The Innovation Fellowship is London’s leading cross-industry innovation community and provides peer-to-peer connections that could take decades to build.
Through the Fellowship, London & Partners facilitates a collaborative, transparent environment to share best practice and lessons learnt in open innovation practice.
Fellows
Find out more about some of the Fellows in our network:
-
Katherine Platts
Director of Technology Innovation and Sustainability, Unilever
Katherine Platts
Director of Technology Innovation and Sustainability, UnileverHaving studied psychology at university and then starting a career in technology, Katherine has always been fascinated by human-computer interaction and the effects of the rapidly evolving technology landscape on organisations and wider society. With a focus on responsibility and ethics, she is driven to create the right ways to explore evolving technology and stay one step ahead of the game when it comes to impact and opportunities for doing good.
-
Adam Weir
Senior Director of Innovation and Materials, New Balance
Adam Weir
Senior Director of Innovation and Materials, New BalanceAdam is a creative leader with more than 20 years in the fashion and consumer goods business. He has a global outlook, having worked in many countries around the world. Adam leads a team of project managers, engineers and designers focused on creating innovative products for New Balance Apparel.
-
Sheena Amin
Director of ITV AdVentures, ITV
Sheena Amin
Director of ITV AdVentures, ITVSheena runs ITV’s media for equity investment fund where she helps consumer startups and scaleups become famous through the brand-building power of TV. Investments include What3Words, Spoke, Carwow, Resi, Feel and THIS.
-
Nichola Bates
Managing Director of Aerospace Xelerated, Boeing
Nichola Bates
Managing Director of Aerospace Xelerated, BoeingNichola joined Boeing in 2017, where in her role as Managing Partner for Aerospace Xelerated, she invests in and supports startups using AI and autonomous technologies to the benefit of the aerospace sector and related industries. Prior to Boeing, Nichola worked with early stage and scaling startups, where she championed the role of the SME to government, particularly in the security and resilience sector. Nichola has extensive experience of international business development and fundraising for growth, from strategy through to execution, and a wide network across governments and industry. Since working with one of the world’s largest corporations, Nichola has become even more passionate about the benefits of collaboration between startups and corporates.
-
Sol Enenmoh
Director, Group Digitalisation, HSBC
Sol Enenmoh
Director, Group Digitalisation, HSBCSol Enenmoh helps organisations become better by encouraging new ways of thinking. He joined HSBC in 2022 to promote innovative methods and encourage group-level digitalisation at scale globally. Previous roles include EY, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Vanquis Bank, Hastings Direct, Vhi and BP (retail and payments).
-
Julia Duckworth
Innovation R&D, Europe, Diageo
Julia Duckworth
Innovation R&D, Europe, DiageoJulia leads Diageo’s Europe Innovation R&D team by blending science and technology with creative brilliance to develop brilliant liquids, packs and designs across the entire Diageo brand portfolio. She holds an Awarded Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Fellow of Institute of Food Science and Technology (FIFST) distinctions for exemplary commitment and professionalism to practicing and advancing science.
-
Jon-Paul Brett
Director of Digital Delivery, Burberry Group plc
Jon-Paul Brett
Director of Digital Delivery, Burberry Group plcJon-Paul Brett has a strong background in IT and project management, with experience working for companies such as Burberry, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Jon-Paul has held various roles such as Digital Director, Director of IT Delivery & Operations, and Programme Manager, where he managed transformation programmes, led teams, and implemented strategic initiatives. Jon-Paul holds a Master of Science in Programme Management from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
-
Mariama Boumanjal
Senior Startup Partner Manager, Google
Mariama Boumanjal
Senior Startup Partner Manager, GoogleThe Lead for Google for Startups UK, Mariama manages the programmes and portfolios of more than 200 startups from the UK and across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since 2020, Mariama has also managed the Black Founders Fund, having provided $35m to more than 400 Black Founders across Europe, Africa, North America and Brazil, with founders securing more than $400m in follow-up funding.
-
Gurdeep Kohli
Lead, Europe & America, Standard Chartered Ventures
Gurdeep Kohli
Lead, Europe & America, Standard Chartered VenturesGurdeep has more than 20 years of experience in financial services, covering venture building, digital innovation, fintech engagement and corporate strategy. Over the last six years, he has evolved from corporate strategy to a global leader in digital technology venture building and corporate transformation. As a founding member of SC Ventures, the innovation, investment and digital tech venture unit of Standard Chartered, he has contributed to shaping the mandate of the business and incubated some of the most innovative technology ventures across multiple themes.
-
Linda Burchhart
External Innovation Director, Haleon
Linda Burchhart
External Innovation Director, HaleonLinda Burchhart is an Austrian nomad, having lived in the US, East/South East Asia and Europe. She's now settled in London with her partner and two cats. Linda is an experienced innovation and alliance enthusiast with proven business growth in industry-leading organisations (health tech and consumer), driven by human-centric design and research principles to foster innovation in the healthcare sector. She currently leads External Innovation for Haleon's Therapeutic Oral Healthcare, responsible for the sourcing and scientific assessment of novel assets and partnerships to help execute growth opportunities for potential new products globally.
-
Shruti Ajitsaria
Head of Fuse, Allen & Overy
Shruti Ajitsaria
Head of Fuse, Allen & OveryShruti is the Head of Fuse, Allen & Overy’s (A&O) tech innovation space which opened in September 2017. Fuse’s philosophy is to identify legaltech, regtech and dealtech companies relevant to A&O lawyers and their clients and to find ways to start working together. Prior to launching Fuse, Shruti was a Counsel in the Derivatives and Structured Finance group based in London, specialising in credit derivatives (involving drafting almost all of the standard documentation in this area over the last decade). Shruti is now the first person at A&O to have directly been promoted to partner into its Advanced Delivery & Solutions (AD&S) Group.
