Tech and Innovation Summit 2025

Lord Willetts

Executive Chair at the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Lord Willetts was appointed as Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office in March 2025.

Working with officials and ministers, the Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) provides leadership and direction to the RIO. The RIO has been established as a new office within Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to help reduce the burden for businesses bringing new products to the market in some of the UK’s fastest-growing sectors.

To date, the Regulatory Innovation Office has announced four priority areas:

• engineering biology
• space
• artificial intelligence and digital in healthcare
• connected and autonomous technology

Lord Willetts brings a wealth of leadership experience from across the public and private sectors which will help the RIO help to deliver its priorities.

As the Member of Parliament for Havant, he served as Minister for Universities and Science from 2010 to 2014. He has made extensive contributions to the UK science and technology sector, including sitting on the board of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and chairing the British Science Association, the UK Space Agency Board, and the Foundation for Science and Technology.

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Sachin Agrawal

Managing Director, Zoho UK

Sachin is responsible for the UK business of Zoho. Prior to his current role, Sachin managed a few of Zoho’s product lines globally and led account management across all products and regions. Before Zoho, Sachin was an entrepreneur for five years and built an HR Tech SaaS business. Earlier he spent 16 years in the consulting, restructuring and enterprise technology space with companies such as IBM, A&M, Tech Mahindra & Tata Group, working in India, APAC, Middle East & Americas. 

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Ed Bithell

Head of Strategy and Sovereign Partnerships, Fractile

Ed Bithell is Head of Strategy and Sovereign Partnerships at Fractile, a UK scaleup building chips and systems to unlock huge scale and performance improvements in frontier AI inference. Before joining Fractile, Ed worked as a civil servant and diplomat, and as an analyst specialising in trade, industrial policy and emerging technologies.

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Professor Sir Ian Chapman

CEO, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Professor Sir Ian Chapman is the CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI brings together the UK’s Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England, operating with a combined budget of more than £9bn per year.
Previously Ian was Chief Executive Officer of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), a position he held since October 2016. 
He has held a number of international roles in fusion, including currently chairing the International Atomic Energy Agency International Fusion Research Committee.
His research has been recognised with a number of international awards, including:

•  the Institute of Physics Paterson Medal in 2013
• the American Physical Society Stix Award in 2017
• the Royal Society Kavli Medal in 2019
• the Institute of Physics Glazebrook Medal for leadership in 2021

He was made a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2013, became a visiting Professor at Durham University in 2015 and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2022.
In 2023, he was knighted in the King’s New Year’s Honours, made an Honorary Fellow of the Nuclear Institute and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

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Gemma Church

Quantum Content and Community Lead, Riverlane

Gemma Church leads global technology marketing at Riverlane, where she collaborates with the company's specialised Quantum Error Correction (QEC) teams and partners to communicate their innovative work. She is the author of Riverlane’s annual QEC Report, the world’s most authoritative publication on this foundational technology that is key to scaling quantum computing. With over 20 years of experience in deep-tech marketing and content creation, she is a Cambridge University alumna, former technology and business journalist, and published science fiction author. Gemma combines technical expertise with storytelling to inspire and inform.

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Sue Daley OBE

Director, Technology and Innovation, techUK

Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work at techUK.

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.

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Rory Daniels

Head of Emerging Technology and Innovation, techUK

Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.

During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.

Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.

Today, Rory leads techUK's Emerging Technology and Innovation activity, working with many of the UK's most innovative tech companies to convene key stakeholders, work through key challenges and opportunities for industry, showcase best practice, and shape Government's thinking around future technologies, sectors and industries.

Focus areas include Robotics, Immersive, Web3, Metaverse, Photonics, Space, Gaming, Creative, Innovation policy, university spin-outs, and Futures & Horizon Scanning.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/

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Chris Elphick

Head of Venture Capital, British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA)

Chris is the Head of Venture Capital at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA). He leads on all policy areas related to venture capital and works closely with BVCA members to promote the role industry plays in the UK economy by supporting entrepreneurs and businesses. Chris was a member of the Independent Advisory Board for the Digital Growth Grant run by Barclays Eagle Labs and is an adviser to the APPG for entrepreneurship. He has represented the BVCA on a wide range of influential consultations and reports, including the Patient Capital and Khalifa reviews.

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Laura Foster

Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK

Laura is techUK’s Head of Programme for Technology and Innovation.

She supports the application and expansion of emerging technologies across business, including Geospatial Data, Quantum Computing, AR/VR/XR and Edge technologies.

