Fellows are leaders in corporate innovation, who are passionate about driving innovation that is open, effective and inclusive.
Through the programme, the Fellows are enabled to develop their own open innovation strategies informed and validated by industry experts.
The network connects corporate innovators to equivalents across sectors and provides them with peer-to-peer support groups, allowing them to unlock their organisation's innovation potential.
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
Fellows
Find out more about some of the Fellows in our network:
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Julene Aguirre
Director, Research and Design Strategy, Capital One
Julene Aguirre
Director, Research and Design StrategyCapital 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 College London 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.
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Gráinne Allen
Director of Food & Innovation, McDonald's UK
Gráinne Allen
Director of Food & InnovationMcDonald's UKGráinne has been Director of Food and Innovation at McDonald’s since January 2021. She has more than 30 years in the food industry and has a unique level of experience in all aspects of the food industry, particularly in the fields of innovation, strategy and change, having run many multimillion-pound product strategies in retail, manufacturing, food service and brand.
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Greg Baker
Global Head of Practice Innovation, Linklaters
Greg Baker
Global Head of Practice InnovationLinklatersGreg is a qualified lawyer with 10+ years of practicing experience and a committed legal technologist. Currently, Greg heads up a team of practice-embedded innovation lawyers and a multidisciplinary innovation delivery team.
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Nichola Bates
Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs, Boeing
Nichola Bates
Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation ProgramsBoeingNichola joined Boeing more than four years ago, following a decade-long career working with early stage and scaling startups, where she championed the role of the SME to government, particularly in the security and resilience sector. Nichola brings extensive experience of international business development and fundraising for growth, from strategy through to execution, with a wide network across governments and industry. Having also gained experience of working inside one of the world’s largest corporations, she has become even more passionate about the benefits of collaboration between startups and corporates. In her role as Managing Partner for Aerospace Xelerated, Nichola invests in and supports startups using AI and autonomous technologies to the benefit of the aerospace sector and related industries.
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Anna Browne
Head of Innovation and Legal Technology, Trowers & Hamlins
Anna Browne
Head of Innovation and Legal TechnologyTrowers & 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.
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Iryna Chekanava
Senior Manager, Innovation and Partnerships, Lloyd's
Iryna Chekanava
Senior Manager, Innovation and PartnershipsLloyd'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.
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Rupert Cryer
Head, Engagement (National Resilience), Cabinet Office
Rupert Cryer
Head, Engagement (National Resilience)Cabinet OfficeRupert recently applied innovation best practice as part of the COVID-19 Task Force. He has also worked at Wayra (Telefonica’s startup accelerator) and Policy Lab, won EY’s Dragons’ Den for the Civil Service, co-founded Policy School and took SKYroom's innovation spaces from idea to implementation. Rupert was a main stage speaker at Adaptive Path’s Service Experience Conference in San Francisco and is a Policy Fellow at University of Cambridge, specialising in innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Mike Daley
Group Director, Strategy and Innovation, PageGroup
Mike Daley
Group Director, Strategy and InnovationPageGroupMike 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.
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Andy Doyle
Innovation Director, Grosvenor Property UK, Grosvenor
Andy Doyle
Innovation Director, Grosvenor Property UKGrosvenorAndy 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.
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Sol Enenmoh
Director, Group Digitalisation, HSBC
Sol Enenmoh
Director, Group DigitalisationHSBCSol 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).
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Dan Francis
Innovation and Digital Director, BDO UK
Dan Francis
Innovation and Digital DirectorBDO 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.
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Claire Hadden
Director, Brand and Innovation, Greene King
Claire Hadden
Director, Brand and InnovationGreene 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.
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Scott Heath
Head of Innovation, Thales
Scott Heath
Head of InnovationThalesScott 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.
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Claire Holden
Chief Innovation Officer, Hill + Knowlton
Claire Holden
Chief Innovation OfficerHill + KnowltonClaire is focused on how Hill+Knowlton (H+K) and its clients adapt to an ever-changing world, creating new communication strategies and ideas that set the agenda as well as react to it. Claire looks at how brands connect to culture and communities, apply trends and technology, and evolve to be distinctive and future proofed. Claire is responsible for H+K’s Futures Council.
Alongside her agency-wide role, Claire leads the Adidas account at H+K, which includes global communication strategy and campaigns, as well as local execution for its London newsroom. Claire has worked with several other London-centric clients including Westfield and the London Eye.
