Daniel Hulme  [Keynote Speaker]

CEO of Satalia

Daniel Hulme is the CEO of Satalia, a London-based company that provides Artificial Intelligence (AI). He is also the Director of UCL’s Business Analytics MSc, applying AI to solve business and social problems.

Hulme specialises in philosophy, technology, innovation and organisational design. He is passionate about how technology can be used to govern organisations and bring positive social impact. Hulme’s work outlines a framework for understanding data-driven decision making. He understands the capabilities of AI but also the future challenges and opportunities for AI, and how and why we need to embrace these emerging technologies.

Hulme’s expertise also spans both the philosophical and ethical issues surrounding these emerging technologies.

Julie Berry

IT Partner Saffery Champness

Julie Berry joined Saffery Champness in September 2018 as the IT Partner. Julie has responsibility for leading and developing technology from a client service, operational and strategic point of view.
Julie brings over 25 years’ experience of leading and managing IT in a professional services organisation.

The strategic use of technology underpins the firm’s business plans and continues to enhance and support the day to day requirements to deliver outstanding client service. Julie is involved in and leads strategic projects to further enhance the services the firm offers to its clients.
Julie is involved with various groups which target achieving diversity in the world of technology.

Christina Blacklaws

President of the law society

Christina studied Jurisprudence at Oxford and qualified as a solicitor in 1991. She has developed and managed law firms including a virtual law firm and set up the first ABS with the Co-op. More recently, she was Director of Innovation at a top 100 firm.

She now runs her own consultancy business providing strategic advice particularly in the area of transformational change, technological developments and diversity and inclusion.

She holds a range of public appointments including chair of the LawTech Delivery Panel, chair of the Next Generation Services Advisory Group, part of Innovate UK, member of the Legal Support Advisory Group and of the Family Justice Council.

Christina was President of the Law Society of England and Wales until July 2019 and performed a huge range of ambassadorial and representative functions both domestically and internationally.

She is passionate about diversity and inclusion, technology and access to justice and uses every opportunity to advocate and progress positive change in these areas.

On diversity and inclusion, Christina developed and led a programme focussed on women in leadership in law. The project produced the largest ever global survey, two toolkits which supported over 250 roundtables in 22 jurisdictions and led to 3 insight reports and a Women in Law Pledge backed by the government and all legal representative bodies.

Christina is a multi-award winning (for innovation and diversity and inclusion) published author, speaker and lecturer and frequent media commentator.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/about-us/chief-executive-office-holders/president/

Connie Brenton

Chief of Staff/Sr. Director of Legal Operations at NetApp

There is a paradigm shift happening in the legal industry and Connie’s ideas and passion for cutting edge transformation transcend across the industry and entire legal ecosystem. By leading the transformation in a new role in the industry that brings together business and legal, Connie is able to create efficiencies across organizations and work in a completely different manner.

As the trusted advisor to the general counsel, she guides a global team in creating a wide variety of tools, programs, policies, and processes, including eBilling, matter management, operational dashboards, legal spend management, vendor management, and contract management. Her position enables her to utilize previously unheard of cross functional teams including inside / outside counsel, 3rd party providers, managed service providers and technology to exceed goals.

Connie founded the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) and served as the Chief Executive Officer for the organization’s first three years, taking the organization from a membership of 40 to 2,000. Connie was named a Market Shaper by The Financial Times in 2018 and named to the 100 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley, a Top Ten Deputy General Counsel in California and was recognized as LegalTech’s Law Department Operations Manager of the Year.

Adam Conlon

Former Royal Artillery Army Officer

Adam Conlon is a former Royal Artillery Army Officer, Afghanistan veteran and experienced inspirational speaker whose stories reveal the lighter side of what life and leading soldiers on the frontline is really like. His first-hand accounts convey the human side of the military, a side that is very rarely revealed.
With no previous military experience Adam joined the Army is 2004 and immediately found that beneath the surface of this very serious looking institution was an incredible world of humour that fuelled camaraderie and teamwork.

The famous comedian and former Royal Artillery soldier, Spike Milligan, famously said in his memories recounting his experiences of the Second World War “that laughter was, I’m sure, the key to victory”. Using his own first-hand accounts as an Officer leading soldiers on the front line in Afghanistan, Adam’s compelling stories explain how the ability to laugh and keep going when the going gets tough is still just as pertinent and still a powerful tool today.