Before joining techUK, Laura worked internationally in London, Singapore and across the United States as a conference researcher and producer covering enterprise adoption of emerging technologies. This included being part of the strategic team at London Tech Week.

Laura has a degree in History (BA Hons) from Durham University, focussing on regional social history. Outside of work she loves reading, travelling and supporting rugby team St. Helens, where she is from.

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Professor Abdul H. Sadka

Director of the Sir Peter Rigby Digital Futures Institute (SPR-DFI), Aston University

Professor Abdul H. Sadka is the Director of the Sir Peter Rigby Digital Futures Institute (SPR-DFI) at Aston University, where he leads interdisciplinary research into how digital technologies are shaping future societies. His expertise spans artificial intelligence, multimodal data technologies, and immersive media, with a well proven track record of advancing innovation that directly benefits healthcare, industry, and public life.

Throughout his career, Professor Sadka has combined academic leadership with extensive engagement in collaborative research and innovation, securing significant funding from national and international sources. He has published widely, supervised numerous doctoral researchers, and built strong partnerships across academia and industry on the global scale. At SPR-DFI, he champions the Institute’s mission of inclusivity and public engagement, ensuring that digital transformation is ethical, accessible, and designed to enhance quality of life for all.

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Mia Haffety

Policy Manager - Digital Economy, techUK

Mia joined techUK in September 2023.

Mia works to ensure that the UK policy and regulatory environment promote investment into the tech sector, recognising the role of digital and emerging technology towards future growth and productivity. 

Prior to joining techUK, Mia worked as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) within the Policy Unit.

Mia holds an MSc in International Development from the University of Manchester and a BA(Hons) in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.

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Spencer Lamb

Chief Commercial Officer, Kao Data

Spencer Lamb is Kao Data’s Chief Commercial Officer and has over 17 years of experience in the data centre sector. Prior to this, he worked in telecommunications, where it became evident that data centres were needed, but not being provided to the quality of customers’ expectations, hence he embarked on a specialised focus in this area.

Spencer has worked within the start-up and scale-up stages of data centre organisations, providing colocation/hosting services. In 2006 he joined Infinity SDC Ltd, heading up their business development and sales functions, providing multiple megawatt (MW) designs, builds and operations for large scale financial institutions, global system integrators and telecoms operators.

Spencer successfully pioneered the UK’s first colocation public sector framework, deploying multiple high performance computing (HPC) installations for high intensity research applications.  Following this, in 2017 he joined Icelandic data centre venture, Verne Global, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and high-density colocation requirements, driving growth across their Keflavik data centre.

In 2020, Spencer joined Kao Data to lead the company’s go-to-market strategy, and develop its Harlow campus into one of the UK’s leading homes for scientific research and life sciences compute. More recently he has played a pivotal role in growing Kao Data into a multisite portfolio, establishing new vertical focuses around hyperscale cloud and financial services, and championing the sustainability and ESG focus of the business.

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Dr Andrew Lamb

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Delta.g

Dr Andrew Lamb is the CTO and Co-Founder of Delta.g, and inventor of its technology. A physicist by training, Andrew has been key to the development of quantum gravity gradiometers, from world first demonstrations at TRL5 to delivering the first industry developed device under contract with the UK Department for Transport. 

In 2025, Andrew and his colleagues were awarded the Institute of Physics Clifford Paterson Medal & Prize for their pioneering work in realising the world’s first commercialised quantum gravity sensor. A Royal Academy of Engineering UKIC alumnus, he combines deep expertise in precision metrology, cold atoms, and quantum technologies with a focus on translating research prototypes into field-ready products
 

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Dr Lucy Mason

Member, Regulatory Horizons Council & Director of Innovation, Capgemini Invent,

Dr Lucy Mason is a Director at Capgemini Invent leading on emerging technologies and innovation, especially in the defence, national security, and space sectors. Lucy is a member of the DSIT Regulatory Horizons Council and is leading work to advise the Government on regulating space technologies.

Lucy is the founder and former Head of the Government’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) which finds and funds innovation to create novel defence and security capabilities. Her interests include the threats and opportunities posed by AI and machine learning, the internet of things, quantum technologies, futures thinking, and the implications of technologies for people and society. Lucy passionate about bringing industry, academia, and Government together in multidisciplinary teams to better solve major social challenges.

