Liverpool City Region AI Summit

Baltic Ventures is a tech accelerator and angel syndicate on a mission to support game-changing digital tech founders who are building the solutions and businesses of tomorrow. From our base in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, we accelerate early-stage tech businesses with global ambition.

Baltic Ventures CEO Claire Lewis will be in the business support networking area over the lunch break for anyone wanting to chat about start-ups and investment.

Innovate UK Business Growth (previously Innovate UK EDGE) is a key part of the UK innovation agency’s deep investment in the pioneering businesses that drive economic growth. It is a publicly-funded service available to all high potential small to medium sized innovation-driven companies, including Innovate UK grant winners.

Come and visit us to find out about building your capacity for innovation to grow and scale, sourcing funding and support to enter new markets.

At Leaf AI, we’re passionate about creating meaningful connections through technology. Our latest venture, Lola, is more than just a chatbot, it’s a digital companion designed to enhance well-being, foster reminiscence, and provide a lifeline for those who may feel socially isolated.

Come visit us to find out about our plans to further develop Lola Cares into a tool that can make a real difference to the lives of a wide range of people, including care staff, care home residents and their wider families.

MyCardium AI is leading the way in transforming cardiovascular scanning by harnessing artificial intelligence developed by clinicians to improve the accuracy, precision, and consistency of diagnostic imaging. Our flagship products, EchoConfidence and 1CMR, represent breakthroughs in echocardiography and MRI, providing highly accurate automated measurements with ease. Recognized by awards from Tech Climbers and the Merseyside Independent Business Awards, we are committed to driving innovation and excellence in healthcare technology.

Come and visit us to find out about Innovation in AI Cardiac imaging software.

University of Liverpool Enterprise brings together some of the world’s brightest minds and shapes new products and technologies that can make a difference not only in our communities but on a global scale. The University of Liverpool Enterprise Team plays a critical role in connecting new ideas to the people, processes, and ecosystems that can support them to grow.

UST is a global digital transformation solutions provider. For more than 20 years, UST has worked side by side with the world’s best companies to make a real impact through transformation. Powered by technology, inspired by people and led by purpose, UST partners with their clients from design to operation. With deep domain expertise and a future-proof philosophy, UST embeds innovation and agility into their clients’ organizations. With over 30K+ employees in 30+ countries, UST builds for boundless impact—touching billions of lives in the process.

UST will be demonstrating our Knowledge Graph GenAI platform. This enables organisations to produce detailed pictures of their entire enterprise and allows complex data querying using simple, non-technical chat bot interface.

Katherine took up post as Chief Executive of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority in June 2021.

As lead advisor to the Metro Mayor her role involves strategic engagement and close working with the City Region’s six Local Authorities, national government, partners in business, civic institutions, and the wider community.

She has responsibility for all functions of the Combined Authority, including Strategic Investment and Business Growth, Fairness and Inclusion, Employment and Skills, Culture, Transport, Housing and Homelessness.

Katherine joined the CA from Cumbria County Council, where she had been Chief Executive since 2017. Prior to this she held a number of senior posts at Warrington Borough Council and Wigan Council.

She has a proven track record in strategic change leadership, service improvement and transformation, priding herself on building strong relationships with elected members, employees, partners and stakeholders to deliver the best for communities.

John is a collaborative place leader with nearly 30 years’ experience of “making things happen” and pioneering economic development at the interface between public, private, and higher education sectors.

For the last 10 years, he has championed and coordinated all aspects of the Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) innovation agenda and ecosystem, latterly within the Combined Authority. John’s primary role is to catalyse partnerships, policies, and programmes to maximise the LCR’s distinctive, world-leading innovation assets and capabilities, realise the headline target of investing 5% of GVA in R&D a year by 2030, and drive transformational economic growth. As a result, the LCR is now at the forefront of UK place-based innovation, with innovation a clear primary Mayoral and regional priority.

John also led the LCR’s first ever Digital Strategy & Action Plan, and initial development of the 212km “LCR Connect” fibre backhaul network delivered via a novel Joint Venture and “dig once” approach. Previously, he worked at the LCR Local Enterprise Partnership, Liverpool Vision, and St. Helens Council, where he led a series of successful programmes, including the national City Growth Strategy pilot, plus delivery of the landmark, multi-award-winning Dream sculpture by Jaume Plensa overlooking the M62s, commissioned by local ex-miners as part of Channel 4’s “Big Art Project”.

