Barney Taylor

Barney Taylor has been chief executive of Air IT Group, the August Equity-backed managed service provider for UK small and mid-sized businesses, since December 2024. He previously ran Focus Group, which Air IT says he led through a period of accelerated growth to its sale to private equity firm Hg, and held senior roles at Dimension Data and Ensono.

A buy-and-build at 14 deals

Under August Equity’s ownership, Air IT has made 14 acquisitions since 2020, including SCS Technology Solutions and SoConnect in 2024. In 2024, according to the accounts of holding company Koru Topco, revenue rose 10% to £68.9m and gross profit rose 7% to £37.4m. Recurring contracts made up 79% of sales. Air IT says it now supports more than 2,000 organizations.

Automation and AI at the center

Air IT relaunched its brand in October 2025, putting automation, AI and security at the center of its service. In June 2026 it won Rewst’s Automation and AI Excellence Award for Neuron, a platform its own teams built for service desk engineers; Air IT says Neuron has cut some tasks from 10 minutes to 10 seconds. In September 2026 it launched AI services for SME customers: advisory workshops, a marketplace of ready-built AI agents, bespoke agent development and managed AI services.

“SMEs are under pressure to act on AI, but speed alone does not lead to better decisions,” Taylor said at the launch. “The next phase of AI adoption will be defined by execution.”

Why it matters to the channel

Air IT is a private equity-backed buy-and-build group serving UK small and mid-sized businesses. Under Taylor it is applying automation built by its own engineers across a group assembled from 14 acquisitions, and offering SMEs AI services from the managed service provider they already use.

Taylor has given Air IT a clear story about automation and AI, backed by Neuron, which won Rewst’s award, and a new line of AI services for its SME customers.