Aaron Davies

Who they are

Aaron Davies is Founder of August Jaeger — he also founded Exulansis in 2018, a classical music project that includes a free GPT tool for exploring repertoire, and previously ran Jurupa, a retained global search firm he started in 2013.

Person

Aaron launched August Jaeger in September 2024 as a small founder-stage consultancy in Knutsford, UK — a reinvention strategy practice working with senior professionals and founders navigating complex career and life transitions using deep diagnostic work (the German concept of 'Stellschrauben' — subtle inner shifts that unlock clarity). Before that he ran Jurupa, a retained global search firm he founded in 2013, where he also served as Managing Director and podcast host. His track before Jurupa spans Head of Communications & Fundraising at The Arch Sinfonia Symphony Orchestra, Senior EMEA Recruiter at Proem IT Recruitment, Managing Consultant at OCC, Contributing Writer at BachTrack, and a Managing Director role at KHD Thai — a catering business he co-established with his wife focused on Thai and Isaan cuisine. He also held an advisor role at FenxLabs, an applied AI lab in Amsterdam. The through-line is a restless generalist who keeps cycling between talent, culture, and creative work — always with a strong personal stake in the thing. He writes a Substack and runs two podcasts and a YouTube channel on executive reinvention, AI's impact on work, and the future of careers; he also spoke at Cannes Lions and at the World of Work Conference 2026 at Henley Business School on the concept of the '100-year career.' Alongside August Jaeger he has three named projects: Exulansis (a classical music podcast and GPT listening guide, founded 2018); The Navigation Room (a free, informal space for conversations about career clarity); and the book 'American Prodigy.'

Network

No named relationship edges are available for Aaron. He is publicly linked to FenxLabs in Amsterdam in an advisory capacity, which places him at the edge of the European applied AI scene. His prior roles at Jurupa (global search) and speaking slots at Cannes Lions and Henley Business School suggest exposure to senior executive and creative-industry networks across the UK and Europe.

How they likely show up

  • Founded both Jurupa (2013) and August Jaeger (2024) alongside a string of side projects → high agency, comfortable building from scratch rather than inheriting structures.
  • Active Substack, two podcasts, a YouTube channel, and LinkedIn posts on AI disruption and career reinvention → writes to think publicly, and likely responds well to being engaged on the substance of those arguments rather than surface-level flattery.
  • A-Levels spanning Business Studies, Film Studies, Music, and German → broad aesthetic and linguistic sensibility; probably draws on cross-domain analogies and may expect the same in a conversation partner.
  • Advisory role at FenxLabs (applied AI, Amsterdam) while running a boutique UK consultancy → tracks AI seriously and positions it as relevant to his practice, not as background noise.
  • Co-established KHD Thai with his wife and founded Exulansis as a passion project → personal interests tend to become structured enterprises; he likely blurs the line between hobby and professional output.
  • Possibly — the mixed tenure shape across multiple short and longer stints suggests he moves on once a chapter is complete rather than staying for institutional comfort.

Conversation tips

  • → Reference a specific Substack post or LinkedIn argument — he publishes on AI disrupting work and executive reinvention, and will know immediately whether you've read him or are faking it.
  • → Ask about the Exulansis GPT tool specifically — building a listening guide on top of a language model for a deeply personal creative project is an unusual move and signals how he actually thinks about AI.
  • → Engage with the '100-year career' framing he presented at Henley — it's a current intellectual preoccupation and he'll have a position worth probing.
  • → Don't pitch strategy generically; he works at the level of 'Stellschrauben' — subtle inner and structural shifts — so demonstrate that you think precisely rather than broadly.
  • → Mention The Navigation Room if you know a senior professional it might suit — offering a relevant referral signals you understood what it's actually for.

Toolbox

Openers

  • Open on Exulansis — he built a GPT tool for classical music repertoire exploration as a side project alongside a retained search firm and a consultancy. It's an unusual combination that tells you a lot about how he thinks about AI: as something to be shaped around human taste, not the other way around.
  • Reference his '100-year career' talk at the World of Work Conference 2026 at Henley Business School — it's his most recent named public appearance and it frames the intellectual bet behind August Jaeger.
  • Ask about The Navigation Room — he announced it as newly open, it's free, and it sits alongside a paid consultancy. That structural choice — a public free space next to a retained practice — is worth understanding.

Discovery questions

  1. You've moved from retained executive search at Jurupa to a reinvention strategy practice at August Jaeger — what does search get wrong about the transition moments you now work on?
  2. The Exulansis GPT tool is a very specific application of AI — what made you build a listening guide rather than, say, a recommendation engine? What's the design principle there?
  3. You're advising FenxLabs in Amsterdam while running a boutique practice in Knutsford — how do you use the AI research exposure to inform what you tell senior executives who are trying to figure out what AI actually means for their careers?

Avoid

Don't open with generic future-of-work platitudes — he publishes substantively on AI's impact on careers and organizational reinvention, and will disengage quickly if the conversation stays at headline level.

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Sources

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on August 10, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →