RAVL has announced the acquisition of New Helio, a boutique consultancy renowned for its expertise in product and experience strategy, customer experience, and service design. This strategic move is designed to bolster RAVL’s "Leap Left" approach to AI-first software delivery. As artificial intelligence continues to accelerate the technical aspects of coding, RAVL is focusing on the upstream bottlenecks of product clarity and decision-making. The integration of New Helio’s capabilities will help organizations, particularly financial institutions, modernize how they define, validate, and move ideas from concept to production.
Strategic Acquisition: RAVL has acquired New Helio to integrate advanced experience strategy and service design into its delivery model.
Leap Left Philosophy: The acquisition supports RAVL’s core belief that AI shifts the primary delivery bottleneck from coding to problem definition and prioritization.
Financial Services Focus: The combined entity will help financial institutions navigate the pressure to improve organizational alignment and customer experiences.
Streamlined Lifecycle: New Helio’s expertise expands RAVL’s ability to solve product challenges earlier in the lifecycle, reducing overall delivery friction.
Leadership Integration: New Helio founder Erin Helcl joins RAVL as Head of Product & Experience to lead the combined product strategy efforts.
Competitive Advantage: The focus shifts from simply reducing engineering costs to maximizing business impact through tighter strategy and engineering connections.
As AI dramatically increases the speed of software development, RAVL identifies that the true challenge for modern enterprises is no longer just "writing code" but ensuring that what is being built is valuable and aligned with customer needs. By acquiring New Helio, RAVL aims to eliminate the "upstream" delays where lack of product clarity and slow decision-making often hinder progress. This ensures that the speed gained from AI-assisted engineering is not lost during the strategic planning phases.
"AI is dramatically accelerating software development, but it’s also exposing bottlenecks upstream," said Rick Davidson, CEO of RAVL. "Faster coding means little if organizations still struggle with product clarity, decision-making, understanding customer opportunities, and alignment. New Helio strengthens exactly those capabilities."
The partnership emphasizes that modern product delivery requires a holistic view that integrates strategy, design, and engineering. With organizations facing mounting pressure to deliver results faster, the combined expertise of RAVL and New Helio provides a framework for stronger product ownership and tighter business alignment. This approach helps clients identify high-value customer opportunities and create trusted experiences that serve as critical competitive advantages in the financial sector.
“What excites me about joining RAVL was the shared belief that modern product delivery requires more than faster engineering,” said Erin Helcl, Founder of New Helio and Head of Product & Experience at RAVL. “Organizations are under pressure to move faster, but the real challenge is maximizing business impact, not simply reducing delivery costs. Strong product thinking, better experience strategy, tighter alignment across teams, and trusted customer experiences are becoming critical competitive advantages.”
About RAVL
RAVL is a technology and advisory firm focused on helping financial services organizations drive business value through tech through strategic advisory, modern engineering, and AI-native delivery acceleration.
About New Helio
New Helio is a boutique consultancy specializing in product and experience strategy, customer experience, and service design. The firm helps organizations align teams, shape better products and services, and deliver more connected and trusted experiences.
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