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Dan Hufton
Head of Technology Innovation, AstraZeneca
Dan Hufton
Head of Technology InnovationAstraZenecaDan leads a global innovation team focused on the identification, rapid assessment, implementation and adoption of emerging technologies and novel ideas to create business benefit, aiming to influence and transform the business and taking a strategic three to five year viewpoint. He is an ambassador for diversity and inclusivity and plays a leading role in driving change and ensuring AstraZeneca is a great place to work for everyone.
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Svetlana Jefimova
Senior Innovation Manager, De Beers
Svetlana Jefimova
Senior Innovation ManagerDe BeersWith 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.
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Jim Johnson
Director, UKIMEA Region Board Member and Digital Leader, ARUP
Jim Johnson
Director, UKIMEA Region Board Member and Digital LeaderARUPJim 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.
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Gerard Kelly
Director, UK Innovation, National Grid
Gerard Kelly
Director, UK InnovationNational 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.
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Inara Khan
Interim Deputy Director for Digital Elective Care, NHSx
Inara Khan
Interim Deputy Director for Digital Elective CareNHSxInara is Interim Deputy Director for Digital Elective Care, working on cutting edge digital pathway transformation and strategy. She focuses on understanding what technology works and how her team builds the evidence base to scale this. Prior to this, at NHS England & Improvement, she led the work on the faster diagnosis of cancer in the Cancer team and worked on the implementation of national innovation programmes in the Genomics team and Strategy team. She previously worked in local government and as a broadcast journalist for the BBC, having graduated with a masters in International Peace and Security, and a degree in War Studies.
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Rachel Kneen
Strategy & Innovation Lead, Just Eat
Rachel Kneen
Strategy & Innovation LeadJust 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.
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Sonal Lakhani
Head of Programmes and Strategic Initiatives, Barclays UK
Sonal Lakhani
Head of Programmes and Strategic InitiativesBarclays UKSonal is a senior leader of the Barclays Innovation team, where she heads up programmes and strategic partnerships. Sonal focuses on creating meaningful initiatives and programmes for the team. The purpose of these is to help build the supply of fintechs to the ecosystem, supporting companies to grow and scale as the clients of tomorrow; identifying early signals from startups and VCs for new markets beginning to emerge or accelerate; identifying and validating early-stage investment opportunities and venture investments creating an informational flow between the open innovation ecosystem and Barclays. She leads the global flagship programme, Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars, and Female Founder initiatives as part of her portfolio of work. Prior to working in Barclays Innovation, Sonal worked in capital markets with a focus on trading platform sales working with some of the largest asset managers, hedge funds and banks across Europe and the UK.
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Jonathan Lewis
Head, Commercial Innovation, Channel 4
Jonathan Lewis
Head, Commercial InnovationChannel 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.
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Edward Manning
Commercial Innovation Director, Dentsu
Edward Manning
Commercial Innovation DirectorDentsuEdward 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.
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Nicholas McQuire
Director, Enterprise AI and Innovation, Microsoft
Nicholas McQuire
Director, Enterprise AI and InnovationMicrosoftNicholas 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.
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Gursheel Mendhir
Head of Innovation and Emerging Products, Virgin Media O2
Gursheel Mendhir
Head of Innovation and Emerging ProductsVirgin Media O2Gursheel 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.
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Katie Mills
Head of Sustainable Development & Innovation UK&I, Schneider Electric
Katie Mills
Head of Sustainable Development & Innovation UK&ISchneider ElectricKatie 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. She now heads up the innovation and investment for Schneider Electric UK&I. Katie’s remit is to help identify market gaps and potential investment opportunities for Schneider Electric UK&I, and position Schneider Electric as a key part of the UK innovation ecosystem.
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Ashleigh Monagle
Digital Advisory – Head of Digital & Data Advisory, Mott MacDonald
Ashleigh Monagle
Digital Advisory – Head of Digital & Data AdvisoryMott 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.
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Jonathan Munday
Executive Director, Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation, NatWest
Jonathan Munday
Executive Director, Strategy, Sustainability and InnovationNatWestJon 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.
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Manish Naik
Principal, Digital Innovation, BP
Manish Naik
Principal, Digital InnovationBPManish 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.
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Ana Maria Norbury
Director, Global Service Design, Baker McKenzie
Ana Maria Norbury
Director, Global Service DesignBaker 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.