-
Gerard Kelly
Vice President of Innovation and Venture Acceleration, National Grid
Gerard Kelly
Vice President of Innovation and Venture Acceleration, National GridGerard leads the UK Innovation team at National Grid Partners. He’s passionate about sustainability and is motivated to be part of the drive to net zero by developing the innovative technologies and impactful business models to help his company get there. Gerard has more than 10 years’ experience in the energy sector leading multi-disciplinary teams in startup and corporate environments. Gerard is a Chartered Engineer, holding an MBA from INSEAD and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick, Ireland.
-
Aaron Smith
Head of Innovation Ecosystems, Fidelity Investments - FCAT
Aaron Smith
Head of Innovation Ecosystems, Fidelity Investments - FCATA passionate disruptor, an obsessive innovator, an inquisitive researcher and a recovering technologist. With 20+ years experience across the technology and financial services industries, Aaron has an inherent desire to uncover "unknown unknowns" and to help those looking to change the future for the better.
-
Neta Meir
Group Innovation SVP, Sodexo
Neta Meir
Group Innovation SVP, SodexoNeta Meir is a passionate innovator and transformer. Her experience in marketing, digital transformation and innovation led her to her current role as Sodexo Group Innovation SVP. In her role, Neta and her team are responsible for the acceleration of Sodexo’s innovation journey, by creating an internal and open innovation ecosystem that supports the growth and transformation of the business. Neta is a multicultural person, born in Israel, living in London and working in Paris, and speaks Hebrew, English and a bit of French. -
Chetan Kotur
Head of Technology and Innovation, Europe, Laing O’Rourke
Chetan Kotur
Head of Technology and Innovation, Europe, Laing O’RourkePrior to joining Laing O’Rourke in 2022, Chetan was instrumental in starting up and launching globally Polestar, the high-performance electric car brand headquartered in Sweden. Most recently, he was Head of Products for Asia Pacific, based in Shanghai. At Laing O’Rourke, Chetan leads the team developing transformative innovations focused on improving productivity, safety and sustainability for complex buildings and infrastructure projects. Chetan has a first-class degree in Automotive Engineering from Loughborough University and was named Young Engineer of the Year in 2018 by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
-
Claire Dracott
Director of Tech Innovation, News UK
Claire Dracott
Director of Tech Innovation, News UKClaire has 12 years of experience heading up design teams. She is currently working for NewsUK which encompasses many different well-known brands: Times Media, The Sun, TalkSPORT, Virgin Radio and TalkTV. Her current role is Director of Tech Innovation, enabling future thinking of trends and technologies, leading a mixed-discipline team to look at what these new technologies might mean for the business, understanding the best tech to use and validating the idea quickly with the end user.
-
Nick Passey
Head of Commercial Digital & IT, International & Japan, AstraZeneca
Nick Passey
Head of Commercial Digital & IT, International & Japan, AstraZenecaNick is responsible for digital and IT across AstraZeneca’s emerging markets (International) and Japan (Commercial) – covering Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia, Eurasia and Latin America. Nick is a member of the International Region leadership team and Global IT leadership team at AstraZeneca. Nick focuses on enabling new patient experiences and outcomes through exploiting innovative digital solutions, which includes addressing challenges in the end-to-end patient journey.
-
Mayowa Odusote
Senior Design Lead – Radical Change, DLA Piper
Mayowa Odusote
Senior Design Lead – Radical Change, DLA PiperMayowa is the Senior Design Lead and part of the Radical Change team at DLA Piper, helping to shift mindsets by delivering impactful client engagements and interactions using design thinking. Passionate about empowering people to create change, prior to joining DLA Piper, Mayowa worked at EY as Deputy Innovation Lead for the People Advisory Practice. She has more than eight years’ experience in management consultancy.
-
Vikram Seth
Head Of Blockchain and Web3, Shell
Vikram Seth
Head Of Blockchain and Web3, ShellVikram is a passionate innovator with more than a decade of experience in the energy sector, working with industry-leading organizsations such as Shell. With expertise in sustainable development, systems thinking, and digital innovation, Vikram is focused on Web3 technology and its transformative potential to shape the future of the energy sector.
-
Esra Demir
Group Digital Partnership Director, HSBC
Esra Demir
Group Digital Partnership Director, HSBC -
Jonathan Munday
Executive Director, Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation, Coutts
Jonathan Munday
Executive Director, Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation, CouttsJon is an Executive Director at Coutts and serves primarily as a Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation Lead for Coutts and the NatWest Group Wealth Businesses. He has been with the NatWest Group for eight years, the majority of which has been spent with Coutts. Jon holds a BA degree from the University of York, a master's from Hult International Business School and a Postgraduate Certificate from the University of Cambridge. He is a keen runner and has taken part in events all over the world including the Marathon des Sables.
-
Nicholas McQuire
Director, Enterprise AI and Innovation, Microsoft
Nicholas McQuire
Director, Enterprise AI and Innovation, MicrosoftNicholas is a globally recognised thought leader and former 20+ year technology analyst with a passion for artificial intelligence and enterprise innovation. He was named among the top technology analysts in the world in 2019 and 2020 by the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations. Moreover, Nicholas is a board member with entrepreneurial and corporate experience and a proven track record advising C-level executives and enterprise IT strategists. He is also a member of the CIO100 and Next CIO judging panels which recognise the most transformational CIOs and next generation of IT leaders in the UK each year.
