Meet the people building, leading and shaping what’s next in technology. Hear directly from the minds behind AI, innovation and industry at some of the world’s most influential companies.
More speakers to be announced soon.
Ade Rawcliffe is the Chief People & Inclusion Officer at ITV, where she leads the Group Human Resources, Workplace Services and Global Risk Operations teams, including Duty of Care, as well as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team. Ade has over 20 years of experience in the television industry. She started her career in production, working on shows such as Big Brother, The Big Breakfast, and This Morning. She then moved into diversity and inclusion, leading the Creative Diversity team at Channel 4 and spearheading the delivery of their 360 Degree Diversity Charter. In 2017, Ade joined ITV as the Head of Diversity Commissioning. She was subsequently promoted to Director of Creative Diversity and then Chief People Officer. Under Ade's leadership, ITV has made significant progress in its diversity and inclusion efforts. The company has launched an £80 million Diversity Commissioning Fund, created almost 200 opportunities through Step Up 60, and launched new inclusive internal talent development initiatives like the leadership programme Amplify and Amplify 2.0.Ade is a Trustee of Chineke! and BAFTA, where she Chairs their Learning, Inclusion, and Talent committee. She is also a founding board member of Times Up UK.
Akama Davies is General Manager at The Trade Desk, where he leads the UK Client Services organisation, partnering with agencies and advertisers to accelerate growth through data-driven advertising. With a career spanning WPP, Verizon Media, and Barclaycard, he has deep expertise across media, AdTech, and digital transformation, working with some of the world’s leading brands and agencies.A recognised voice on the future of media, Akama is passionate about the intersection of technology, strategy, innovation, and client partnerships. He has served as a judge for Eurobest, The Drum, the Performance Marketing Awards, Festival of Media, Campaign Magazine, and Cannes Lions. His work has earned multiple global accolades in recognition of his industry impact and excellence in media.
Anjola Adebowale is a Data & AI Consultant at Microsoft, where she designs and delivers modern data platforms and production-grade generative AI applications, with expertise spanning data engineering and AI workloads. She works with organisations across the sports, media, defence, professional services, and financial services sectors, advising executives on data strategy, AI adoption, and digital transformation. Alongside her consulting work, Anjola is the author of Anjola's Notes, a publication exploring the intersection of data, AI, and the realities of deploying emerging technologies at scale. She has been recognised with the BTA Rising Star Award, and Microsoft Industry Solutions’ EMEA Star and Rise Awards given to teams who have built world class solutions, along with multiple nominations for her contributions to diversity and inclusion.
Carl Hazeley is CEO of Finimize, the research partner for modern investors. He has created Finimize’s research and content capability from the ground up, hiring analysts from leading global institutions and pioneering a more accessible way to interpret markets for modern investors. As CEO, he recently led the company’s management buy-out. Prior to Finimize, Carl spent six years at Goldman Sachs as an equity research analyst, leading the European internet team, working on IPOs including Just Eat, and covering companies such as Zalando and ASOS. Carl’s leadership is defined by his belief that access - whether to education, information or opportunity, fundamentally changes life outcomes. Growing up in a single-parent Hackney he saw this first-hand. This experience fuels his commitment to breaking down barriers to financial knowledge, giving everyday investors the tools and insights that were once reserved for industry ‘insiders’. Today, Carl is a regular voice in financial media, offering calm, expert analysis and opinion-led interpretation on retail investor behaviour, and how individuals can move from participation to long-term financial progression.
Emily Turner is the CEO of HSBC Innovation Banking UK. Emily leads the bank and is responsible for scaling the business across the UK, Denmark and Sweden driving growth with leading innovation companies and investors. Emily is also a member of the UK Board. Over the past decade, Emily established and built-up Citi Ventures UK, led Citi’s Global Institutional Strategic Investing group, and developed multiple early-stage companies as part of Citi's internal incubator. Most recently, Emily held the position of MD and Head of Business Development, Citi’s Client Organisation. Before joining Citi, Emily worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in London. A native New Yorker, Emily is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Columbia University. Emily brings extensive experience of driving growth within the innovation ecosystem, both as an investor and as an operator.
Eyo Ndem is a Senior Manager of Software Development Engineering at Expedia Group, based out of London. With a decade of experience building highly available backend services, his current day-to-day work centers on partner-facing B2B platforms. He is also engaged in team leadership, mentoring, and building scalable engineering practices.