She has been a Visiting Fellow and member of the Security Board at Cranfield University since 2017. She has been a Board member since 2016 and Chair (2021 – 2023) of the Governance Board for the Security of Digital Technology at the Periphery (SDTaP) programme (formerly PETRAS) and is Chair of the Advisory Board for SPRITE+. She is on the Advisory Board for the Common Mission Project and CREST Research. Lucy was a former civil servant between 2009 – 2019.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlucymason/
: @@DrLucyMason

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Jonathan Mitchener

Futurist & Innovation Lead for Horizon Scanning & Emerging Technology, Innovate UK

Jonathan joined Innovate UK (then Technology Strategy Board) in August 2011 as Lead Technologist for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), where he drove investment programmes and innovation amongst UK companies.  A first-class honours graduate in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire in 1988, he undertook a wide range of roles in more than twenty years with BT including R&D, systems deployment, and technology and management consultancy, before becoming their futurologist.  Subsequently he ran his own independent futures consultancy business helping clients across all sectors understand the impacts of future disruptive change on their organisations.   He has travelled extensively to speak to, inspire and provoke a range of audiences on technology topics, and has also written for many journals and magazines and appeared on radio and television.   He uses his wide experience to help advise organisations on successful innovation, and currently leads on emerging technologies and horizon scanning, as Futurist at Innovate UK.

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Dr Jakob Mokander

Director or Science and Technology Policy, Tony Blair Institute

Jakob is an expert on technology policy, with an emphasis on artificial-intelligence governance and international innovation ecosystems. His work focuses on harnessing the power of emerging technologies while managing the associated risks.
Prior to TBI, Jakob developed the world’s first holistic framework to audit large language models, which has since been piloted and used by major AI labs. He also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey, helping Fortune 500 companies manage digital transformation, and at the Swedish Trade and Invest Council, where he was based in New Delhi to facilitate international research collaboration, innovation partnerships and technology transfer.
Jakob holds a PhD from the Oxford Internet Institute. He has been a visiting scholar at the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy
 

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Tom Newby

Deputy Director, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Tom Newby is Deputy Director for Quantum and Tech Finance in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He heads up the UK Office for Quantum as well as a team for responsible for driving investment across frontier technologies. Tom has worked on technology policy and strategy in various roles in the centre of government and Ofcom, the communications regulator. Before his current role he was Head of Spending Strategy in HM Treasury where he delivered the 2021 Spending Review.

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Kir Nuthi

Head of AI and Data, techUK

Kir Nuthi is the Head of AI and Data at techUK. 

She holds over seven years of Government Affairs and Tech Policy experience in the US and UK. Kir previously headed up the regulatory portfolio at a UK advocacy group for tech startups and held various public affairs in US tech policy. All involved policy research and campaigns on competition, artificial intelligence, access to data, and pro-innovation regulation.

Kir has an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London and a BA in both Political Science (International Relations) and Economics from the University of California San Diego.

Outside of techUK, you are likely to find her attempting studies at art galleries, attempting an elusive headstand at yoga, mending and binding books, or chasing her dog Maya around South London's many parks.

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Adam Painter

Senior Commercial Advisor, NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic)

Adam Painter is a Senior Commercial Advisor at NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic), where he is responsible for leading Capital and investment initiatives across the organisation with a particular focus on building NATO's Capital community and engagement. He also engages with both early- and late-stage deep tech startups in the DIANA portfolio, supporting them on investment readiness, growth strategies, and dual-use adoption pathways. Mr. Painter also plays a key role in the development of DIANA’s investor community, helping to bridge innovative technologies with capital and operational deployment within defence and national security ecosystems.

Prior to joining DIANA, Mr. Painter held leadership roles at the intersection of engineering, innovation, and venture. He began his career in Formula 1 at McLaren Racing, where he led an internal innovation incubator focused on bringing new technologies into the organisation. His work included strategic partnerships with organisations such as Deloitte Ventures, Dell Federal, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He went on to build a venture studio and advisory supporting deep tech startups and VC firms.

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Richard Price

Co-Founder and CTO, Pragmatic Semiconductor

Richard has more than 25 years’ experience in the development and commercialisation of new technologies based on novel processes and materials.
He is a Non-Executive Director at the Henry Royce Institute – the UK’s National Institute for advanced materials research – and is inventor/co-inventor on over 30 patent families. Richard holds a PhD in Chemistry from Durham University.
 

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Dr Kirill Pyshkin

Partner , Quantum Exponential

Dr Kirill Pyshkin is a managing partner of Quantum Exponential, a specialist early-stage quantum technologies investor. Previously, lead fund manager of multi-billion equity funds and technology analyst. Dr Pyshkin has PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge. 

