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The night side of the Earth from above the Gulf: a red line runs in from the north-west and lands on Dubai, a bright knot of city lights on the coast.
Steve Chan · My story

Small Heath
to Dubai.

A single-parent home, a PC in the corner, and business as the way out.

Read my storyWhere I am now
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1990 · Small Heath

I started here.

1990 → 2026

Thirty-six years. One line.

DXB · 2026

And then, Dubai.

Skip scene

How I got here.

Red-brick Victorian terraces on a Birmingham street

Small Heath

No one around me was in business.

1990 · Small Heath, Birmingham
A beige desktop computer from the early days of the PC
1993 · Windows 3.1!
  1. 1990

    Born

    Small Heath: an inner-city Birmingham neighbourhood in England’s most deprived 10%. We lived on benefits, on a low income.¹

    ¹ Small Heath ward: English Indices of Deprivation 2019, most deprived 10%. Birmingham City Council

  2. 1993

    The PC in the corner

    While the other kids played, I made for the computer in the corner: Windows 3.1, hours in Paintbrush.

  3. Teens

    The bookworm

    I lived on Encarta, and learned business from Dragons’ Den and the news.

    Playbook · Rule 01Nobody taught me. I learned anyway. 
Old Joe, the clock tower at the University of Birmingham

UNI

First in my family to go to university.

2009 · University of Birmingham
  • Computer Science for the engineer I wanted to be.
  • Business Management for the entrepreneur I hoped to become.

Route

Graduate engineer to my own part of the business.

2012–2020 · Detica · BAE Systems
  1. 2012

    The ordinary route

    Detica · BAE Systems

    I joined Detica, part of BAE Systems, through the standard graduate route, as a software engineer on an internal project. The route was ordinary. What I did with it wasn’t.

  2. 2014

    My first team

    BAE Systems

    Always looking for the next challenge set me apart. I landed my first solo project and started leading a team, building mission-critical systems for government, and became lead architect and project lead fast.

  3. 2016

    The big break

    BAE Systems

    I was trusted to lead a very large programme.

  4. 2018

    A startup inside a giant

    Milkfloat

    I built Milkfloat, a semi-independent innovation house inside BAE Systems, and ran it as CEO.

  5. 2020

    COVID, and a pivot overnight

    Remote-first

    The pandemic capped the team at around six and forced us remote-first overnight. We kept delivering, entirely over video calls.

Playbook · Rule 06Design the operating model first. 
Glass milk bottles in a crate
5+5Days to solve a customer’s problem, then build something real.
Milkfloat, the venture

Scale

I learned how very large organisations change.

2020–2025 · Microsoft

I joined Microsoft in 2020.

For five years I led innovation across the UK public sector, including rolling out Copilot in some of the biggest government departments.

Playbook · Rule 09Launching is easy. Adoption is the job. 

THE LEAP

2025 · Going it alone · Stealth Labs, UK

“Will this work? Can we keep up?”

Playbook · Rule 07 

I felt I’d learned enough and needed to go it alone, so I co-founded Stealth Labs, an AI studio building software for UK government and enterprise.

The fear was money, and being back in a job within six months. Instead, the question became how to deliver the work we’d won.

A wind tower in the Al Fahidi historical neighbourhood, Dubai

DXB

I came for the ambition, and I’m staying to build.

2026 · Dubai · Arrived

Dubai is a city that asks “why not now?” instead of “why?”

Playbook · Rule 03Take the long way round. 
Steve Chan, in colour

Now. Dubai, 2026.

BHX → DXB · 5,603 km

There was no playbook. I’m writing mine.

Building Forgeai and Earworm · Channel Chan and the Playbook on the way

Building a tech company? Let’s talk

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A technology decision, a story worth sharing, or a tech venture taking shape? Let’s meet over a free coffee in Dubai, or on video. A chance to get to know each other, with no obligation. Confidential by default.

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