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Nick Passey
Head of Commercial Digital & IT, International & Japan, AstraZeneca
Nick Passey
Head of Commercial Digital & IT, International & JapanAstraZenecaNick 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.
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Neel Patel
Group Manager, Public-Private Innovation, Venture Innovation, Citi Ventures
Neel Patel
Group Manager, Public-Private Innovation, Venture InnovationCiti VenturesNeel leads Citi Venture’s global public-private innovation initiatives. He is responsible for developing partnerships that leverage Citi’s expertise to help clients meet their policy goals in the areas of sustainable economic development, social equity, inclusion and fluency with emerging financial technology. Since 2005, Neel has held a variety of senior finance roles at Citi across London, Budapest, Dublin and New York. Prior to Citi, he worked in professional services and industry, with roles at Andersen, Deloitte and International Power. Neel is a chartered accountant and holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics.
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William Pryke
Head of Open Innovation & Tech Scouting, Openreach
William Pryke
Head of Open Innovation & Tech ScoutingOpenreachWilliam is an experienced executive and Open Innovation (OI) specialist with more than 20 years 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, businesses and government. Formally, William is Head of the BT Infinity Lab, a group-wide accelerator programme supporting Consumer & Business which delivered a number of startup collaborations. Will recently joined Openreach to accelerate its OI programme.
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Joana Santos
Head of Strategy UKI, Amazon Web Services
Joana Santos
Head of Strategy UKIAmazon 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.
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Rikesh Shah
Head of Open Innovation, TfL
Rikesh Shah
Head of Open InnovationTfLRikesh leads Transport for London’s (TfL) award-winning market innovation activity to create new value for London by working with startups, corporates, academia, accelerators and venture capitalists. He set up TfL’s first Innovation Hub to help solve existing city challenges through new technologies.
Rikesh was previously responsible for TfL’s world-leading open data programme which has 17,000 registered users and 700 apps powered by TfL data used by 42% of Londoners. An independent review valued the programme's worth to London at £130m per annum.
Rikesh also sits on the Smart London Board to deliver the Mayor of London’s vision to make London the smartest city in the world, as well as on the Advisory Boards for Doteveryone, focusing on Tech for Good, and Citytech Collaborative in Chicago.
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Aaron Smith
Head of Innovation Ecosystems, Fidelity
Aaron Smith
Head of Innovation EcosystemsFidelityA 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.
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Paul Taylor
Sustainability Innovation Manager, Hitachi
Paul Taylor
Sustainability Innovation ManagerHitachiPaul 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 College London. His previous roles span multiple sectors, including electric vehicles, fast-moving consumer goods, mining and agriculture.
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Verena Tse
Innovation and Strategy Manager, KFC
Verena Tse
Innovation and Strategy ManagerKFCVerena 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.
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Ricardo Vidal
Head of Innovation, British Airways
Ricardo Vidal
Head of InnovationBritish AirwaysRicardo is an international professional with more than 20 years of experience leading end to end transformation across multiple industries in technical and strategic roles. He possesses extensive experience in strategy and cultural change, customer journey definition, driving innovation, and delivering complex solutions, be it technical (digital transformation, new developments and new technologies) or functional (target operating models, strategies, process optimisation, workforce efficiencies and reorganisations). Ricardo is currently leading the innovation transformation at British Airways focusing on innovative change for their employees, customers and operations.
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Tracy Walker
Director of Technology and Innovation, Unilever
Tracy Walker
Director of Technology and InnovationUnileverTracy leads a global innovation team focused on engaging with innovation technologists, exploring technology trends and executing solutions that transform the business landscape. She is a believer of transformative, collaborative partnerships, and creating open and productive coalitions to solve the bigger issues. Passionate about planet and society and determined that technology has a pivotal role to play in tackling the climate emergency, Tracy and her team are also responsible for architecting Unilever’s overall sustainability technology strategy.
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Tara Waters
Partner, Head of Ashurst Advance Digital, Ashurst
Tara Waters
Partner, Head of Ashurst Advance DigitalAshurstTara 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.
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Adam Weir
Senior Director of Innovation and Materials, New Balance
Adam Weir
Senior Director of Innovation and MaterialsNew 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.
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Tom Williamson
Head of Innovation, Scottish Power
Tom Williamson
Head of InnovationScottish 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.
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Tom Winstanley
CTO, Head of New Ventures, NTT DATA
Tom Winstanley
CTO, Head of New VenturesNTT 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.