Prior to local government, John spent 2 years working for the European Commission in Brussels, has also lived and worked in Germany, the USA, and Canada, and speaks German and French. In a voluntary capacity he is Chair of Future Yard CIC, whose mission is to positively transform both Birkenhead and the nature of what a UK grassroots music venue does, based on the founding principle that music can change the world.

Jermaine Foster has fine-tuned his hosting skills by performing on stages in America, Canada, Alaska, the Caribbean and countries across Europe. 

Most recently Jermaine was part of the hosting team for the naming of the Cunard Queen Anne which saw thousands gather at Liverpool’s Pier Head. 

For the last two years he has been the face and producer of BBC Merseyside’s social media content and, prior to that, he was the host of his own Monday to Friday Evening Show.

Jermaine was born in Birmingham but has lived in Liverpool for half his life, making him half Scouse, half Brummie – a Scrummy, as he likes to call himself.

Dr Nicola Hodson was appointed Chief Executive, IBM UK and Ireland, in January 2023, where she is responsible for the company’s business operations.  

Dr Hodson is an accomplished technology industry leader with a deep understanding of the challenges facing UK plc, as well as extensive experience in business and digital transformation. In June 2023, Dr Hodson ranked highly in Computer Weekly’s list of the 50 most influential people in UK technology.  

Dr Hodson held senior positions at Microsoft for 14 years, including as a global Vice President of Transformation for the commercial business, UK Chief Operating Officer and as head of its UK Public Sector business. 

Dr Hodson is Deputy President of techUK, the trade association for the IT industry, and has a wide breadth of experience, serving on the boards of Beazley plc and Drax Group plc, and is a governor of Bradfield College. 

Formerly, she worked in the IT and business services division of Siemens, at CSC (now DXC), as a management consultant for EY and at BNFL. 

She previously served as a non-executive director at energy regulator Ofgem, as a board member at the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, and at the CEOP group in the UK. Dr Hodson holds an MBA and a PhD in Engineering.

As founder and CEO of the Hamburg AI Center (ARIC), Alois Krtil builds a bridge between business and science and promotes collaboration between over 50 members from industry, 200 scientists and 100 international partners. With a background in computer science and industrial engineering, Alois Krtil has previously led more than 300 deep tech digitization projects. He has also been CTO of the German e-learning provider PINKTUM since 2023. As a recognized AI and technology expert, he advises the German Federal Government, is a member of the Quantum Computing Advisory Board of the DLR and holds a seat on various committees and supervisory boards. He is also a keynote speaker and lecturer.

Sital directs the digital inclusion delivery service for the National Digital Inclusion Network, leading on Product & Services, Network Support, Recruitment & Activation and Community Engagement & Experience. She ensures service delivery is mission-led, effective and efficient, delivering positive outcomes for digitally excluded people and the thousands of community organisations who support them. 
 
Prior to Good Things Foundation, Sital worked in several operational roles in the Retail sector supporting a national network of stores with communications, processes and procedures. Notably, she delivered Asda’s local community programme, working with 300 colleagues based in stores across the UK.

Sara is Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Innovate UK. 

Sara works to identify, support and accelerate high growth-potential innovation in the UK, based on cutting-edge AI and data research and technology. She is passionate about diversity in STEM and digital inclusion. 

With a background in computer science, Sara has significant commercial digital experience working in the third and private sectors. Prior to joining Innovate UK, she worked as an AI consultant advising global organisations on AI development strategies and implementation. 

Erika Lewis joined Catapult from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in March 2024 as Chief Executive Officer. 

In July 2023, Erika was appointed the CEO of the AI Safety Summit. This was a world first event and brought together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and experts in research to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action. 

The Summit was the culmination of a busy 5 years in central government, Erika joined the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2018 to deliver the National Data Strategy. In October 2019, she moved to the role of Director, Cyber Security and Digital Identity, where she led on the economic support for the cyber sector, the development of security approaches for consumer IoT, the government work on Secure Connected Places and Digital Identity in the economy. In 2020, she also led DCMS on the Covid-19 response package for the Voluntary Sector and in 2023, led the initial transition programme for the newly formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. 

Before moving into central government in 2012, Erika became a Project Director at the Competition and Markets Authority, where she was responsible for both merger and market investigations. Most notably, she ran an Energy Market Investigation and a Private Motor Insurance Market Investigation. 

Erika was a part of the set-up team for the London Development Agency (LDA) in April 2000. Staying for 12 years at the LDA, she delivered regeneration programmes across London and was subsequently the Director of Strategy.

