Human-centered technology
Make your systems work the way your business does.
We help growing businesses improve their CRM, connect the technology their teams rely on and remove friction from everyday work. We stay close to your team so those systems keep delivering value as the business evolves.
The platforms we work with
Nobody joined your business to update fields, chase approvals or rebuild the same report every Monday. When systems carry that load, your people get time back for the work that actually needs them: talking to customers, solving problems and making good decisions.
When systems stop fitting the business, your people carry the extra load.
Workarounds become normal.
When a system makes a task harder than it should be, people find another way. Spreadsheets appear. Information gets entered twice. Important steps start relying on memory. The business still functions, but only because your people are compensating for it.
Your tools become a collection, not a system.
Technology gets added as new needs appear. Some of it connects well and some of it doesn't. Information ends up scattered across different places, forcing people to hunt for what they need or move it manually between systems.
What we help you improve
Sometimes the problem sits inside one system. Sometimes it's the gap between several. We start with how the work actually gets done, then improve the technology around it.
Ongoing monthly service
Fractional CRM Admin
We take ownership of your CRM function. We agree the metrics that matter, get you there and keep you there, every month.
Learn moreHubSpot Consulting
Implementation, portal clean-up, migration, workflows and training. We build HubSpot around the way your team actually works, connect it to the rest of your tools and keep it working.
Learn morePipedrive Consulting
Set-up, pipeline design, automation and integrations for sales teams that want a focused CRM they will actually use. We make Pipedrive a reliable part of the business, not another place people are asked to update.
Learn moreIntegrations & Connected Systems
Connect the systems that hold important customer and operational data. From workflow tools to custom APIs, we reduce duplicated work and keep information moving where it needs to go.
Learn moreProcess & Technology Advisory
Bring us the process that's slow, awkward or breaking down. We work with your team to understand what's happening, evaluate the options and design a practical way forward.
Learn moreAI in your systems
Let AI take the admin. Keep the judgment with your people.
We build AI into the systems your team already uses, with the OpenAI and Anthropic APIs. Not as a novelty, but as a practical way to remove the work that shouldn't need a person.
One meeting. Everything else happens on its own.
- ClientWe'd want this live before the new reps start in March.
- ClientFinance needs invoices raised from the CRM, not the spreadsheet.
- ClientCan the five new reps be trained in their first week?
- AkinuI'll send the proposal over by Friday.
- CRM Deal updated Moved to Proposal. Go-live set for March, next step due Friday.
- Microsoft Teams Finance notified Invoicing requirement and deal details sent to the finance channel.
- AI model Proposal drafted First draft built from approved content and pricing rules.
- Email Follow-up ready Recap drafted in your inbox, ready to review and send.
- Calendar Training booked Week-one sessions scheduled for the five new reps.
Capture the call once.
The conversation is summarized, the CRM is updated and next steps are created, without anyone retyping their notes.
Draft the follow-up.
A first draft of the follow-up is waiting, written from what was actually said, not from memory at the end of the day.
Walk in prepared.
Before a meeting, the account history, open deals and recent issues are summarized in one place.
Start proposals from a strong first draft.
Trusted customer data, approved content and pricing rules do the groundwork. Your people finish the parts that need thought.
We start with the problem, not the platform.
The right answer isn't always a new tool. We understand how your team works today, find where the friction is coming from and only then decide what should change.
- 1
Understand
Start with the people, the work and what's actually happening today.
- 2
Design
Simplify what should happen and decide how technology should support it.
- 3
Implement
Configure, connect, test and put the change into real use.
- 4
Embed
Train the people involved and make the new way of working practical.
- 5
Review & improve
Stay close, see what happens in real use and adjust as the business changes.
Continues as your business changes
What matters after go-live
A system is only valuable if it keeps helping the people who rely on it.
The real test of a system isn't whether it works on day one. It's whether your team still trusts it a year later. The business will change, and the technology around it has to change too. We stay involved so the systems around your people keep pace, instead of slowly becoming something they work around.
- Adoption
- Is the team actually using it?
- Confidence
- Can people trust the information in it?
- Efficiency
- Has it removed work rather than created more?
- Adaptability
- Can it change as the business changes?
The person behind Akinu
Akinu is new. The experience behind it isn't.
Akinu was founded on more than 15 years of experience across sales, CRM and business process improvement, including years spent designing, implementing and supporting systems for growing businesses.
That experience shaped a simple belief: the build is only the beginning. Businesses change, teams adapt and technology moves on. The most valuable partner is the one who stays close enough to help the system keep up.
That's why Akinu is built around long-term relationships and continued improvement, not one-off projects.
Questions people ask
Do we need to know what the solution is before we get in touch?
No. Tell us what's taking too long, creating frustration or simply not working the way it should. We'll start there, and help you work out what should change.
Which systems do you work with?
Most of our CRM work is in HubSpot, and we also work with Pipedrive. Around the CRM, we connect and run the tools your team already relies on, including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, DocuSign and Calendly. We automate with Zapier and Make, bring AI into everyday workflows with OpenAI and Anthropic, and build custom API connections where standard integrations fall short. If a tool has an API, we can connect it.
Can you fix a HubSpot portal that is already set up?
Yes. A lot of our HubSpot work starts with a portal that has grown messy: duplicate properties, broken workflows, pipelines nobody uses and reports nobody trusts. We audit what's there, fix what people rely on, remove what they don't and make sure it stays clean.
Should we use HubSpot or Pipedrive?
It depends on the business. HubSpot brings sales, marketing and service together on one platform and suits teams that want everything in one place. Pipedrive is a focused, sales-first CRM that's quick to adopt for smaller sales teams. We work with both, so we'll tell you honestly which fits, including whether you need to switch at all.
Is it always about the CRM?
No. The CRM is often at the center, but the friction usually sits in the work around it: calendar bookings, invoicing, proposals, handoffs between teams and the spreadsheets that fill the gaps. We look at how work moves through the whole business, not just one system.
Something in your business should be working better.
Tell us where the friction is. We'll help you work out what needs to change.
Book a call