Sarah is the Head of Northern Delivery Centres at Cognizant, she is also the Chair of their UKI Women Empowered Network, she has previous held a number of COO roles within fast growth technology businesses and worked for some of the most highly regarded consultancies in the world. She is the founder of WILD Digital, which is a 2500 member+ Northern community led initiative, focussed on both creating and highlighting activity that encourages minority groups to consider choosing a career in digital, building and supporting groups, communities and networks which empower those within digital wherever they are in their career. Sarah works with Leeds City Council – she is the Digital Ambassador for the city where she chairs the Leeds Digital Board & Leeds Digital Forum. Sarah is also the Chair - Regional Productivity Forum - Yorkshire, Humber & NE - the forum focuses on how government policy can make to economic growth, the causes of the UK’s persistently weak productivity growth, and how successful the Government’s pandemic response has been in protecting jobs. At the macroeconomic level, the report also looks at to what extent a return of inflation is a risk to the economic recovery and whether monetary and fiscal policy can improve employment, growth and productivity outcomes.
She speaks at a national level about diversity, digital and economics and is often requested to facilitate high profile events within the tech calendar
Heather Dawe is UST’s UK Head of Data Science, Machine Learning and AI. Heather is a Data and AI Leader with 25 years experience working across industry, innovating with data and the ways in which it can be used to improve outcomes, quality and efficiency. A recognised AI Thought Leader, Heather has appeared on the BBC, Sky News and in numerous national news publications. With her UST colleague Dr. Adnan Masood, she is co-author of the 2023 book Responsible AI in the Enterprise, a guide to how to succeed with AI in business safely, fairly and ethically. Heather has worked at a senior level as a Statistician and Data Scientist within government, the wider public sector and industry. With expertise in the health, retail, telecommunications, insurance and finance domains, she loves to problem solve and innovate with real world challenges, and is as comfortable doing this within large Enterprises and academia as she is within start-ups and incubators. With a love for her own learning Heather is also passionate about helping others to develop their skills and expertise. She is an advocate for democratising AI as well as achieving greater diversity in those who develop it.
Frank has always been at the forefront of IT innovation. In his early career he was instrumental in building technological infrastructure in the finance industry. Frank founded TPP in 1997 and pioneered integrated care – delivering his vision of connected care across all health settings. Today, TPP provides leading software that is transforming healthcare worldwide. Frank is active in all aspects of the company’s business operations, working alongside the teams in the development of TPP’s products and representing the company in the public domain. Frank’s innovative vision is nationally recognised by the NHS, leading journals and healthcare organisations. In 2012, he was elected to the board of TechUK as a spokesperson for the healthcare IT sector. The following year, he was listed as one of the UK’s top 50 innovators in the national health publication, HSJ. In 2015, Frank was named on the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List to be awarded with an OBE (Order of the British Empire), for his services to healthcare. Frank has been invited on numerous government trade missions, representing the UK health industry around the world. He has visited countries such as China, India and Brazil as part of trade missions led by British Prime Minister, David Cameron and by Kenneth Clarke, QC, MP.
Greg is an award-winning journalist who has worked for daily and weekly newspapers, regional magazines, the UK's national news agency and a pioneering news website which earned a place in The Guinness Book of Records. He’s won 17 business journalism awards and is ranked at 158 in Richtopia's list of the top 250 business journalists in the world. He has also supplied business stories for the national newspaper, the i, (including an obituary of Sir Ken Morrison) which was part of Johnston Press/JPI Media from 2016 to 2020. Greg’s role as The Yorkshire Post's deputy business editor has given him the opportunity to chair a wide range of political debates and business seminars with celebrities including Sir Clive Woodward. Greg has played a major role in developing The Yorkshire Post's award-winning content, and establishing the Excellence in Business Awards and Fastest 50 awards. He’s also appeared on Sky News and the BBC news channel to discuss business-related topics.
