Chartered Director Conference 2026 - Turning intelligence to advantage

Currently the Head of Business operations and Change Management at Ericsson, Alexandra specialises in making complex, regulated systems work—at scale. Over 15+ years, she has operated across cyber, governance, transformation, and policy—working directly with C-suite leadership on how risk is managed, how compliance is embedded, and how strategy translates into execution. With global experience in technology, Fintech, healthcare, and government building functions, leading large-scale transformation and incident responses. Aligning risk, governance, and execution so organisations can move forward with confidence. Focus on how structure, leadership, and incentives shape outcomes, and why organisations often struggle not because of lack of expertise, but because of how they are organised to manage risk.

With a 35 year career in all aspects of Information Security Management Amanda takes a pragmatic approach to the application of security controls to meet business objectives. Through her work she has developed an extensive understanding of the commercial sector and its particular security needs. In her current role she works with Industry, Government and Academia, assisting all sectors in raising levels of competency and education.
Amanda has a Masters degree in Information Security, Full Membership CIISec and is a Fellow of the BCS. In 2007 she was awarded European Chief Information Security Officer of the year by Secure Computing magazine and frequently listed as one of the most influential women within the industry.

Anna is a macroeconomics and policy professional, and was most recently Deputy Chief Economist at the CBI. She brings a wealth of experience in macroeconomic and business survey analysis, as well as policy analysis and strategic planning. Anna previously worked in the Government Economic Service in various roles at the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury.

Dr. Beth Ahlering is an executive leader, management consultant and executive coach specialised in human capital and people consulting. She helps organisations maximise their leadership differential—the unique leadership capabilities that drive sustainable growth, transformation and competitive advantage. As a Regional Managing Director at Duke Corporate Education, she leads a client portfolio, business and team in human capital advisory and leadership development. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director at the Institute of Directors, where she advises on the IoD’s professional development offering. Formerly CEO of Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education Ltd and a consultant at KPMG People Consulting, Beth holds a PhD from Cambridge in Organisational Behaviour, and is passionate about unlocking leadership potential to create lasting organisational and societal impact.

Chris has over 40 years experience as a leader developing leaders in military, business and Government. He’s been a senior leader in major transformations from the creation of UBS, now a Harvard Case study, to London Underground PFI. At UBS he was instrumental in implementing Entrepreneurial Leadership for the first time in the corporate world. Chris expertise is in unlocking leaders hidden performance potential via his Accelerate Your Success roadmap to recover the 10%+ performance 80% of organisations are losing every day.
As a leadership speaker he has helped over 35,000 leaders across 31 counties be more effective. He has been named as one of HRs Most Influential Thinkers 10 times in annual awards, is a member of the HR Hall of Fame, on the Advisory Board of UCL School of Management and the BBCs “go to” business leadership expert with 248 interviews to date.

David works with Satalia’s most complex clients to identify where Satalia AI can unlock value. Then he helps the team deliver.
He demystifies tech, separates myth from reality, and gets clients started with AI. He leads proposition development, including AI for private equity and turnarounds.
As a technologist, he’s always helped match technology to business need, previously in disruptive and emerging tech, as a mentor to tech start-ups, in cyber security research, and in forensic technology.
He has advanced training in structured innovation, and runs workshops from “the art of the possible” to design sprints that deliver detailed project roadmaps.

Associate Professor of Change Management at Salford Business School’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation
Ann Mulhaney is an experienced academic and business transformation consultant with over 30 years dedicated to driving change and fostering innovation across academic, commercial, and public sectors. Holding a PhD in Organisational Transformation, Ann has built a career at the intersection of learning, leadership, and digital innovation.
She leads initiatives that integrate AI-driven learning solutions and government-backed programmes like Help to Grow Management, shaping the future of digital skills and sustainable business practices.
Her work is underpinned by a human-centric approach to innovation, reflected in numerous publications and keynote contributions on digital transformation, organisational resilience, and SME sustainability.

Dr Eelco Fiole has over three decades in international finance, including two decades as NED and C-level executive in alternative investments, wealth management and banking. He is founder (2015) and Managing Partner of Alpha Governance Partners, a boutique, global fiduciary partnership. A.o. he is an IFC nominee director candidate, Chair Switzerland of UHNWI-group Tiger21 and honorary professor in Finance Ethics (University of Neuchâtel). He has been involved in AI- and blockchain governance in finance since 2016 and is a Fellow and Chair Council of the IoD since 2025.