-
Alex Quie
Principal Investor, Salesforce Ventures
Alex Quie
Principal Investor, Salesforce VenturesAlexandra joined the Salesforce Ventures London office in 2021 and works across all stages and sectors to find the best cloud software companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). She has worked on investments including Algolia, Contentful, Gong, Monday.com and Zencity, among others.
Prior to Salesforce Ventures, Alexandra lived in Los Angeles where she worked as a software investor at K1 Investment Management and in business development at Canyon Partners, a distressed debt hedge fund. She started her career in fixed income in London, working at Bluebay Asset Management. She holds a BA with Honors in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese) from the University of Cambridge. She is an active member of the Global Women in VC group. -
Catherine Abell
Director of London Innovation Hub, Accenture
Catherine Abell
Director of London Innovation Hub, AccentureCatherine is an experienced financial services strategy and innovation professional. Her expertise includes running innovation programmes and engagements including accelerators and incubators, developing new products and propositions, establishing fintech partnerships and driving corporate innovation.
-
Oliver Latham
VP Strategy and Growth – Workforce Skills, Pearson
Oliver Latham
VP Strategy and Growth – Workforce Skills, PearsonAn experienced consulting, sales, commercial and strategy professional, Oliver is building the Workforce Skills Division as VP Strategy and Growth at Pearson. Prior to this, Oliver led a team of 40 sales and commercial professionals across the UK and Ireland in the Higher Education market. Oliver has worked in major global organisations, and was a strategy and management consultant at EY for 11 years. He has led companies and governments in different countries and built his own startup business.
-
Nina Manning
Chief Transformation Officer, Killik & Co
Nina Manning
Chief Transformation Officer, Killik & CoNina is an experienced leader in innovation through technology and product in the wealth management industry. Her primary experience has been in building investment apps and the technology that supports them, allowing for wider adoption of change and innovation. Nina builds innovative digital solutions for clients and advisers, improving efficiency and experience.
-
Andy Doyle
Director of Operations, Innovation and Strategy, Grosvenor
Andy Doyle
Director of Operations, Innovation and Strategy, GrosvenorAndy Doyle is a senior professional with more than 20 years of industry and professional services experience in major public and private sector organisations. He has extensive track records of leading teams on complex business transformations, real estate projects and programmes, investment, and operational management. Working as the Innovation Director for Grosvenor's UK property business (£5bn property portfolio), Andy leads the Innovation programme and Alternative Investment Portfolio.
-
Oriana Medlicott
Responsible AI Manger, Admiral Group
Oriana Medlicott
Responsible AI Manger, Admiral GroupOriana leads AI Ethics in the Technology Strategy Unit at Fujitsu. In her role, she focuses on AI Ethics strategy and, alongside startups, leading POC's across Fujitsu's technology areas. She is co-host of the Let’s Chat Ethics podcast, Strategic Partnerships Lead for Diverse AI and on the advisory board of The AI Ethics Journal at UCLA. Prior to Fujitsu, Oriana worked as an AI Ethics consultant with startups, think tanks and academia across North America and Europe. Oriana also guest lectures the Introduction to AI Ethics in Industry module at Nottingham Trent University.
-
Edward Manning
Commerical Innovation Director, Dentsu
Edward Manning
Commerical Innovation Director, DentsuEdward Manning is a media professional with more than 12 years of experience, currently charged with developing new, diverse and innovative revenue streams to protect the future of Dentsu International. He has a keen interest in generating value between the margins, as well as using adjacency to become relevant in new sectors. He's passionate that Dentsu has much to learn from other industries, and that operational transformation will be required.
-
Sandy Tung
Principal Policy Officer, Innovation and Technology, Greater London Authority
Sandy Tung
Principal Policy Officer, Innovation and Technology, Greater London AuthoritySandy Tung is Head of the Technology and Innovation team at the Greater London Authority. She runs Challenge LDN, the Mayor’s open innovation programme that invites a diverse cohort of innovators to co-design solutions that tackle the capital’s most pressing problems. -
Iryna Chekanava
Innovation Growth and Partnerships, Lloyd's
Iryna Chekanava
Innovation Growth and Partnerships, Lloyd'sIryna has more than 10 years of experience working in the technology sector with a focus on insurtech. Before working at Lloyd's, she ran her consulting agency that specialised in building and scaling innovation communities and startups. Iryna holds a bachelor's degree in Media and Communications (with distinction), and a naster's of Social Sciences in Political Science and Public Policy.
-
Tobias Caterer
Open Innovation Manager, Marks & Spencer
Tobias Caterer
Open Innovation Manager, Marks & SpencerWith three years' experience at M&S, Tobias has spent the last year working in the Innovation team as an Open Innovation Manager. The focus of the team is to solve 50 problems/opportunities for the business to generate £10m bottom line benefit.
-
Connie Emerson
Chief Strategy Officer, Princes Ltd
Connie Emerson
Chief Strategy Officer, Princes LtdConnie is a consumer-centric strategy, transformation and innovation director with a passion for retail, hospitality, food, drinks and fast-moving consumer goods. She relishes the challenge of working within a business to make data-driven strategic choices, identifying value-creation opportunities, writing the strategic narrative and galvanising teams to execute with excellence. Having worked in industry and as a consultant in the UK and internationally on strategy, innovation, brand and commercial challenges, Connie is well-placed to define clear strategies, transformation initiatives and plans for in-market results, through collaborative leadership, content and capability development.
