AI Insights navigating strategic and regulatory frontiers

OpenUK CEO, Amanda Brock’s built one of open source's most recognised and impactful organisations.  Executive Producer of State of Open Con (2023- 2025), Amanda’s a globally sought-after keynote speaker.

A lawyer with 25 years’ experience, 5 as GC of Canonical, she’s been instrumental in shaping open source’s legal frameworks, as she was internet law during the early 2000’s.
Regularly contributing to tech press, she edited “Open Source: Law, Policy and Practice”, (2022).
Recognition: Computer Weekly 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech (2023, 2024) listed as #20 in 2024; Computing IT Leaders 100 (2023, 2024); Lifetime Achievement Award WIPL (2022); Women Who Will Changemaker (2023); INvolve Heroes (2022, 2023); and Novi Awards (2024) and Ambassador, Open Charge Alliance.

Advisory Appointments: UK Cabinet Office Open Standards Board; UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure; UKRI Exascale; KDE; commercial boards – Mimoto, Scarf, FerretDB and Space Aye; and is Fellow Open Forum Academy; Distinguished Fellow Rust Foundation; and European Representative, OIN.

Aster is the Senior Partner of Addleshaw Goddard, the international law firm.
Addleshaw Goddard has 2,700 staff across 19 offices in 12 jurisdictions. The firm is trusted by over 5,000 major organisations, including 51 FTSE 100 companies, to solve problems, deliver deals, defend rights, comply with regulations and mitigate risk, over more than 50 areas of business law.
As Senior Partner, Aster works alongside his Partners globally to help build meaningful and long-lasting client relationships. His key areas of focus are the delivery of Quality, Imagination and Impact for the firm's clients, driving Addleshaw Goddard's strategic ambitions in key markets around the world, protecting and strengthening the firm's culture, and leading its governance as chair of the firm's Board.
Aster is a member of the TheCityUK's Leadership Council, the CBI's President's Committee, and the Board of the City of London Law Society. He is also Chair of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and the immediate past-Chair of the IBA's Future of Legal Services Commission.

Throughout his distinguished career as a Technology Entrepreneur, Faisal has focussed on the business implications and social benefits of technology rather than the technology itself.

As Chair of the IoD Expert Advisory Group on Science, Innovation and Technology, Faisal brings together the extraordinary knowledge, experience, and skills of the IoD membership to provide proactive advice to the IoD Policy & Governance Unit and distil that knowledge for the broader IoD membership.

Ike Nwankwo, MSc, MBA, PMP, is the Chair of the PMI Board of Directors. He has served on the PMI Board since 2021. He is a long-time PMI volunteer and past president of the PMI chapter in Nigeria, past PMI Region Mentor for Africa and the immediate past Chair of PMI’s Governance Committee.

Nwankwo is the managing director of Distinct Management, Ltd, an independent project management consultancy focusing on information technology, construction, and business transformation. Throughout his more than 25-year career, he has managed portfolios and led the delivery of multi-million-dollar projects and programs across multiple sectors, for a diverse range of multinational organizations across the United Kingdom and Africa.

He is a motivated professional speaker, and he has co-authored a book on global leadership, entitled “Developing Global Leaders: Insights from African Case Studies.”
Nwankwo holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Architecture, both from the University of Nigeria, as well as an MBA from Middlesex University Business School, United Kingdom. He is a graduate of the PMI Leadership Institute Master Class of 2016.

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. His core policy focus is on digital technology for the public good with a particular interest in technologies such as AI and blockchain.

In Parliament, he specializes in legislation that deals with technology. He is a member of the Special Bill Committee considering Digital Asset legislation. He introduced a private members’ bill that proposed the regulation of artificial intelligence and was integral to the passing of the ground-breaking Electronic Trade Documents Bill.

On technology, he has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies [2020], Artificial Intelligence [2018], and Digital Skills [2015] and under his own auspices published an influential report encouraging government testing of blockchain solutions for policy delivery, DLT for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation [2017] He is also adviser to several tech and fintech companies.

On inclusion, and again under his own auspices, he has published influential reports on accessibility in the public realm and support for disabled students as well as Lords reports on Financial Exclusion [2017], Social Mobility [2016] and, for the Cabinet Office, The Lord Holmes Review on opening up public appointments to disabled people. He continues to advise the government on diversity and inclusion.

An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

Sara El-Hanfy is Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Innovate UK, a part of UK Research & Innovation. Sara works to identify, support and accelerate high growth-potential innovation in the UK, based on cutting-edge AI and data research and technology.
Sara studied at the University of Wales, Swansea where she obtained an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Sara has more than 15 years’ commercial digital experience, working for NGOs and in the private sector. For the last seven years, she has focused on machine intelligence. Prior to joining Innovate UK, she worked as an AI Consultant advising global organisations on AI development strategies and implementation.
Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy – delivering productivity, new jobs and exports keeping the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity.

Uloaku (Ula) Ojiaku is the Founder & CEO of Mezahab Group, a global consultancy focused on empowering boards and senior leaders to develop and implement their AI strategy and AI governance in alignment with their (the client's) organisational context and goals. Ula is the Institute of Directors (IoD) Kent Chapter Ambassador for Engineering & Technology, a member of Women in AI, a Forbes Council Member and Contributor, as well as a WIMBoard Fellow. Certified in the independent audit of AI systems and passionate about shaping the future of technology for good, Ula regularly reviews and contributes to the ongoing development of various AI governance standards and frameworks in the public and private sectors. She holds an MSc in Computer Science from the University College London (UCL) and a BEng in Electronics Engineering. Ula hosts the Agile Innovation Leaders podcast, featuring conversations with thought leaders on AI, strategy and innovation.