Felicitas is Global Head of Marketing at ActiveViam, a Nordic Capital-backed fintech providing real-time risk analytics to tier-one banks worldwide. She leads the global marketing function behind Atoti, the company’s flagship platform used by capital markets institutions for FRTB compliance, P&L attribution and market risk management. With over a decade of experience across B2B fintech and regtech, Felicitas has built and led marketing functions at some of the industry’s most recognised names, including Finastra, Mambu, Thought Machine and Snowflake. Before joining ActiveViam, she built an entire marketing function from scratch at RegTech scale-up Novatus. Felicitas has spent the past decade championing diversity and inclusion in the workplace, both as a leader building inclusive teams and as an advocate pushing the wider industry to do better. She sees this work as inseparable from good leadership, not separate from it. She specialises in top-of-funnel strategy, brand positioning and building the infrastructure that allows marketing teams to scale, and has been shortlisted for Fintech Marketing Leader of the Year. Originally from Germany and based in London for over a decade, Felicitas brings a global perspective to one of fintech’s most fast-moving segments.
Florian leads Samsara's public policy and government affairs work in Europe, with a particular focus on the UK. A German national, he has spent the last 15 years inhouse at various technology companies, working on issues such as autonomous vehicles, micromobility, robotics, logistics, privacy, and artificial intelligence. His work has led to a number of first-of-its-kind legislative and regulatory frameworks on new and nascent technologies in multiple national European jurisdictions as well as Brussels. He has also been embedded at the highest levels of government and politics through his roles within a major German political party.
Kalbir Sohi is the UK Government Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO) at the Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In this role, he oversees the AI teams within GDS, leading dedicated units focused on identifying, testing and scaling artificial intelligence solutions across government to improve public services, increase productivity and deliver better outcomes for citizens. This work supports the ambitions set out in the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government.Before joining GDS, Kalbir served as Product Director for Core Infrastructure at Spotify, where he led teams responsible for building and scaling the foundational engineering platforms underpinning Spotify's global services. His career spans both the public and private sectors, including senior roles at Facebook, Weaveworks and HM Revenue & Customs, as well as experience as a startup founder and CEO. Combining public service, entrepreneurship and deep technical leadership, Kalbir brings extensive expertise in cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data governance and product strategy, with a strong focus on the responsible adoption of emerging technologies.
Kelvin Nyakundi is a Senior AI Engineer at Bloomberg, working across machine learning, backend engineering, and applied AI. He’s particularly interested in search, ranking, and production AI systems, especially the challenge of turning models that work in theory into systems that are genuinely useful at scale.
Kofi Ankomah is an Enterprise Account Director at OpenAI, where he works with leading European organisations to adopt and scale AI responsibly. He advises senior leaders on practical ways to apply ChatGPT and Codex across go-to-market teams, helping them redesign workflows, improve productivity and turn AI experimentation into measurable business value. Kofi also leads OpenAI’s Black employee community across EMEA and is passionate about widening access to the opportunities created by AI.
Madiou Diallo is an Engineer at Mistral AI, working at the intersection of product engineering and infrastructure for AI platforms building the systems that let developers develop, deploy and manage applications built against Mistral's AI models in production. Shaped by experience across fintechs and banking, having previously worked at Monzo and Wise, he brings a background in building reliable, secure infrastructure at scale to the fast-moving world of AI platforms. Outside of engineering, interests span powerlifting, travel, and photography.
Mattias Scheek is an entrepreneur, industrial designer, and technology innovator. As cofounder and CEO of Mayht, he led the company that built Heartmotion, a breakthrough transducer technology that reinvented how speakers produce sound. In 2022, Sonos acquired Mayht for $100 million in an all-cash deal. Scheek served as Director of Hardware Engineering at Sonos, where he advanced the technology he helped create. He holds a BSc in Industrial Design Engineering from Delft University of Technology. Born and raised in Amsterdam by parents of Surinamese descent, he is a first-generation entrepreneur whose journey from constraint to creation inspires his current activities such as writing, speaking, and mentorship. He resides in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Michael has been investing in startups for nearly a decade, both as a VC and angel investor. Prior to Ada Ventures Michael was a CFO at a fintech startup as it scaled from seed to Series A, working alongside the cofounders across operations, product, and fundraising. A self-taught programmer and Oxford MBA, Michael is energised by technical founders who are obsessed with what technology can bring to the world. He’s also naturally curious: From teaching himself Ruby and Python, to writing four published books, or powering through a 100-day crash course in AI & ML.