Through her practice Tollivar, Yoriko advises boards and senior leadership on AI assurance, accountability and systemic risk, particularly where failure carries legal, regulatory or geopolitical consequences and regulation is evolving. A former Expert-in-Residence at the Alan Turing Institute, she holds the AIGP certification and is a provisional ISO 42001 Lead Auditor. Author of an Oxford University Press monograph on sovereign and technological risk, and over 27 peer-reviewed publications. She has advised UN bodies, governments and international institutions over twenty years.

Dr. Philippe Vogeleer is a global executive with 25+ years of leadership in ICT, digital transformation, strategy, and impact investing. With a background in technology law, he has held senior roles at Deloitte, Orange, Ooredoo, and Vodafone, leading partnerships worldwide. He currently serves as Independent Non-Executive Director at Freedom Holding Corp. and advises Sumitomo Corporation. He also holds board roles at Verysell and chairs VeryPay. A member of IoD, NACD, and GSMA, he supports global initiatives as "Women in Tech" and "Global Citizen". Multilingual and highly educated, he brings extensive cross-cultural expertise and has received multiple international industry awards.

Dr. Vikas Shah has significant experience in founding, leading and exiting businesses to trade, private-equity and listed groups. Currently a Non-Executive Board Member of the UK Government's Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ), he also serves as a Non-Executive Director for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Institute of Directors, and Enspec Power. He is Co-Founder of leading venture lab Endgame and sits as Entrepreneur in Residence at The University of Manchester's Innovation Factory.
Vikas was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in the Queen's 2018 New Year's Honours List. In 2021, he became a Deputy Lieutenant of the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy.

Helping senior leaders develop the human edge which AI cannot replace. With 18 years of applied practice, Helen has delivered keynotes for executive audiences at Oxford, Cambridge, London Business School, Bayes and international stages across three continents. A former award-winning actor and founder of multiple companies, Helen brings rare presence, psychological depth and commercial clarity to leadership transformation. Her work supports high-performing leaders whose external success has outpaced their internal coherence, helping them lead with greater presence, resilience and impact.

Liz is the IoD's Special Adviser for Small Business and Entrepreneurship after previously being the UK Government Small Business Commissioner for three years. She has been a small business, personal finance and consumer affairs broadcaster, journalist, writer and author, and is a communications skills coach, and international and national conference speaker and facilitator. Liz also has a wealth of experience as a chair and NED on boards in the private and charity sectors.

Mario is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and a leading voice on AI strategy and governance for Boards and senior business leaders. Over a three-decade career spanning software engineering, CEO and Board positions, and now as Head of Applied AI & Emerging Technology Strategy at Amazon Web Services (AWS), he has developed The Complete AI Adoption Framework, Minimum Lovable Governance, and the AI Sovereignty Trilemma. He is the author of The Great Remaking series and the MCP DNS Registry Architecture whitepaper. An international speaker, he guest lectures at the London School of Economics.

Raphael is an economist specialising in finance, management science, and AI. He has 30 years of experience advising firms, governments, regulators and central banks across Europe and internationally. His work spans energy, utilities, transport, telecommunications, and financial markets. He has published extensively in leading academic journals and co-authored a Cambridge University Press monograph on econometric modelling of financial time series. He currently co-leads the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey for the UK. He is a member of the Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) at UEA, a Faculty Advisor for Harvard Business Publishing, and a Fellow of the British Academy of Management.

For over a decade, Rob has shaped the AI agenda as a board advisor, keynote speaker, industry commentator, and an evangelist for the responsible and ethical adoption of technology and its impact upon society. He shapes national and international dialogue on AI through his work with leaders, policymakers, trade bodies, and academia. He’s a Senior Visiting Fellow at Bayes Business School, and a founding member of the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI. HR Magazine ranks him as an ‘HR Most Influential Thinker’, and he’s widely recognised as one of the world’s most influential voices in AI.

Showcased by the Northern Engineering and Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC), Spot is a mobile robot developed by Boston Dynamics. Built for inspection, data collection and automation, Spot demonstrates how robotics can help industry improve safety, efficiency and operational performance.