Mike is the Chief Technology Officer of Flutter UK and Ireland, having joined the business in 2022. As part of this, he oversees all technology and platform functions powering the division, helping to drive the performance of its four key brands – Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Betting and Gaming, and tombola. Mike has over three decades of experience leading cutting edge technology teams working across web, mobile, AI, and platforms, having had senior IT roles at Google, HSBC, Skyscanner and Crypto.com.
Ben Wade is Head of Gaming at TransUnion and is responsible for the leadership and growth of the sector for the CRA. TransUnion have been the leading provider of responsible gambling solutions since 2019 and leverage their data, software and cutting-edge analytics to identify and protect financially vulnerable players, and subsequently reduce the risk of gambling harm. They also support Gaming operators in the areas of KYC, AML and provide controls to better protect their businesses against fraud. Ben is passionate about player protection and is consistently looking to find new ways to identify, assess and protect the most vulnerable.
Paul founded Open Innovations in 2013 with the mission to create a place and community to unleash the power of open data and deliver innovation across the region.
He is an entrepreneur who has built Open Innovations into a 21st century Institution and co-founded DataCity which is a Data as a service Company whilst running his own innovation company. His primary role at Open Innovations is twofold - providing the drive, direction and purpose for Open Innovations and leading and developing our Innovation Services.
Originally trained as an environmental scientist at Lancaster University and Imperial College he worked for British Coal, ICI and leading global consultancies and clients for nearly 20 years before transitioning his skills to apply them in the domains of Smart Cities, Open Data, Open Innovation and Innovation.
He is an accredited Cognitive Edge practitioner and applies these techniques in the Open Innovations Innovation practice.
Based in Leeds, Beth leads all things relating to technology at Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG), one of Flutter UK&I’s key brands. Proudly managing a function of 500 colleagues working in areas such as architecture, engineering and operations, Beth drives SBG’s technology strategy and leads the brand’s relationship with external partners. Beth joined Sky Betting and Gaming in 2017 after spending over a decade with the National Health Service (NHS), where she led several key technology and operational programmes. It was during this period when she realised that technology has the ability to empower people to take care of themselves, a principle that she passionately promotes as part of her work at SBG.
Based in Leeds, Emma leads our Safer Gambling Operations teams across Flutter UKI, made up of Sky Betting and Gaming, Paddy Power and Betfair. Proudly managing a function of over 200 colleagues working in areas such as Safer Gambling, Anti-Money Laundering, Fraud and Due Diligence, Emma’s teams are responsible for safeguarding our customers who may be at risk of harm, and also for the design of the control environment which identifies those customers who may be at risk. Emma joined Sky Betting and Gaming in 2017 in the People function, where she was a business partner to several functions across the business including Safer Gambling, helping identify her passion for this area.
Khurram has a background in Law and began a transition to Mechanical Engineering in 2018. He took on the role of Operations Manager of AmbaSat Space Satellites after meeting the company whilst volunteering at a local secondary school during their Martian Greenhouse Project. Khurram has a lifelong passion for the Space Industry, Technology and Innovation, constantly highlighting the importance and impact of STEAM education for the next generation.
Despite securing her first role in tech in April 2022, Shav has become a leading member of all development teams within AND. She founded Code & Chill in Leeds for black women and WoC networking and enhancing their tech skills within the West Yorkshire community. She has a passion for Teaching software development and mentoring, which she has done alongside CBF and Everywoman Tech Partnership. Both with, and without AND, she has facilitated, organised and presented panel talks about diversity and inclusion. This includes neurodiversity (reflecting on how Autism has impacted her own journey) for clients such as the Ministry for Justice, Coding black females and AND Digital. She is most commonly seen outside of work contributing to multiple events encouraging young women into STEM.
