Hear from world-class Thought Leaders and Innovators as they share their triumphs, their challenges and their stories.
*Speaker job titles were accurate at the time of their participation in the event.
Adrian joined BT Group in February 2020 and is the Managing Director, Data and AI where he leads a team of over 1500 data, cloud and AI experts to drive transformation across the BT Group.
Prior to BT he was a senior Partner at EY for 3 years and the Head of the UK Data, Cloud and Analytics practice for Financial Services. He joined EY with over ten year’s cloud, digital, platform, data science and analytics experience gained in senior leadership roles at Google, and a further 15 years in industry and consultancy. At Google, he held senior executive roles in Search, Ads, Analytics, Cloud and was the Managing Director of Google Enterprise EMEA.
Adrian was also a Non-Executive Director to the UK government (Home Office) from 2016-2020 where he advised on data, digital transformation, and diversity and inclusion, and served as a NED to the Cabinet Office People Board where he advised on the future of the workforce and on diversity and inclusion.
From January 2012-2017 he was Chair of the Race Equality Board, the race campaign of Business in the Community, and continues to serve as an Advisor to BITC. He was awarded an OBE for services to equality and diversity in business in the 2019 New Year’s honours list, was announced as the most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic technology leader in the UK by the Financial Times and Inclusive Boards in 2018. He has featured in the Black Powerlist and Empower list on multiple occasions.
In January 2021, Adrian joined the UK AI Council following prime ministerial approval, where he advises on the national AI strategy, and joined the Board of Direct Line Group as a Non-Executive Director. He holds a degree in econometrics, an MBA with distinction and an honorary doctorate in business management.
Adrian is the Head of Inclusive Game Design at Activision Blizzard. Since 2009, he has worked with game teams as an engineer and designer, and now leads the efforts to improve inclusivity through innovation in gaming experiences and technology.With over 13 years in the Gaming industry, Adrian specialises in three critical pillars: Game Design, Accessibility, and DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). He understands that Game Design relies on Accessibility to reach a wider audience, Accessibility thrives on DE&I for empathy and education, and DE&I finds expression through Game Design. Adrian champions these interdependent aspects, making gaming more inclusive and diverse.
Alanzo Blackstock is the Senior Regional Director for the Alliance and Channel Ecosystem business in the UK and Ireland, with responsibility for delivering on ServiceNow transformational vision and business outcomes with ServiceNow partners.Prior to ServiceNow, Alanzo spent 3 years leading the VMware Channel organisation in the UK and Ireland, and prior to that he spent 12 years at Cisco in Professional Services, Sales and Partner Management roles. He describes himself as someone with passion and integrity, who thrives on acquiring new skills and experiences. Alanzo is an MBA graduate from Warwick Business School. He lives in Oxford with his wife and two boys.
Candice Brathwaite is an author, journalist, TV presenter, and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse – an online initiative that aims to ensure many more people see
themselves reflected online.
Candice started blogging in 2016 to tell her own motherhood story keen to show that young black families weren’t just surviving but thriving and her straight-talking, original content really struck a chord with fans and brands alike.
A self-confessed beauty and fashion obsessive Candice now has a regular style segment on Lorraine on ITV where she has become known for gently encouraging people to be bolder about embracing colour in their wardrobes. Candice is a Contributing Editor to Grazia and regularly appears on national radio and television news channels to talk about maternal mortality rates for black women in Britain.
Her debut book I Am Not Your Baby Mother - about being a black British mum – published in May 2020 by Quercus made the Sunday Times Bestseller list.
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Craig David is a critically acclaimed British singer-songwriter. Aged 18, he burst onto the scene with the garage classic 'Rewind' and, following the phenomenal success of his debut album Born To Do It, he has continued to top the charts over the past 22 years, amassing 17 million album sales and over 1 billion streams, to date.
Through his unique blend of R&B, garage, dance and pop, Craig has delighted his fans with live performances on stages across the world, while also becoming one of the biggest DJs on the dance scene with his TS5 sets, and his renowned pool parties in Ibiza. He has received 14 Brit Award nominations, two Grammy nominations, four MOBO awards, three Ivor Novellos honouring his songwriting and, most recently, an MBE for his services to music.
Craig remains one of the UK's most loved performers and is at the helm of his own distinctive, authentically British sound, making him one of the most successful artists in UK chart history.