Nathan Ashley is a Public Policy Manager at Waymo supporting the company in its preparations to bring its autonomous driving technology to London. Nathan has more than a decade of experience in public affairs, strategic communications, and policy, advising organisations across transport, technology, energy, food, music, and sport. Before joining Waymo, he led the public affairs practice at DRD Partnership, developed Voi Technology's safety, sustainability, and equity policy programme across more than 11 countries, and was an Adviser to the current Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan. Nathan is also a trustee of the Chineke! Orchestra and a former SDG Ambassador.
Nora Bavey is the General Partner and Co-founder of Unconventional Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in the Nordics, investing in founders building scalable impact-driven businesses. With a diversity-first investment thesis and a commitment to systemic change in venture, UV is setting a new standard for how capital can drive equity and innovation in Europe. An entrepreneur turned investor, Nora combines over two decades of experience in innovation, leadership and venture capital with a deeply personal story of resilience, opportunity and belonging. Recognised as one of Europe's most influential women in venture capital, she is a sought-after keynote speaker and moderator, known for challenging conventional thinking through evidence, optimism and authentic storytelling. Her talks inspire audiences to rethink innovation, leadership and the role business can play in building a more resilient future.
Oli Ikechi-D’Amico is a former EY-Parthenon Senior Partner and Accenture Partner with over 20 years’ experience advising C-suite leaders on operating model redesign, post-deal execution, AI transformation, and value creation. She has led 15+ deal programmes worth more than $15bn, delivered 15+ business transformations, achieved operational efficiencies of up to 65%, and helped unlock over $4bn in cost savings. Her experience spans Europe, Asia, and the Americas, combining senior consulting, leadership, technology innovation, and talent development. She has built multiple technology solutions, developed leadership content for Stanford Graduate School of Business, delivered two TEDx talks, and been featured in the Financial Times, The Times, S&P Global, and other major publications. Oli is the Founder of Fully Bossed, a leadership development, advisory, and training company focused on the intersection of organisation transformation and human capability. Through workshops, coaching, speaking, advisory services, and a digital learning platform, Fully Bossed helps leaders and organisations build the skills required to navigate change and deliver results. She has spoken to over 10,000 professionals across 15 countries, facilitated 250+ leadership workshops, coached 200+ senior leaders, and is known for combining strategic rigour with practical, actionable leadership insight.
Pamela Maynard OBE is Corporate Vice President, AI Transformation at Microsoft. She leads a global team within Microsoft Frontier Company focused on helping organizations accelerate AI transformation through people, process excellence, and technology. Drawing on Microsoft's experience as Customer Zero and decades of leadership experience, Pam works with customers worldwide to help them evolve into Frontier Firms – organizations that put AI at the center of strategy, operations, and value creation. Previously, Pam served as Microsoft's first Chief AI Transformation Officer and, before joining Microsoft, as Chief Executive Officer of Avanade, where she led more than 60,000 employees globally. She has extensive experience helping organizations rethink operations, empower employees, and enhance customer experience through technology. Pam serves on the boards of the Royal Horticultural Society and Junior Achievement Worldwide. She has been recognized among the Powerlist Top 10, British Vogue’s 25 Most Influential Women in the UK, and as Black British Business Person of the Year.
With over a decade of experience in the creative industries, Ree has built an unconventional yet dynamic career spanning event management, presenting, radio, tour management, and A&R. She has worked at (and with) both independent and major labels, including Universal, BMG, and Believe, shaping her diverse perspective on the music ecosystem. Now serving as Senior Artist and Label Relations Manager at SoundCloud, Ree focuses on supporting artist development, driving audience growth, and helping foster vibrant music communities.
William Isaac is a Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind, focusing on researching GDM’s in-house technologies and advising teams on the best approach for developing novel mitigations. In his role, William researches the ethical and societal impacts of AI. Alongside his team, he develops mitigation frameworks and methods, which are formalized into papers shared widely to deepen industry understanding. William is motivated to further improve modes of evaluation and red teaming as well as collaborating to align AI behaviour with a broad range of human values. A computational social scientist, William is also a Research Affiliate at the Centre for the Governance of AI. William previously served as an Open Society Foundations Fellow and Research Advisor for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group.
