About the Founder
Richard Dobson
Strategic Leader · Business Growth & Turnaround Specialist · Organisational Development
From Yorkshire to Andorra
Richard Dobson is the founder of Clara Futura World — the architect and innovation force behind an interconnected ecosystem that bridges entrepreneurship, academia, and intelligent technology. Based in the Principality of Andorra, he leads the strategic vision across Clara Nexus AI, Astrala Advisory, Astrala Nexus, and Lykke Minds™.
With over 24 years of experience in strategy, organisational development, and business transformation, Richard brings a rare combination of hands-on commercial leadership and rigorous academic thinking. His career spans the construction, mining, and civil engineering sectors — industries where complexity, volatility, and high stakes demand both resilience and vision.
Track record
£40k → £25m
Scaled Brownlee Cale from a £40k startup to £25m in annual sales, delivering 13 consecutive years of profitability.
£4.2bn
Designed and implemented the competency management framework for the Woodsmith Mine project (2020–2025).
Award winner
Yorkshire Excellence in Business Award (2014). Outstanding Contribution Award at Randstad CPE.
Career journey
May 2025 – Present
Clara Futura World — Founder
Product and strategy lead, responsible for shaping the Clara Nexus intelligence layer across Astrala Nexus and related platforms. Combining research on AI ethics and participatory intuition with hands-on product design and go-to-market work — turning complex organisational and recruitment challenges into deployable, AI-supported workflows for construction and professional services clients.
2012 – May 2025
Brownlee Cale Ltd — CEO
Full P&L, commercial, and operational responsibility. Scaled the business from startup to £25m in sales across construction, mining, and engineering. Led R&D for new products and services, navigated the company through COVID-19 by diversifying into new industries, and established strategic partnerships with clients, suppliers, and financial institutions globally.
2000 – 2012
Randstad CPE — Associate Director
Managed 40 consultants across three regional offices. Led the Birmingham office from loss-making to profitability and set company records including £1.2m in personal billings. Directed turnaround strategies during the 2008 recession, improving EBITDA and recurring revenue while leading the Leeds unit to outperform London in ROI and ROE.
Beyond business
Richard studied History & Management at Trinity & All Saints, and completed an Access Course in International Culture, History & Politics at Airedale & Wharfedale College.
Peer-reviewed research & publications
Deeply Human and Deeply AI
Peer-reviewed and selected for publication in the Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability (JSIS), April 2026. Double-blind peer review with a 14–20% acceptance rate. A rigorously validated framework for designing intelligent organisational systems that align human values with advanced AI capabilities.
Peer Reviewed — JSIS 2026
From Intelligent Cells to Deeply Human AI: Cognition-Based Evolution and a Biologically Grounded Framework for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence
An ongoing collaborative project with Dr William Miller Jnr exploring how layered, non-binary intelligence models rooted in cellular cognition can inform the design of AI systems that process people with genuine understanding.
Ongoing — with Dr William Miller Jnr
Consciousness & Intelligence Research
Collaborative research with Prof Dr Dirk Meijer exploring the nature of consciousness and its implications for intelligent system design.
Read on ResearchGate → · With Prof Dr Dirk Meijer
Participatory Intuition
Co-authoring an episode with Dr Sheila Wood, published in Brainz Magazine. An exploration of participatory intuition and its role in leadership, decision-making, and human-centred organisational design.
Read in Brainz Magazine → · Co-authored with Dr Sheila Wood
Scientia Intuitiva
A collaboration with Dr Stephen I. Ternyik (PhD.MA.MS.MMin) exploring Spinoza’s Scientia Intuitiva, the horizon of deep AI, and the metaphysical motif of an eternal upper spirit.
Read on ResearchGate → · With Dr Stephen I. Ternyik
Away from the desk, Richard has summited Mont Blanc (2015), finished 48th out of 7,700 in Total Warrior (2017), and completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks in under seven hours. He is passionate about AI, philosophy, history, and the outdoors.
Curriculum Vitae
For full career details, qualifications, and achievements.
Connect
The world is one family
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Clara Futura is building a deeply human, deeply AI future. If this resonates — review the research, cite the work, or propose a collaboration.