-
Jess Bonner
Director, Capita
Jess Bonner
Director, CapitaJess Bonner is a Director at Capita Scaling Partner (CSP), the strategic investment team for the Capita Group, and helps to bridge the gap between large enterprise/public sector and tech SMEs. With a commercial background, Jess started her career in finance and qualified as a corporate solicitor before moving into the world of tech. At CSP she is responsible for strategic partnership origination, investment exits and CSP operations, as well as working with colleagues across Capita on a company-wide partnership strategy.
-
William Pryke
Head of Open Innovation & Tech Scouting, Openreach
William Pryke
Head of Open Innovation & Tech Scouting, OpenreachWill works in technology scouting and innovation for Openreach to accelerate its Open Innovation programme. An experienced executive and Open Innovation specialist, William has more than 20 years of experience exploiting disruptive technologies and delivering new solutions. Most recently, he was responsible for the establishment of the University of Suffolk – DigiTech Centre, supporting academic collaboration with entrepreneurs, business and government. Formally, William was Head of the BT Infinity Lab, a group wide accelerator programme supporting consumers and business, which delivered a number of startup collaborations.
-
Cheryl Anderson
Head of Innovation and External Networks, Tata Steel
Cheryl Anderson
Head of Innovation and External Networks, Tata SteelCheryl Anderson is the Head of Innovation and External Networks for Tata Steel UK, having spent more than 18 years working in the steel industry, including international leadership roles in R&D, business development and marketing. This background enables Cheryl to bring experience from different disciplines to her current work leading on innovation, harnessing the power of cross-functional and external collaboration and leading company networks to deliver results in areas as diverse as health, safety and well-being, customer experience and new technology.
-
Jonathan Lewis
Head, Commercial Innovation, Channel 4
Jonathan Lewis
Head, Commercial Innovation, Channel 4Jonathan joined Channel 4 in the autumn of 2012 and has performed a number of roles within Channel 4’s commercial team over the last nine years, previously leading Digital Advertising sales and strategy. Recently, he has expanded his responsibility, driving growth and innovation across all areas of Channel 4's commercial business, building upon existing successful innovations in areas such as digital and social (4Studio) and linear addressable advertising. He is also developing new revenue streams to deliver Channel 4's Future4 strategy. Jonathan is a multi-faceted commercial leader with experience delivering transformational results for both digital and broadcaster businesses.
-
James Vincent
Senior Director, Innovation & Market Development, Thomson Reuters
James Vincent
Senior Director, Innovation & Market Development, Thomson ReutersJames has always been at the riskier forefront of new commercial launches and opportunity development for the businesses he has worked at. He is passionate about developments across markets and how they can help them grow and innovate. Mainly with a B2B focus, he leads the innovation within the professional segment of Reuters.
-
Marie Cesbron
Global Open Innovation, Chanel
Marie Cesbron
Global Open Innovation, ChanelMarie's international 25-year track record encompasses executive leadership and advisory roles in the consumer and luxury goods sectors. At the peak of her marketing career at L’Oreal, Marie switched to innovation and found her vocation. She was Global Innovation Insight Director for L’Oreal R&D, then Global Innovation Director at Walgreens Boots Alliance’s consumer arm before becoming Founder, Director of Do Well Do Good innovation consultancy. As such, she has been contracted by Chanel Global Open Innovation from its inception in 2019. Marie holds an MS in Management from HEC Paris (1996) and a BS in Psychology from Paris V University (2010).
-
Jennifer Sheldon
Head of Core Innovation, LEGO
Jennifer Sheldon
Head of Core Innovation, LEGOAs Head of Core Innovation at the LEGO Group’s Creative Play Lab, Jennifer is working to create opportunities for children to reach their potential through play. Prior to her role at the LEGO Group in London, Jennifer spent nearly two decades in San Francisco’s Bay Area building innovative products designed to educate, entertain and inform. She also guest lectured on Product Management & Innovation at the Product School and Product Events, launched a mentorship program for Sony Interactive Entertainment, and lead the San Francisco Chapter of Women@ PlayStation.
-
Shaun King
Strategic Partnership, Change and Transformation Director, AXA UK&I
Shaun King
Strategic Partnership, Change and Transformation Director, AXA UK&IShaun is a seasoned Managing Director with a proven track record in driving business transformation, operational delivery and program management at the highest levels. With significant experience at leading global corporations including AXA, TCS, Capita, Capgemini and IBM, he has successfully led new ventures, major restructuring efforts and enabled digital and technological advancements, all while enhancing customer experience and driving outcomes in line with strategic objectives.
-
Claire Hadden
Director, Brand and Innovation, Greene King
Claire Hadden
Director, Brand and Innovation, Greene KingAs the Brand Director for Innovation and the Premium, Urban and Ventures division at Greene King, Claire is establishing an innovation function, with ownership of the creation of all new concepts within the portfolio. The remit is to identify and drive execution of transformational ideas, products and business models that will achieve sustainable growth and differentiation, future-proofing the Greene King business. Innovation at Greene King will include new pub and hotel propositions, ideas, methods, sales channels and ways of working. Previously, Claire spent 17 years at Diageo across North America and Europe in the Brand Marketing and Innovation functions.
-
Dan Francis
Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, BDO UK
Dan Francis
Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, BDO UKDan is the Director of Innovation and Digital for BDO UK. His previous experience extends across digital products and propositions, change, strategy and innovation in large and small companies, for brands such as American Express, BP, Sainsbury's, Barclays and Google.
-
Rachel Kneen
Strategy & Innovation Lead, Just Eat
Rachel Kneen
Strategy & Innovation Lead, Just EatRachel has been working in marketing for 14 years. For the last six years, she has worked at Just Eat, the UK's biggest online food delivery marketplace. Having spent most of her career in social media and strategy, she has been appointed as Just Eat's first Strategy and Innovation Lead, tasked with taking the UK business into the next stage of growth.
