Tech and Innovation Summit 2025

Maria Maragkou

VP Commercial, Riverlane

Maria Maragkou is an engineer turned scientist turned business leader. She holds a PhD from Southampton University on solid state experimental physics and an MBA from Kedge Business School on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. As VP Commercial at Riverlane, Maria is responsible for setting and delivering the company’s commercial strategy. She is passionate about translating scientific innovations into real products that can change the world and enjoys finding ways to navigate the uncertainty of deep tech ecosystems.

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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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Professor Sir Ian Chapman

CEO, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Professor Sir Ian Chapman is the CEO designate of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), taking up post in August 2025. 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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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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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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Spencer Lamb

Chief Commercial Officer, Kao Data

Spencer Lamb | LinkedIn

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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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Stewart Miller

CEO, The National Robotarium

Stewart Miller is an experienced business leader with a background in the aerospace sector. He took up the position of Chief Executive Officer at the National Robotarium in 2021 having previously been Chief Technology Officer of the UK Government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, in addition to previously working in senior roles at major firms including Leonardo and BAE Systems.

Stewart aims to grow the reputation of the National Robotarium to help create greater inward investment and talent attraction to both Scotland and the UK, fulfil national potential for the development of robotics manufacturing, and deliver a thriving robotics industry that elevates the country’s standing in Robotics and AI on the global stage.

He is a member of the Scottish Government Industry Leadership Group for Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing, an advisory board member of the Smart Manufacturing Data Hub, and a non-executive director of the Satellite Application Catapult.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewart-miller-21124813/

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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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Ant Rowstron

Chief Technology Officer, 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 Simpson (Zoho UK) will explore why digital resilience is more than just backups or recovery plans. It’s about staying adaptable, secure, and valuable no matter what comes next.  He’ll share how organisations can strengthen their systems with cloud-first platforms and real-time visibility, give their people the tools and skills to solve problems faster, and design operations that keep running even under pressure. He’ll also show how AI can help organisations anticipate change, lower barriers for teams, and maintain continuity. The big message: resilience is a muscle, and building it now is what will set future leaders apart.

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Dr Isabel Webb

Deputy Director for Technology Strategy and Security, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

Isabel is Deputy Director for Technology Strategy and Security in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). This includes responsibility for DSIT policy on robotics, advanced materials and engineering biology. She also leads the DSIT Digital and Technologies Sector Team delivering priorities under the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. She has worked in this team for several years, formerly as Head of Engineering Biology. Isabel previously worked in the Business Secretary's Office as a Senior Private Secretary covering science, innovation and nuclear policy. In previous roles Isabel led on digital, tech and culture in the No10 Policy Unit, as well as previous policy roles in DExEU, Defra and BEIS.

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