors early-stage talent through Jumpstart.
The people you meet are the people who do the work. No hand-offs to a junior team after the pitch.
We integrate robust analysis with practical execution — clarity through complexity, not slideware for its own sake.
Teams are assembled for the problem in front of us, scaling up or staying lean as the work demands.