-
Joana Santos
Head of Strategy UKI, Amazon Web Services
Joana Santos
Head of Strategy UKI, Amazon Web ServicesJoana Santos leads Strategy for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Amazon Web Services (AWS). This organisation helps companies from startups to the largest enterprises accelerate their customer-centric digital business transformation and help them realise new forms of customer value, leveraging AWS Cloud. Before this role, Joana led Sales Strategy and Operations for LATAM at LinkedIn’s digital advertising business and worked in strategy consulting at EY-Parthenon across Europe, the US, South America and Africa. Her previous experience includes working in the African technology start-up M-KOPA, American investment bank Citigroup and the UK Parliament.
-
Tom Winstanley
CTO, Head of New Ventures, NTT DATA
Tom Winstanley
CTO, Head of New Ventures, NTT DATATom has worked on the interface between business, experience and technology for more than 20 years in a range of industries and customer-facing business and technology roles with clients across Europe, APAC and North America. He enjoys the variety (and similarity) of challenges their clients face and building innovative solutions with his teams across the NTT DATA Group and wider NTT Group R&D community. Twice Tom has been a founding member of a digital practice, heading consulting and supporting the scale out of the organisation to deliver differently. He considers himself an information junkie and an honorary lecturer in University College London's computer science department.
-
Tara Waters
Chief Digital Officer, Ashurst
Tara Waters
Chief Digital Officer, AshurstTara is a technologist turned lawyer working at Ashurst LLP. After beginning her first career in technology at the height of the dot-com boom, Tara transitioned into law and relocated to London. Her legal practice focuses on advising startups and institutions on emerging technologies, business strategies and digital transformation. She also leads Ashurst's digital products and services team, responsible all aspects of the firm's technology-enabled services delivery. Tara is co-leading an initiative to articulate the firm's digital strategy.
-
Jim Johnson
Director, UKIMEA Region Board Member and Digital Leader, ARUP
Jim Johnson
Director, UKIMEA Region Board Member and Digital Leader, ARUPJim is the board director responsible for providing strategy and direction for the digital transformation of the business in UKIMEA. He leads and support work to develop improved and new service offerings using digital and data-driven innovation across multiple business sectors and locations. He joined Arup in 1986 as a civil engineer. Between 2007 and 2011, he led Arup Geotechnics, Arup's specialist ground engineering consultancy practice working worldwide across all their market sectors. He subsequently went on to lead large teams for a variety of clients delivering major infrastructure projects and was also the leader of its Leeds office.
-
Svetlana Jefimova
Blockchain Partnerships Lead, Anglo American
Svetlana Jefimova
Blockchain Partnerships Lead, Anglo AmericanWith more than a decade of diverse and cross-functional experience, Svetlana works as Senior Innovation Manager at De Beers Group, where she is responsible for designing, testing, launching, and scaling new business models, products and services in various markets (UK, USA, Asia and Southern Africa). Svetlana's previous experience includes strategic and consulting projects in oil and gas, financial services, utilities, government, retail, quantum computers, events and sustainability. Svetlana holds a BSc in Economics and Business from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, an MSc in Economics and Business from the Norwegian School of Economics, and a CEMS Masters in International Management.
-
Ana Maria Norbury
Director, Global Service Design, Baker McKenzie
Ana Maria Norbury
Director, Global Service Design, Baker McKenzieAna Maria leads the global service design team and plays an instrumental role in leading Reinvent, Baker McKenzie's innovation programme. The service design team uses design thinking methodologies to design and implement innovative solutions that continuously improve the client experience and to grow a culture of innovation across the firm.
-
Mike Daley
Group Director, Strategy and Innovation, PageGroup
Mike Daley
Group Director, Strategy and Innovation, PageGroupMike is passionate about the value people and technology create when they work together. Having built successful teams in fields from the arts to civil aviation, he has led them to identify and deliver innovative solutions to drive growth and competitiveness. Now at PageGroup, a specialist global recruiter, Mike is responsible for bringing external insight and perspective to the organisation, ensuring Page remains an industry leader in the innovative application of technology and supporting clients in their talent missions.
-
Greg Baker
Global Head of Practice Innovation, Linklaters
Greg Baker
Global Head of Practice Innovation, LinklatersAs Global Head of Practice Innovation at Linklaters, Greg heads up a team of practice-embedded innovation lawyers and a multi-disciplinary innovation delivery team. Greg is a qualified lawyer with more than 10 years of practicing experience and is also a committed legal technologist.
-
Manish Naik
Head of Digital and Innovation, Anglo American
Manish Naik
Head of Digital and Innovation, Anglo AmericanManish is an MBA professional with 12 years’ experience in operations, consulting, innovation and programme management across various industry sectors. He is a quick learner with keen business acumen and strong analytical abilities. Manish has a proven track record in leading cross-functional and multicultural teams, across the US, UK, Europe and India. His current role is focused on scanning and evangelising digital innovations in the oil and gas sector.
-
Scott Heath
Innovation Manager, Hitachi Rail
Scott Heath
Innovation Manager, Hitachi RailScott has worked in the rail transportation sector for nearly 10 years, initially joining Network Rail after completing an MSc in Programme and Project Management with a specialism in Innovation. He moved to Thales in 2019 to help manage its European Commission co-funded R&D as well as delivering the innovation roadmap. From 2021, he has assumed the responsibilities of the former Head of Innovation, leading an R&D and Technology team based in London.