Pete was first appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and was Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland and Chair of  the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, where he has served on the high-profile Carillion and Thomas Cook inquiries.

Peter also chaired the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Southern Rail, and on Further Education and Lifelong Learning.

Marina Tcharnetsky has over 20 years of experience in strategic and operational management in various company sizes and cultures, from SMEs and listed corporations to technology and innovation-oriented start-ups. She is Ambassador and CBDO of the Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg (ARIC), where she focuses on the topics of the future of work, AI literacy and AI against skills shortages. She studied in Germany and Canada, holds a degree in economics and studied business informatics.

Andy Cooper FRS is a Royal Society Research Professor. He is also the Academic Director of the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) at the University of Liverpool, the Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Functional Materials Design, and a Co-Director of the EPSRC AI for Chemistry Hub, AIchemy. His research interests are materials, chemical synthesis, robotics, and AI.  His particular focus is organic materials, supramolecular chemistry, and materials for energy production and molecular separation. This is underpinned by a strong technical interest in automation and robotics, as embodied by the world’s first ‘mobile robotic chemist’ (Nature, 2020, 583, 237). 

A unifying theme in his research is the close fusion of computational prediction and experiment to discover new materials with step-change properties (Nature, 2011, 474, 367; Nature, 2017, 543, 657; Nature, 2024, 630, 102).  He was awarded the Royal Society Hughes Medal (2019) and the RSC Interdisciplinary Prize for combining autonomous robotics with chemistry (2021). He was also awarded the Super Artificial Intelligence Leader (SAIL) Award at the 2021 World AI Conference, Shanghai – the previous recipient was IBM Research.  Since 2019, Andy has also served as Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Science, the RSC’s flagship chemistry journal.

Dr. Rob Firth is a Senior Research Scientist in the Artificial Intelligence Group at the STFC Hartree Centre. His current research interests are in Applied Deep Learning; in particular Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Foundation Models, Explainability, and combining Large Language Models with Knowledge Graphs; in addition he Chairs the The Hartree Centre’s Ethical AI and Responsible Innovation Working Group. He holds a Master’s degree in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Sheffield, and received his PhD in Physics from the University of Southampton in 2017; subsequently taking up a postdoctoral position within the School of Physics and Astronomy before joining The Hartree Centre. 

The Hartree Centre helps UK businesses and public sector organisations to explore and adopt supercomputing, data science, cloud and AI technologies for enhanced productivity, smarter innovation and economic growth.  

Backed by UK Government funding and industry partnerships, it’s home to some of the most advanced digital technologies and experts in the UK.

Antony is Chief Operating Officer, Co-Founder and Director of an innovative AI Company at MyCardium AI. He manages the day-to-day operations of a business of 40+ people across a variety of disciplines, regulatory, commercial and technical to deliver business objectives.

With an impressive track record spanning over two decades in the tech sector, Rob has held many diverse roles, ranging from internal IT positions to professional services, architecture, CTO, and finally, his current position as Chief Technologist for CDW.

Rob started out fixing PCs and supporting local businesses in his early life in IT, before moving into an enterprise IT team. There he was able to test his technical capabilities by deploying solutions covering enterprise networking, shared storage, early virtualisation with VMware, and server and application migrations in the windows space, and into the end user space with Citrix and other thin client technologies.

Crossing over to the reseller space allowed Rob to leverage his enterprise IT experience to help organisations of all shapes and sizes. He did this firstly as an implementation engineer and then as a Solutions Architect, helping organisations from all sectors and of all sizes adopt the latest infrastructure, cloud, and workspace technologies.

It was during this time the realisation hit that he had the ability to communicate at both a technical and business-outcome level, and a unique talent for simplifying complex challenges into clear and actionable business outcomes. This allowed organisations to easily understand the value of technology as a route to strategic outcomes.

The final part of Rob’s journey, before CDW, involved roles as CTO and Chief Technologist, setting the strategy and direction for the organisations he was in, as well as working with customers and C-level executives to guide and align technology to outcomes. Taking one organisation through an acquisition provided a whole new set of skills and experiences.

All this experience has been focused on a core belief that technology should be a force for transformation in all organisations, and that IT teams should be enabled to focus on innovation. How we unlock that potential is his what drives Rob.

Sue leads techUK’s Technology and Innovation work.

This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy. She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly’s UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame. A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK Sue is co-chair of the UK government’s National Data Strategy Forum. As well as being recognised in the UK’s Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.

Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec’s Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has a BA degree in History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham.

