Protecting Communities Through Intelligence: Clare Elford, Clue Software

Clare Elford has built something rare: a technology company that earns the trust of organisations working at the sharpest end of human harm. As CEO of Clue, she has developed and scaled a globally trusted intelligence and investigation management platform, now used by more than 100 organisations across 21 countries, including law enforcement agencies, government bodies, regulators, charities and sports organisations. These are teams where the quality of information management can determine outcomes for real people, and Clare has made it her mission to ensure they have the tools they need to work with speed, consistency and confidence.

Clue's reach spans some of the most consequential work in the public and voluntary sectors. Charities including Oxfam and Save the Children use the platform to safeguard vulnerable communities. Public bodies including the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police rely on it to tackle fraud, disrupt human trafficking and maintain institutional integrity. In education and sport, Clue supports the protection of children and the defence of fair play. The breadth of deployment reflects the breadth of Clare's ambition: that technology designed to protect society should be available wherever that protection is needed.

A defining feature of her leadership has been the principled introduction of AI. As Clue develops new capabilities, Clare has insisted that artificial intelligence supports professional judgement rather than replacing it, with clear oversight, explainability and accountability built in from the start. In environments where decisions affect people's safety and rights, she has refused to allow innovation to outpace governance.

Clare has also built something that goes beyond the product. By connecting police forces, charities, regulators and corporate bodies that would rarely otherwise interact, she has created a community of practitioners who share knowledge and best practice across sectors and borders, raising collective standards in the fight against harm. The result is not just better software, it is a more coherent, better-connected ecosystem of protection.

Her leadership inside Clue reflects the same values. A people-first culture grounded in psychological safety, flexibility and inclusion is not incidental to the mission, it is Clare's conviction that technology designed to protect society must be built by teams who feel protected themselves.

Clare Elford has spent her career using technology to make it harder to cause harm and easier to respond to it. Her nomination for the Society Award recognises a leader of rare integrity, whose work delivers lasting benefit for individuals, institutions and the communities they serve.

To read more about the techUK President's Awards, visit our page here. Winners will be announced at the techUK Annual Dinner on 30 June.

Read more about our President's Award finalists: 

People Award

• Bringing Technology and Purpose Together: Fiona Dawson, Mayden
• Building a Future Where Disability Is No Barrier to Movement: Dr Malik Haddad, Northeastern University London
• Protecting People Online, at Scale: Robin Tombs, Yoti

Society Award

• Protecting Communities Through Intelligence: Clare Elford, Clue Software
• Putting Human Safety at the Centre of Technology: Dr Laura Bishop, British Standards Institution
• Connected Data, Public Value: Vishal Marria, Quantexa

Economy Award

• From Strategy to Production: Steve Chan, Stealth Labs
• Making Technology Work for Small Business: Laura Burley, Xero
• The Genetics Revolution, Made Real: Professor Sir Peter Donnelly, Genomics

Planet Award

• Sustainability by Design: Ray Knight, Atos
• Turning Buildings into Efficiency Engines: Javier Benitez, Colt Technology Services
• Technology in Service of Nature: Isobel Ashbey, Cambridge Consultants