-
Verena Tse
Area Coach – London, KFC
Verena Tse
Area Coach – London, KFCVerena is Innovation and Strategy Manager at KFC UK & Ireland. Currently, she is leading the automations and robotics pillar, hoping to change the way the in-restaurant teams work. As part of the Tech Innovation team, she also partakes in defining KFC UK & Ireland's innovation roadmap and breeding the innovation culture in other teams. Before KFC, Verena was with Uber and Gousto.
-
Chris Kelsey
Vice President, Global Delivery Innovation, Salesforce
Chris Kelsey
Vice President, Global Delivery Innovation, SalesforceChris is the Vice President of Global Delivery Innovation. Building on a career utilising technology to drive business outcomes, Chris leads Delivery Innovation across the Global Professional Services organisation at Salesforce, capturing and leveraging the innovation that occurs across the organisation for the benefit of all. He lives in south London with his wife and twin boys.
-
Gursheel Mendhir
Principal, True
Gursheel Mendhir
Principal, TrueGursheel spearheads Virgin Media O2’s move beyond commoditised telecommunications products, to fulfil the ambition of being a complete digital experience provider. Her team imagines and creates the future of telecommunications via their cross-functional incubator focused on launching ambitious digital products in entirely new markets. They experiment with disruptive technologies and potential partnerships with startups and other companies to enable product launches.
-
Ashleigh Monagle
Digital Advisory – Head of Digital & Data Advisory, Mott MacDonald
Ashleigh Monagle
Digital Advisory – Head of Digital & Data Advisory, Mott MacDonaldAs a Digital Consultant, Ashleigh leads organisations through transformation with disruptive innovation that delivers positive outcomes. Often acting as an anchor for cross-functional teams, she provides both stability and connectivity when change is inevitable. These attributes have enabled fast execution and early benefits realisation for commercial success in more than 20 projects, including a 120% decrease in internal overhead cost. Ashleigh's distinctive approach to working combines being direct, collaborative and empathetic to develop fresh and innovative insight. She believes the best solutions and teams are grown in this way, providing the perfect environment for competitive advantage to flourish.
-
Sam Dover
Global D&A AI Assurance & Strategy lead, Unilever
Sam Dover
Global D&A AI Assurance & Strategy lead, UnileverA tech professional with a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods industry, Sam has experience in digital strategy, open innovation, artificial intelligence, enterprise architecture, metaverse, product management, digital marketing, eCommerce (DTC and B2B), collaboration technology, sustainable sourcing, global change management, data and AI ethics. Sam was a graduate of Unilever’s Future Leader Programme and holds a BSc (Hons) Biology from the University of Manchester.
-
Katie Mills
Head of Zeigo Power, Schneider Electric
Katie Mills
Head of Zeigo Power, Schneider ElectricKatie is Head of Zeigo Power recently acquired by Schneider Electric. Prior to this Katie led innovation and investment for Schneider Electric UK and Ireland, helping to identify market gaps and potential investment opportunities for Schneider Electric, and to position Schneider Electric as a key part of the UK innovation ecosystem. Katie has spent the last 10 years working in the early stage tech community, working with startups in renewable energy tech through to cyber security innovations. She has invested in more than 30 startups as an angel investor and sits on multiple boards as a strategic advisor to startup teams
-
Paul Taylor
Head of R&D, Hitachi
Paul Taylor
Head of R&D, HitachiPaul is an experienced sustainability and innovation professional currently working within Hitachi Europe Research and Development on new technologies. He creates IP and policy recommendations and forges collaborative partnerships, such as the Hitachi-Imperial Centre for Decarbonisation and Natural Climate Solutions at Imperial. His previous roles span multiple sectors, including electric vehicles, fast-moving consumer goods, mining and agriculture.
-
Laura Goldwyn
Director of global food and beverage marketing, Mandarin Oriental
Laura Goldwyn
Director of global food and beverage marketing, Mandarin Oriental -
Anna Browne
Head of Innovation and Legal Technology, Trowers & Hamlins
Anna Browne
Head of Innovation and Legal Technology, Trowers & HamlinsAnna Browne leads the Trowers & Hamlins Innovation and Legal Technology team. She is responsible for the firm’s international innovation strategy, internal technology efficiencies, use of legal technology in the business and client solutions. Anna is a qualified lawyer with a background in real estate finance. Anna trained at a city law firm and prior to working in innovation, Anna was an Associate at Trowers & Hamlins.
-
Julene Aguirre
Director, Research and Design Strategy, Capital One
Julene Aguirre
Director, Research and Design Strategy, Capital OneJulene Aguirre is a designer, researcher and strategist. Her work focuses on applying design thinking methodologies to help businesses innovate and solve problems through empathy and creativity. She holds an MA from the Royal College of Art and an MSc from Imperial in Innovation Design Engineering, as well as a BA in Product Design from HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd. Having worked in agencies, academia, startups and independently on projects for a variety of industries, Julene currently leads a team of researchers and strategists developing new financial products, services and experiences at Capital One.
-
Georgios Kolovos
Global lead commerce, payments and international expansion partnerships, PayPal
Georgios Kolovos
Global lead commerce, payments and international expansion partnerships, PayPalA results-orientated and entrepreneurial-minded executive, Georgios has experience in building and strengthening businesses by creating strategic alliances and partnerships and developing new distribution channels for new markets and segments. A leader with an intercultural background, Georgios has worked with partners and customers globally and managed growth agendas at country, regional and global levels.