Professor Katie Atkinson is Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Sustainability Research at the University of Liverpool. Katie has been conducting foundational and interdisciplinary research on artificial intelligence over the past 20 years, focussing on the fields of computational models of argument and AI & Law. Katie has published over one hundred and fifty articles in peer-reviewed conference proceedings and journals, and has also applied her work in a variety of industrial projects with large and small companies. She is currently developing explainable AI for modelling legal reasoning and also works on projects to develop AI for the task of digitally supported materials discovery. Katie served as President of the International Association for AI and Law in 2016-2017 and since 2020 she has served as a member of the Lawtech UK Panel, a government-backed initiative to help transform the UK legal sector through technology. Katie holds the role of Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Artificial Intelligence and Law journal and in 2024 she was appointed to the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board for the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice.

Sean is a Partner in the CyXcel team at Weightmans LLP and is ranked as a ‘Leading Individual’ by Legal 500.  He advises many high profile clients upon a wide range of major, strategic and complex data, IT, AI, security, commercial, intellectual property and media and entertainment issues ranging from GDPR compliance to strategic dataflow, data sharing and contractual frameworks; ethical use of AI and commercialisation of data; use of strategic data; complex international data transfers; and the procurement and negotiation of multimillion pound IT contracts. 

Examples of Sean’s experience includes advising in relation to the MyLicence project (one the UK’s largest ever data projects which included a revolutionary collaboration between the MIB, the UK insurance industry and the DVLA); advising upon data sharing arrangements in relation to the Infected Blood Inquiry; advising local authorities and police forces upon the national sharing of personal data to facilitate the enforcement of COVID-19 related legislation; and advising in relation to multimillion Software Development Agreements for AAA video games.

Heather Dawe leads the UK data science team at UST. In a career that has spanned multiple industries and disciplines, she has consistently sought out and delivered innovative ways to use data, AI and technology to improve people’s lives. Heather is a significant contributor to discussions around the ethics of AI and is a published author in this space with her book ‘Responsible AI in the Enterprise’.

Nimmi Patel is the Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK. She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.

She holds an MA in Strategic Communications at King’s College London and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester. She is currently taking part in the 2024-25 University of Bath Institute for Policy Research Policy Fellowship Programme.

Zephaniah has been working in the Technology industry for over a decade.

He’s successfully taken new products, services, and business models into customer and partner ecosystems. From mainstreaming Surface devices into B2B, the transition away from traditional software licensing models, to building out and taking Data & AI strategy and solutions to market.

Zephaniah has lead teams across multiple functions, building rapport and lasting relationships to achieve our goals. The strength of any team and indeed any organisation is of course its people and a culture and environment that allows them to do their best work.

He’s taken the opportunity to shape culture through leading Microsoft UK’s EMBRACE network – creating and leading on cultural change and management initiatives that have been adopted in the UK and wider EMEA subsidiaries, ensuring that people can come and do their best work and have the largest impact possible.

James is the founder of Inversity – a Liverpool-based company which equips people aged 16+ with the AI skills to thrive in their careers. Before this, James has spent most of his career in AI – starting in research looking at neural networks in ferrets brains at Oxford University back in 2011, building the Prime Minister’s Data Science team in 10 Downing Street in 2020, then being the Chief Technology Officer of a large Regiment.

Before joining the world of EdTech Tom spent almost a decade teaching mathematics at secondary school level in the UK as well as abroad in an international British school. During this time he held numerous roles including head of department, head of year, assistant principal and school governor. As Chief Education Officer Tom leads on all pedagogical aspects of our work in over 1000 schools across more than 60 countries. He supports schools in primary, secondary, FE and independent sectors.

David is an Investment Director at River Capital and leads the North’s first dedicated AI fund that launched in October 2022. Through the fund he focuses on investments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. 

David has over 10 years of experience combining investment and operational roles and prior to joining River Capital, held leadership positions that allowed him to develop deep expertise in AI and technology-enabled businesses. He has also served as an award winning Chief Technology Officer for a number of private equity-backed, tech-enabled companies 

With his unique blend of investment, operational, and technical experience, David is well-positioned to identify and nurture promising AI and data science companies through fund: AI across the North of England.

Alex Moretti is the CEO and co-founder of Fallen Planet Studios, an independent developer and publisher focused solely on XR games and experiences since 2014.

Fallen Planet Studios has released titles on all major VR headsets, as well as developing additional revenue streams through the licensing of their original AFFECTED IP. Fallen Planet Studios creates and deploys its titles through their proprietary toolsets and custom systems, designed specifically for spatial development.