Simon is a Fellow of Information Privacy and a subject matter expert in the global data responsibility and privacy delivery practice at Cognizant. His current focus is new AI legislation and its intersection with privacy. This includes the regulatory challenges of creating trustworthy AI: transparency; bias; trust; which are many for companies like Cognizant, who at the forefront of technological progress realise the ability to engineer ethics and privacy at the foundation stage is paramount. Part of the Delivery function, he has global expertise most recently in recently for a US firm across multiple jurisdictions and prior to that In the Middle East implementing new privacy legislation as it is introduced helping teams get to grips with concepts such as privacy by design.
Professor Katherine Royse is the director of the Hartree centre part of the UK Science and Technology facilities council (STFC) National laboratories. The Centres mission is to accelerate the adoption of technologies such as HPC, HPDA, AL and quantum computing by UK businesses and organisations leading to economic and productivity gains. Backed by a £172m of government money in partnership with IBM it runs the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation. Prior to joining the Hartree centre in 2022, Katherine was the Chief Digital Officer at the British Geological Survey. Katherine has extensive experience in digital innovation, product development and data analytics and modelling.
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work. This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy. She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame. A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK Sue is co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
Jo Stansfield is Founder and Director of Inclusioneering, a social enterprise supporting innovative tech and engineering organisations with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) solutions and consultancy. Jo has extensive experience of data-led approaches to gain insight and develop impactful DEI strategies and interventions, from small to global enterprises. Alongside her business, Jo holds a number of voluntary positions. She is a Trustee of the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, co-chair of BCS Women, a member of the Industry Advisory Board for TechUp bootcamps, and Fellow of AI ethics and audit charity, ForHumanity. Jo began her career as an engineer, developing enterprise software for global industry, spanning oil & gas, automotive, aerospace and marine sectors. Having pivoted her focus from the technical to human dimensions of engineering, Jo now works as a Business Psychologist. She holds an MSc in Organisational and Business Psychology, with thesis research topic “Lessons for Gender and Racial Diversity within Technology”. She brings deep understanding of the engineering culture, and lived experience within it, to her work in support of diversity and inclusion in tech and engineering domains.
Suzie Bell has spent the last two and half years establishing and leading the award-winning Growing Talent Digital Leeds programme, an Ahead Partnership innovation that brings together digital and tech businesses in the city to inspire the next generation into digital careers. Suzie is passionate about social mobility and adding social value through her work. She has extensive experience in the third sector, where she specialises in building strong networks between private sector businesses, public sector bodies, and education providers to strengthen partnerships through a common purpose. Suzie is especially passionate about presenting the accessible opportunities within the tech and digital sector to young people in our city who don’t see themselves in these roles, with particular emphasis on encouraging young women and young people currently under-represented in the sectors workforce. She will soon be launching Growing Talent Digital Manchester to spread the impact of the programme’s work beyond our Yorkshire borders! Suzie grew up in Manchester and has lived in Leeds for 20 years after moving here to study at university. She is married to a Geordie and mum to a 7-year-old Yorkshireman. She spends most of her free time cooking, reading, walking her dog and browsing the local library.
Faye has worked in e-commerce, finance and other digital organisations in both delivery and product roles. Faye has a wide range of experience, all of which had very different product and delivery challenges and were at different stages in their agile journey. With experience working on customer facing digital products and apps as well as back end technical deliveries such as replatforming to cloud services and building APIs. Faye is well versed in working closely with agile teams of different maturity and enjoys driving further autonomy and self organisation by improving ways of working and introducing new tools and techniques. Supporting others through mentoring, coaching and voluntary work at CodeYourFuture, as well as through AND digital is what Faye enjoys most.
Philip White is the founder and managing director of Audacia – an 80-person technology consultancy specialising in engineering, data, AI, and cloud. Philip has spent the majority of his career working on enterprise technology projects, working in a number of senior software roles specialising in trading and risk management, prior to founding Audacia. Founded in 2010, Audacia delivers technology solutions that underpin large-scale, complex businesses in a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, construction, finance, healthcare, marine and agriculture.
