About
An independent journal on the economics of sovereignty
What Common Fortune is, who writes it, and how it handles the one company its editor also runs.
Common Fortune is a journal about the economics of digital and AI sovereignty: what it actually costs a council, a public body or a regulated SME to keep data and AI under its own control, what it costs not to, and how procurement, budgets and regulation are starting to reflect that. It covers the numbers and the policy, not just the technology.
Who writes it
Common Fortune is edited and written by Micky Irons (Mickarle Wagstaff-Irons), founder of Mickai, a British company building a Sovereign Intelligence Operating System. He started the journal because the economics of sovereignty, procurement cost, vendor lock-in, the price of a data breach, the value of data residency, are usually discussed in vague terms, when they are questions that can and should be answered with real numbers.
The one thing worth disclosing
The editor runs a company that sells into this market. That is a conflict worth stating rather than hiding. The rule here is simple: Mickai is treated as one option among real, serious alternatives, never as the only answer, and wherever it is discussed the relationship is disclosed on the page. Claims made about it are limited to what can be shown, not what would make the best case.
Editorial standards
- No fabricated figures. Numbers are stated as published, sourced, or clearly labelled as estimates, and dated where they matter.
- No benchmark claims without a published basis.
- Public-sector figures cited from official sources, not press releases, wherever possible.
- The wider market named with respect. This journal is about the economics of the category, not a sales pitch against any one vendor.
The team
The people behind Mickai
Founder · CEO · Inventor
Micky Irons
Named inventor on the full portfolio of 104 filed UK patent applications, owned by Mickai LTD. Original co-founder of Collector Crypt. Engineering background in nuclear at Sellafield and fusion at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Chief Compliance Officer · Director
Susan Brown
Leads Mickai's compliance function and contributes board-level oversight across technology, agreements and operational delivery. Her remit includes ISO/IEC 27001 readiness, Cyber Essentials preparation, regulatory alignment and evidence-led software release governance. Founder and Chairwoman of Zortrex, Director of Company Policy, with more than 40 years of bookkeeping and accountancy experience.
Chief Governance Officer
Niall Ogilvie
Governance, delivery and assurance leader with more than 25 years across 11 sectors. A Royal Navy and British Army veteran with experience in defence, the NHS, transport and manufacturing, he leads clear ownership, accountability and measurable progress.
Chief Technology Officer
Matthew Chubb
Hands-on software engineering, data and AI leader who has built language models since 2017 and taken products from proof of concept to production. Leads the engineering discipline behind Mickai's Sovereign Intelligence Operating System, with a focus on customer-led design, maintainable software, rigorous testing and dependable operation beyond a demonstration.
Chief Business Development Officer
Chris Williams
Technology executive in defence, AI, and blockchain, with a record of mission-critical systems and government contracts. Owns the MOD, Cabinet Office, NCSC, AISI, and Five Eyes pipeline and the sovereign-AI procurement strategy.
Head of Growth & Capital Formation
Vivek Shah
Commercial operator and capital-formation specialist with more than a decade of experience building revenue engines, go-to-market functions and investor relationships across venture-backed technology businesses. Has generated more than $1 million in ARR and led fundraising across angel, family-office and institutional investor networks.
Full bios and the complete founder story: mickai.co.uk.