Ben has over 15 years of experience in the veterinary field, he is passionate about improving the health and well-being of pets and their owners. He has developed expertise in veterinary surgery, leadership, innovation and public speaking with a proven track record and a trade sale exit from my first business in 2019.

At VidiVet, he leads a team of dedicated and talented people/ from veterinarians to developers, product gurus to marketers; all of whom share his vision of making pet health accessible, convenient, and affordable while keeping the vet clinic at the centre of the customer journey.

They have launched an innovative app in 2021 and have already received positive feedback from thousands of users.

He engages with a diverse and global audience of veterinary & pet professionals and enthusiasts, and share insights, stories, and advice.

Rob Parsons is editor of The Northern Agenda, a daily email newsletter about politics and public affairs in the North of England. He was previously Political Editor of The Yorkshire Post.

Professor Iain Buchan is a public health physician and data scientist, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Director of the Civic Health Innovation Labs at the University of Liverpool.

He studied medicine at Liverpool (birthplace) alongside pharmacology, while engineering statistical software, he researched medical informatics and the social dynamics of health systems as a junior doctor in the 90s, while building systems that bridged primary-secondary care workflows. Trained as a Public Health Consultant in Cambridge in the late 90s while competing a doctorate in computational statistics.

Joined University of Manchester in 2003 and built one of the UK’s most successful health informatics research groups over the next 14 years, including founding an MRC Centre and originating impactful real-world applications such as the #DataSavesLives movement and www.connectedhealthcities.org. Conceived the eLab and Research Object framework (now Learning Health Systems and Trusted Research Environments), and the Health Avatar. One of the first to harness statistically-principled machine learning for epidemiology.

He returned to Liverpool in 2018, after a year out in industry, to advance civic data science and AI for health and social wellbeing. Created the UK’s first Civic Data Cooperative and the Combined Intelligence for Population Health Action system. Led the world’s first evaluation of voluntary mass testing with lateral flow devices in the COVID-19 pandemic. Led the world’s only realistic risk-mitigated reopening of mass cultural events during COVID-19 restrictions.

He also raised over £220m of research funding and published over 340 works.

Fellow of American College of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Public Health, Royal Statistical Society, British Computer Society and Faculty of Clinical Informatics. Recipient of the Faculty of Public Health Alwyn-Smith medal in 2022 and Royal Statistical Society Florence Nightingale award in 2023.

Details to be updated shortly.

Business brain for social gain. Richard an innovation enabler, a force multiplier and experienced Strategic Thinker, Programmes Manager and Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the health care industry. Leveraging capability of the Hartree Centre’s AI, Quantum and HPC for the public sector and industry. Skilled in Business Planning, Coaching, Management, Healthcare, and Digital Innovation. Strong strategic innovation professional with a Master of Science (MSc) focused in Assistive Technology from Coventry University and an expert in Models of Technology Adoption and scale-up.

Simon, an ophthalmologist with over 25 years experience, is one of the world’s foremost researchers in diabetic retinopathy. He has served as President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Eye Complications and advises the WHO. He was integral to the development of the UK’s world-leading national diabetic retinopathy screening programme.

Founder, Scenegraph Studios

Iain Hennessey is a consultant paediatric surgeon and clinical director of innovation at the new Alder Hey Children’s Health Park. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with honours degrees in Medicine, Surgery and Anatomical sciences, before going on to train as a paediatric surgeon in the United Kingdom and Australia.

He has been passionately driving technological advances in children’s healthcare. From pioneering point of care 3D printing, to artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and imaging technologies.

Notable achievements have included forming partnerships with large multi national companies such as Sony and IBM, building a unique underground 1000sqm innovation facility for collaboration with the technology sector and forming a diverse team to accelerate change within the NHS. All of this was recognised nationally with the prestigious Health Service Journal Improving care with technology award.

Mark Thompson is the Co-Founder and Chief Technologist of PsiQuantum, and has over 20 years’ experience in photonic and quantum technologies. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree in physics from the University of Sheffield. He has held positions at Corning, Bookham Technology (the first silicon photonics start- up), and Toshiba (where he was part of setting up Toshiba’s silicon photonics program), and faculty positions at Cambridge University and Bristol University. He established and was Director of the Bristol Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training (QECDT), the Bristol Quantum Technology Enterprise Center (QuTEC) and QETlabs. He also has been awarded prestigious UK and European fellowships and prizes, and has more than 100 publications and patents.