-
Fiona Dolman
Director for Transformation, London Fire Brigade
Fiona Dolman
Director for Transformation, London Fire BrigadeDirector for Transformation with the London Fire Brigade, Fiona’s diverse career and operational and transformational leadership experience has involved functional to enterprise level business change delivery. She has demonstrated drive and energy that has created a pattern of marked service improvements. A strong advocate of good governance, programme controls and assurance, with a focus on people centred business change, Fiona has excellent collaborative working skills, is able to simplify complexity, influence decision makers and build strong stakeholder relationships.
-
Grant Dall
Head of Transformation – EMEA, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
Grant Dall
Head of Transformation – EMEA, Alcatel-Lucent EnterpriseHead of Transformation for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Grant has more than a decade of product management and business development experience in the ICT space – in both B2B and B2C. Grant has experience in mobile broadband, carrier-grade and consumer wifi, incubation, site acquisition, IoT, satellite networks and alliance management. A creative at heart, Grant believes in a healthy disregard for the same old, same old. Throughout his career, he has helped people and businesses think differently so they can make positive change – for the organisation and for themselves.
-
Richard West
Partner and Global Head Client Innovation, Global Head Liability Defence, Kennedys
Richard West
Partner and Global Head Client Innovation, Global Head Liability Defence, KennedysRichard is a director of Kennedys IQ, a partner at Kennedys, Divisional Head of Liability, Global Strategy Board member and Head of the Kennedys’ Innovation Group. As leader of the Kennedys’ Liability Division, Richard has an interest in how technology can impact the legal and insurtech sector. He sponsors Kennedys’ global Ideas Lab, designed to give everybody at Kennedys the chance to develop innovative solutions to solve client challenges. Richard and his team have won several legal/tech and innovation awards, including the “FT Innovative Lawyers 2019: Innovation in the business of law – new products and services” award. He was named by the FT as one of the top 10 Innovative Individuals, who are “Leaders of revolutions in legal practice” in Europe.
-
Tom Williamson
Head of Innovation, Scottish Power
Tom Williamson
Head of Innovation, Scottish PowerAs Head of Innovation, Tom coordinates and leads on innovation policy and initiatives across the ScottishPower group. Tom has been at ScottishPower since 2009, previously working on Westminster political and parliamentary relations across the SP/Iberdrola group’s interests in the UK. Prior to joining the company, he spent five years working in Parliament, latterly as Director of the Parliamentary Resources Unit in the House of Commons.
-
Cynthia Vega
iLab, global partnerships, Kantar
Cynthia Vega
iLab, global partnerships, KantarCynthia leads the global product for Dx (Digital Analytics) and the global Innovation Lab at Kantar Analytics. Using the latest in human and artificial intelligence, her team helps clients accelerate the launch of new innovations and create strategies for better communications through the use of data, tech and analytics. An intrapreneur and social entrepreneur based in London, she connects entrepreneurs from across countries and mobilises members of diaspora communities.
-
João Stakonski
Technology Innovation Analyst, Unilever
João Stakonski
Technology Innovation Analyst, UnileverJoão comes from a startup background with experience in venture building, digital transformation and innovation consulting. He joined Unilever's Tech Innovation team to connect the company with external talent to build a scalable innovation framework. João is a graduate of Imperial in the MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management programme. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem, travelling, football and cinema.
-
Tara Honeywell
Head of Commercial Ventures, Barnardo’s
Tara Honeywell
Head of Commercial Ventures, Barnardo’sTara began her career at Brand Consultancies, identifying market opportunities and overseeing the new product development of a number of brands stocked in Boots, Selfridges and Tesco. Tara was one of the UK's first Collaboration Consultants, leading partnership agency Mediator, where she worked across a portfolio of blue-chip businesses, advising them on their partnership strategies. In her current role of Head of Commercial Ventures at Barnardo’s, Tara actively seeks out startups in the Health and Social Care space, identifying the sweet spot where purpose meets profit.
-
Sean Spain
Head of Innovation, Brit Insurance
Sean Spain
Head of Innovation, Brit InsuranceSean is the Head of Innovation at Brit Insurance. He leads a team of software engineers, data scientists, product managers, product designers and innovation associates. He is focused on horizon scanning tech and insurance markets, working with EC to determine how Brit can best respond and introducing new capabilities to the business through product development and scaleup/strategic partnerships.
-
Alastair Wye
Lead Innovation & Technology Solutions Attorney, Latham & Watkins
Alastair Wye
Lead Innovation & Technology Solutions Attorney, Latham & Watkins -
Tim Spiers
Director of IT, Innovation, Digital and Transformation, Oxfordshire County Council
Tim Spiers
Director of IT, Innovation, Digital and Transformation, Oxfordshire County CouncilTim is experienced in implementing technology, innovation and digital services within both public and private sectors. He harnesses the power of technology and innovation to reduce costs and innovate the delivery of business services.
-
Ruthana Foulkes
Senior Manager, Strategic Business Development, Thomson Reuters
Ruthana Foulkes
Senior Manager, Strategic Business Development, Thomson ReutersWith more than 13 years of experience understanding customer and market needs, Ruthana is adept at spotting opportunities for commercial success. Whether it's a full business, product idea, or tweaks to current models, she can see how the whole picture fits together and chase the opportunity.
-
Carol Twomey
Vice President, WI SRE Center of Excellence Lead, Fidelity Investments
Carol Twomey
Vice President, WI SRE Center of Excellence Lead, Fidelity InvestmentsIn her 22-year career, Carol has held a number of leadership roles both in Ireland and the US leading strategic software engineering programs and teams. She currently leads the Fidelity Ireland Innovation Council with a focus on associate innovation, in addition to being highly engaged in D&I (women in technology) and cultural and social programmes.