I’m a business-owner, marketer, podcast host and proud South-Londoner.After working in architecture, design and digital media for 10 years and feeling for a large part of that time that I didn’t belong, I sought to create a business that would help bridge this gap and nurture talent. In 2021, I launched Found By Few, a Product and Design recruitment agency that not only finds world-class talent but lives and breathes diversity and inclusion.Since then, I’ve partnered with brands like JustEat and Linkedin as well universities, schools and charities across the country to help raise awareness around topics such as race, class, intersectionality, inclusion and accessibility. I run a careers podcast called ‘How To Get My Job’ which is available on Spotify, YouTube and LinkedIn. How To Get My Job asks leaders in their field how their careers started, evolved, and what advice they have for those coming after them. When not doing any of the above, you will find me binging true crime, walking the dog, playing tennis or taking a well-earned nap. www.foundbyfew.com
Emma Hoyle joined the King team as Chief People Officer in 2023, with more than 20 years of experience as a HR advisor and an extensive background in international HR strategy and the creative industries. Before joining King, Emma was Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Paramount where she led on complex projects across business transformation, employee relations, employee development, talent acquisition, M&A and organisational design. With a proven track record of developing high performing teams, Emma has also successfully spearheaded initiatives that focus on culture and engagement, with a specific aim of promoting diversity and inclusion in workplaces.Emma’s key priorities in her role at King are to lead the business during an exciting time for the industry and ensure that King has the right talent to continue to make and innovate its iconic games, played by millions around the world every day.
Fiona has been tackling big challenges head-on throughout her career starting in the digital discipline when digital was still a watch word. She is passionate about all things in the connected space, and has explored that passion extensively, currently heading up Social & Content for Ogilvy UK.
Her passion for connected communications has seen Fiona drive innovation at every opportunity, successfully rolling out automated communications programs for American Express in the UK, as well as leading the growth of digital and social as a discipline first for Ogilvy in Kenya and then later as the Social and Digital Lead across all of Ogilvy Africa’s Sub-Saharan Network. And while running the Ogilvy Nigeria office was appointed as Jury President in the category of Digital Innovation for the Pitcher Creative Awards (Cannes Lions Official Festival Representatives in Africa).
She has successfully steered creative teams to awards wins in the Loeries, African Cristals, APAs (Association of Practitioners in Advertising, Kenya), Dubai Lynx, BIMAs and the LAIF Awards (Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival).
Fiona is also Exec Sponsor of the Roots Network (ERG) within Ogilvy and supports in driving awareness of, and the adoption of Consumer Equality and inclusion in the creative space/industry.
Fisayo Longe is the founder of Kai Collective- a London-based brand of attainable clothing with luxury aesthetics, intentionally crafted for ultimate confidence. We make unique thoughtful pieces that fill the gap for statement high-quality pieces that don’t break the bank, and encourage our customer to take up space and embrace their individuality.
Folley Ogundele has 16 years of experience in fintech and finance, having most recently served as Head of EMEA Banking & Financial Product Sales at Stripe. As Vice President of Wise Platform, he now leads the sales organisation at Wise Platform, which currently partners with more than 70 banks and businesses globally.
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Digital Anthropologist. Tech Strategy Alchemist. Talent Space Maker. Iconic Brands Ways of Working Curator. Next Gen Collaborator.
Lisa Smith, a Deloitte Digital Partner and Unlimited Reality™ UK & NSE Practice Lead. Unlimited Reality™ is Deloitte's ground-breaking new offering focused on spatial computing, Web 3.0 (AR/VR), blockchain and generative Al experience integrations. Lisa spends her time helping global and UK headquartered brands develop new enterprise digital strategies in the face of emerging technology driven changes, whilst enabling the delivery of accelerated strategy across the enterprise the right way, the first time around with changes that stick.
As a Global Strategy and North South Europe Practice Lead for Unlimited Reality™, Lisa works not only as a Private Sector Consumer Partner, however, also partners to directly advise both the Public and Financial sectors CEOs and Boards of Directors regarding understanding future proof disruption of their businesses and how to prudently shape and deploy investment capital to achieve their enterprise transformation outcomes.
Lisa is also Deloitte’s partner sponsor for inclusion for the Consulting Business, where she is leading a DE&I agenda at scale with a focus on Intentional Inclusion by Design, Equality is not Equity and Diverse Intersectionality. Lisa also is a member of the Ethnicity Council and spends time supporting Deloitte’s partnership with Blueprint for All and the Prince's Trust.
Maktuno is a business transformation expert who has worked for the past two decades helping companies evolve for the future. He currently works as Global People Director for FTSE100 Advertising Agency WPP in their technology division - helping to drive the organisational aspect of their enterprise-wide digital transformation. He holds several non-exec positions, previously worked as a management consultant and has a background working as a psychologist in the health sector.
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