At The Grad Soc, we’re creating opportunities for students and graduates who need it most. We achieve that by making our internships part-time and remote, therefore increasing accessibility and removing barriers for all. To date over 90% of all our previous interns have been young women and students from diverse backgrounds.
Aesha’s focus is on ensuring each individual’s capability, potential and brilliance is recognised, harnessed and developed. Her role includes designing and delivering innovative, impactful and inclusive organisational strategies and cultures to build, transform and maintain the best teams, expertise and places to work.
Jeff is Chief Product and Technology Officer for xDesign. He is a lifelong technologist with nearly 25 years’ experience in the industry, first having started coding at age 6. Having worked in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Retail industries, on enterprise and national scale programmes. Over the years he has become increasingly interested in Cybersecurity and AI and how both will shape our future, both technologically and the human impact. Jeff has founded multiple CyberSecurity teams and is currently working on several new pieces around the secure development and deployment of Generative AI based solutions. He is a tech blogger, writer, podcaster and public speaker, having recently keynote at the Webinale international web conference in Berlin.
Stuart Clarke MBE is the Festival Director of the Leeds Digital Festival. He is also the founder of Paceline PR consultancy and the creator of the Leeds Tech Map.
Emma is Head of Enterprise Insight at DWP, responsible for DWP’s scalable MI reporting capability that is leading the way in producing high-quality, accessible, catalogued & consistent MI data visualisations; to facilitate self-service and standardised MI reporting for 1000s of users across DWP. Emma is also Head of Practice for Data, helping to grow the Practice Community, and supporting the role it plays in recruitment, learning & development and career opportunities.
Emma joined DWP as Head of Data Science for Universal Credit, leading a highly respected data science function embedded within a transformational digital programme, designing and delivering innovative data products to improve citizen outcomes. Emma’s career started out as a consultant data scientist, designing and delivering innovative data solutions across a range of sectors, including grocery and fashion retail, high street and investment banking, and social and TV media.
Dan leads the techUK Cyber Security programme, having originally joined techUK in August 2017 as a Programme Manager working across the Cyber and Defence programmes. He is responsible for managing techUK's work across the cyber security eco-system, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Dan also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and Government conduit for supporting growth across the sector. A key focus of his work is to strengthen the public-private partnership across cyber security to support further development of UK cyber security policy. Before joining techUK he worked as Forum Lead for the Westminster eForum. In this role he had a focus on the technology and telecoms space, on issues ranging from Broadband and Mobile Infrastructure, the Internet of Things, Cyber Security, Data and diversity in tech. Dan has a BA in History from the University of Liverpool.
Stephen Westland is Professor of Colour Science at the University of Leeds where he has led the AI theme for the Future Fashion Factory - a government funded Creative Cluster project - for the last 5 years. He has worked in AI since the early 90s when he was part of a team that developed a Masters course in Machine Perception and Neurocomputing. Over the last 30 years he has researched various aspects of machine learning and has worked with companies to develop software solutions. He is currently interested in Deep Learning and Extreme Learning Machines.
As the Head of SecOps for the largest greenfield technology transformation project in Europe, Lianne is building a leading edge security team from scratch to meet the needs of a modern retail organisation while empowering her team to think innovatively to create new standards in best practices. Lianne has delivered talks across the globe to share her vision for a new type of security function. Drawing upon her expertise as a cyber-anthropologist (through her consultancy, The Anthrosecurist), her practical experience as a security-focused software developer and as a security practitioner; Lianne combines the human and the technical aspects of security to evangelise a cultural security transformation. She is on the advisory board for two community enterprises aimed at encouraging diversity in tech, is a published author, podcast regular, and recently won Computing.com’s Security Specialist of the Year for her work on human-centric approaches to security. In 2021 she won two other awards for Security Leaders of the Year 2021 and Woman of the Year in the Enterprise category.