-
Irene Colomer
Experience Design and Innovation Strategy, Salesforce
Irene Colomer
Experience Design and Innovation Strategy, SalesforceIrene is focused on uniting emerging technologies, fulfilling business needs and harnessing human insights to elevate the customer experience and initiate new business ventures, fostering growth.
-
Cathy Goodwin
Global Head of Food Innovation, Costa Coffee
Cathy Goodwin
Global Head of Food Innovation, Costa CoffeeWith a master's in Creative Talents and Solutions in Business and a long career in product development, Cathy has worked for the likes of Compass Group, Sainsbury’s and McDonald's. She is now Head of Food Innovation for Costa Coffee, responsible for the food growth agenda across the UK and Ireland and more recently has taken on an additional global and nutrition remit.
-
Gemma Rawlins
Head of Fundraising Innovation, Marie Curie
Gemma Rawlins
Head of Fundraising Innovation, Marie CurieGemma specialises in innovation, strategy and product development within the third sector. She has worked in a number of large, well-known charity brands and she is passionate about developing new ways of generating and diversifying income streams.
-
Brad Whiting
Head of Innovation and Digital Products, BDO
Brad Whiting
Head of Innovation and Digital Products, BDOBrad is the Head of Innovation & Digital Products at BDO LLP. Brad leads BDO Labs, which is BDO’s own accelerator for ideas, across Audit, Tax, and Advisory. The Innovation & Digital Office is the focal point for all innovation activities, primarily around accelerating the adoption of digital or emerging technologies, alongside the creation and launch of new products and services.
-
Joe Torjussen
Head of Innovation, Modernisation & Reform Unit, Cabinet Office
Joe Torjussen
Head of Innovation, Modernisation & Reform Unit, Cabinet OfficeJoe leads the innovation mission of the government's modernisation and reform programme, delivering a programme of work to drive a culture of innovation in the Civil Service. Within this role, Joe is also the UK delegate to the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) working group. Joe is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the Civil Service Fast Stream and is currently enrolled in the Cabinet Office Emerging Leaders Scheme at Henley Business School.
-
Sharon Jenkins
Head of Legal Innovation, CMS
Sharon Jenkins
Head of Legal Innovation, CMSSharon's firmwide innovation role at CMS supports the different practice groups with their innovation and digital transformation strategies. Most recently, she was appointed to the Law Society's Leadership and Management committee.
-
Lauren Barr
Head of Innovation, Crisis
Lauren Barr
Head of Innovation, CrisisAs Head of Innovation at Crisis, Lauren is responsible for generating significant income from new commercial income streams to diversify the charity’s funding portfolio. This includes establishing an Innovation Lab within Crisis, as a method to explore, prioritise, test and scale new opportunities; along with building a diverse community of partners and individuals with lived experience of homelessness to leverage throughout the innovation process. With 11 years of experience working in the charity sector, she is passionate about taking an audience-centric and insight-led approach to developing new ideas and embedding an innovative culture within organisations.
-
Gavin Lonsdale
Global Head GPS Platform of Engineering and Innovation, HSBC
Gavin Lonsdale
Global Head GPS Platform of Engineering and Innovation, HSBCGavin leads the strategic payment platform engineering and Innovation team at HSBC. -
Paul Batterham
Head of Innovation, Kainos
Paul Batterham
Head of Innovation, KainosWith more than 15 years of experience as a digital innovation leader, Paul helps customers navigate the complexities of the digital landscape and emerging technologies to achieve their goals. As the Head of Innovation at Kainos, he merges end-to-end service design with product innovation, underpinned by a robust entrepreneurial and optimistic spirit.
-
Ismael Benmira
Product Innovation Senior Manager, Mars
Ismael Benmira
Product Innovation Senior Manager, MarsIsmael leads innovation and creates digital products from the ground up at Mars. Armed with more than 10 years of analytical skills, product mindset and a robust consulting background, he has boosted the performance of 200-plus global sales associates across five major Mars subsidiaries, managing approximately $10bn in sales data, resulting in improved sales efficiency and increased ROI. His area of expertise encompasses creating digital solutions for sales teams, leveraging demand and third party data. Ismael enjoys shaping the future of digital product innovation, where creativity, user-centricity and data converge to redefine industry standards. -
Niels van den Brink
Director of Architecture, Analysis and Innovation, Travis Perkins
Niels van den Brink
Director of Architecture, Analysis and Innovation, Travis PerkinsNiels van den Brink is a seasoned executive in digital architecture and strategy with extensive experience across multiple sectors, notably at BP and Travis Perkins. He holds an MSc in Applied Physics from Delft University of Technology. His career highlights include leading transformative IT strategies and architectures, focusing on agile methodologies, DevOps and cloud-native services. Niels has significantly contributed to driving technological innovation and fostering a digital-first culture in every organization he has led. His leadership philosophy integrates customer-centric product development, commercial viability and technical feasibility.
-
Andy Mitchell
Head of Group Innovation, Westfalia Fruit
Andy Mitchell
Head of Group Innovation, Westfalia FruitAndy has worked in farming and fresh produce for more than 30 years. Throughout his career he has worked at every point of the supply chain, from farmer to final retailer. Andy's goals are to bring industry leading technology that can improve business and supply chains, as well as eliminating true waste in the production and supply of fresh produce.
The Fellowship offers a much-needed human-to-human interaction and network of senior innovation leaders, which allows me to source solutions to the problems and create new innovations every day.Sonal Lakhani
Global Head of Programmes and Strategic Initiatives, Barclays UK