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Jenny Read

Programme Director, Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA)

Jenny is a visual neuroscientist, previously trained in theoretical astrophysics. Her work focuses on how we can build smarter bodies for robots through new models of sensing, transmission of sensory information, and actuation through hardware advances. Jenny joined ARIA from her role as Professor of Vision Science at Newcastle University.

: https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/smarter-robot-bodies

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Ant Rowstron

Chief Technology Officer, Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA)

Ant is a computer scientist, engineer, and systems researcher with more than two decades’ experience at Microsoft, where he built and led interdisciplinary teams to pioneer disruptive technologies, advance robotics, and drive breakthroughs in AI hardware innovation.

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Robert Simpson

Director of Business Development, Zoho UK

Robert is a senior business development and sales leader with over two decades of experience driving growth across global technology and consulting firms. Proven track record in leading high-performing teams, securing strategic enterprise accounts, and delivering scalable solutions across financial services, compliance, SaaS, and data management sectors. Demonstrated success in roles at Zoho, Solidatus, Corporater, Verint, BT, and Accenture, with deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, account management, and deal execution. Adept at navigating complex stakeholder environments. Known for strong leadership, commercial acumen, and a consultative approach.Holds an MBA from London Business School and an undergraduate degree from the University of St Andrews

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Daniel Smalley

Industry Automation Leader, Siemens

With over twenty years of experience in Discrete and Process Automation Daniel currently manages a Software portfolio at Siemens Digital Industries and is program manager for Siemens Xcelerator strategy in GB&I.

Daniel has held several roles covering technical, project, product and business management within Siemens in the UK and Australia covering a diverse range of Industries from Water, Automotive, Aerospace, Mining, Paper, Chemical, F&B, OEM, O&G, Pharma, etc.

Currently Daniel is responsible for the go to market strategy and business management for Siemens Industrial AI and Industrial Co-pilots in GB&I. 

Most of Daniel’s time these days is taken up focusing on Digital Transformation within ecosystems and trying to understand the technical, skills and cultural barriers to adoption of the next generation of industrial technologies. 

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Professor Julia Sutcliffe

Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Business and Trade

Professor Julia Sutcliffe was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business and Trade in February 2023.

Julia provides science and engineering advice and independent challenge to the department’s ministers and senior officials, champions an evidence-based approach to decision-making, and builds internal scientific capability. She works with the network of departmental Chief Scientific Advisers and the Government Office for Science to resolve cross-cutting issues and maximise cross-government insights. She is also Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession at the Department for Business and Trade.

She previously served as Chief Technologist at BAE Systems.

Julia holds an Honorary Professorship at the University of Manchester in computer science, is a Chartered Engineer, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

She has represented UK science and technology through a range of advisory council roles. They include as the UK’s industry representative on NATO Science and Technology Board and Programme Advisory Committee member for the UK Atomic Energy Authority. She is an advocate for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and diversity and inclusion within STEM professions.

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Rahul Tyagi

Founder & CEO, SECQAI

Rahul leads groundbreaking British semiconductor and AI company SECQAI, which is pushing the boundaries of secure computation from the data centre to the edge. SECQAI's advanced AI inference capabilities ensure even the most complex models can be deployed efficiently, wherever they may be needed, paving the way for true agentic AI. Underpinned by the next generation of security features required for confidential computing, including memory safety and post-quantum cryptography, SECQAI's products are the secure backbone that businesses and critical national infrastructure need for the future.

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Antony Walker

Deputy CEO, techUK

Antony Walker is deputy CEO of techUK,  which he played a lead role in launching in November 2013.

Antony is a member of the senior leadership team and has overall responsibility for techUK’s policy work. Prior to his appointment in July 2012 Antony was chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the UK’s independent advisory group on broadband policy. Antony was closely involved in the development of broadband policy development in the UK since the BSG was established in 2001 and authored several major reports to government. He also led the development of the UK’s world leading Open Internet Code of Practice that addresses the issue of net neutrality in the UK. Prior to setting up the BSG, Antony spent six years working in Brussels for the American Chamber of Commerce following and writing about telecoms issues and as a consultant working on EU social affairs and environmental issues. Antony is a graduate of Aberdeen University and KU Leuven and is also a Policy Fellow Alumni of the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge University.

: @techUKdepceo

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Catherine Yong

Chief of Staff, Genomics

No bio provided

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