During 2007 – 2009 Adam deployed to Afghanistan on two operational tours. During his first tour he led 30 soldiers on mobile missions across uncharted areas of Helmand Province while being hunted by the Taliban during one of the worst winters in recorded Afghan history. Exposed to the brutal elements Adam’s troop lived on hard routine through freezing conditions while moving across Helmand, providing Artillery support to ground troops. One mission in particular lasted forty-five days and supported the eventual liberation of the strategically important town of Musa Qalah. Keeping morale high in the troop during these dangerous and difficult conditions in the middle of Taliban controlled heartland was vital and Adam’s talks prove how important humour and keeping spirits high really was.

Adam deployed to Afghanistan again in the summer of 2009 during one of the deadliest periods for British troops as a Forward Operational Officer embedded with the infantry. This tour was during the summer months and temperatures regularly remained above 50 degrees centigrade which made operating in highly dangerous situations a real challenge. Again having a sense of humour was used time and time again to help overcome huge adversity.

If there is one thing soldiers do better than anyone else it’s the ability to take photos and videos of themselves, often in dangerous situations. As a result Adam now has a collection of incredible images and video footage to create an astonishing visual backdrop to his talks, providing an in-depth experience of life on the frontline.

Sebastian Hartmann

After several years in Operations Consulting working for DAX and Fortune 500 as well as midcaps in Germany, Europe, Asia and the US, Sebastian began to notice the immense paradigm shift that his own industry was experiencing:

For over 10 years he has focused on the strategic management, innovation and operational challenges of Professional Service Firms – driven by evolving client demands, digital technologies, evolving business models and a quickly changing competitive landscape. He considers professional services one of the most exciting fields to be in now and for years to come.

At KPMG, one of the largest professional service firms in the world, Sebastian and his teams and enjoy working on the combination of a business portfolio strategy and their global technology landscape in coherent strategic action.   Sebastian’s focus is at the frontier of the developments of their industry.

Sebastian also advises selected leading professional service firms, e.g. some of the top law firms and legal service providers, consulting and research firms, leading creative and marketing agencies, technical design and assurance firms as well as other players in adjacent fields.

Joseph Hedegaard Ganly
Saepio Information Security

Having specialised in cyber warfare and the nation state threat at the national security centre at the University of Oslo, Joseph is now working with Saepio Information Security to help firms quantify their risk in the modern threat arena.

Kari Lawler

Entrepreneur for the Future

Kari Lawler was accepted onto the Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) incubator at just 14 years old, where she became the youngest ever start-up and entrepreneur on the Innovation Birmingham campus.

Now, at 16 years old and with the guidance and mentorship from Barclays Eagle Labs she is utilising this knowledge to help start-ups to large enterprises understand and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) within their businesses, through development, education and training.

Kari’s rapid rise within the tech world has been acknowledged with multiple awards, including her winning the coveted UK Space Agency SatelLife challenge ‘18, for her AI proposal. Plus, most recently in acknowledgement of the work she’s doing to help business and young people understand AI, wasnamed Barclays Entrepreneur Awards ‘19 “Icon of the Year” winner for the Midlands region.

Additionally, she has become an in-demand event speaker, a champion of young entrepreneurship and has spent the last year successfully trialling her AI youth initiative, YOUTH4AI. Through which, she has introduced over 1000 young minds to the topic of AI and Data Ethics.

Frans Post

Consultant and Law Firm Expert

Frans is an experienced CFO/COO who has spent most of his career at board level in Professional Service Firms (PSF’s). His portfolio is generally focused on improving firms. He has been involved in strategy, finance, mergers, remuneration systems, change, restructuring, turnaround, and operations in firms of different sizes and advises on all aspects of managing PSF’s.

Frans has had an international career as CFO, COO and CEO in global firms such as Clifford Chance, Olswang and Mourant in London, New York, Dubai, Europe and offshore. He is also an IoD Certified Company Director. Frans lives near Bordeaux and spends his time between renovating a farm house and growing his business.

David Reynolds

Managing Director of Venture Agenda

Before founding Venture Agenda with his business partner Tom Sutton, David was Head of Digital Innovation and Ventures for Grant Thornton UK, a division created to deliver digital solutions and early-stage venture collaborations. 

For over 6 years prior to that, he was also a key member in the corporate development and strategy function of Reed Business Information (RELX Group PLC) where he led innovative organic business initiatives across the UK, Europe and US, which resulted in the creation of new data and analytics solutions for the maritime, aviation and banking sector.

Additionally, he was also an early employee of the successful online recruitment business, Totaljobs Group where he led digital marketing initatives to drive the growth of traffic, product and new business strategies.