Geography: Global

  • Catherine Westall

    Catherine joined Formation Advisory in 2025, having spent the last three years at public affairs agency Hanover Communications. Formation Advisory is a boutique AI consultancy, helping clients navigate the complexities of emerging technology. Catherine has experience working with some of the world’s biggest tech and media companies on policy and regulatory issues including AI regulation, online safety, and digital competition.

  • Alex Krook

    Alex leads on policy and engagement for the AI & Geopolitics project at the University of Cambridge’s Bennett School of Public Policy, working towards a more cooperative future for and geopolitics. She has previously held roles within the public policy programme of The Alan Turing Institute, and across the third sector. Alex holds an MSc in Digital Anthropology where her research focussed on participatory data stewardship, and she is a Visiting Researcher with the community data trust initiative Prospect Brixham.

  • Kate Devlin

    Kate Devlin is Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London. She is an interdisciplinary computer scientist investigating how people interact with and react to technologies, both past and future. Kate is the author of Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots (Bloomsbury, 2018), which examines the ethical and social implications of technology and intimacy. She is a co-investigator on the UKRI- funded Responsible AI UK (RAi UK) programme ­– a network that conducts and funds research into AI to benefit people, communities and society. She is a board member of the Open Rights Group and a Patron of Humanists UK.

  • Pooja Patel

    Pooja is a dedicated and focused professional with proven experience working in high-profile government policy, analysis, and intelligence.

    Specific analytical and policy expertise includes key global issues, such as cyber, synthetic biology, AI, and Large Language Models and regional expertise in Middle East and Asia.

    Pooja has been working in the Science and Tech fields for the last 7 years, and is passionate about bringing more women of colour into leadership roles in tech, cyber, and security professions

  • Alisha Lewis

    Alisha Lewis is a digital strategy specialist for the Liberal Democrats, leading work on best practice and modern campaigning approaches for HQ. They bring almost ten years of experience in digital politics, from local government to the European Parliament, with a focus on how technology shapes behaviour, beliefs, and democracy.

    They hold a Master’s in AI Ethics and Society (MSt) from the University of Cambridge. Their research examined Cambridge Analytica, its role in the EU referendum, and its longer-term implications for public trust and political culture. They are currently conducting independent research into how lifestyle content on platforms like TikTok influences young women’s political socialisation — exploring the subtle ways skincare routines, fashion trends, dating advice, and online aesthetics are becoming pipelines into political worldviews.

    Their wider work covers microtargeting, disinformation, social media recommender systems, and the democratic risks posed by opaque algorithmic environments. Professionally, they are focused on how politics can be done better online: cutting through political fatigue, engaging voters honestly, and helping people navigate a landscape where understanding what’s true — and who to trust — is becoming ever more difficult.

  • Audrey Hingle

    I am the Editor-in-Chief of Internet Exchange, a publication dedicated to exploring internet governance, digital rights, and the intersection of technology and society. I also lead communications for the Prosocial Design Network and serve as an Internet Society Fellow. Based in London, I am passionate about how people interact with technology and the internet, and how those systems shape our lives for better (or worse!)

    I have over 15 years of experience in strategic communications and previously served as Head of Marketing at the Mozilla Foundation, an organisation focused on promoting internet health and trustworthy AI. I hold a master’s degree in Digital Culture and Technology from King’s College London and I am currently studying for an MSc in Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy at UCL.

  • Vicki Shotbolt

    Vicki Shotbolt is the founder and chief executive of Parent Zone. She has been mapping, understanding and responding to the impact of technology on family life for twenty years finding ways to unlock opportunity and minimise harms. She is the host of Tech Shock, a podcast that unpacks emerging issues and explores the latest research about the impact of digital on family life. She is co-chair of VoiceBox a global youth led platform, a trustee of the Media and Information Literacy Alliance and chair of a consortium exploring Child Financial Harms.

  • Deniz Atabey Alkan

    Trust & Safety leader with 10+ years driving user safety interventions across multiple global platforms, including Meta, Tiktok, Trustpilot and Bumble. I build policies, ML-powered enforcement systems, and set up global operational teams that protect billions of internet users.

    I love working on translating complex online challenges into scalable solutions spanning policy strategy, operational excellence, regulatory readiness, and cross-functional execution, while bringing together diverse, functional teams.

    My specific expertise is on setting up content moderation systems and teams from the ground up, ensuring scalable and fair moderation practices.

    Passionate about creating safer and better digital experiences, not only for users but also for the teams who make it possible.

  • Claire Spiller

    I am an advocate for creating fair access to tech careers and supporting people to reach their potential. Over the last twenty years, I have designed and managed re-skilling programmes, including those for marginalised groups of society. I support females, refugees, ex-offenders, people with disabilities and other people across our communities.

    Now I bridge the gap between education and paid employment, by providing work placements at a Tech For Good, non-profit, The Cloud Crew CIC. By populating CV’s with AI and digital transformation projects, more under-represented people stand out in recruitment processes.

    Through my work on the Digital Skills Council (DiSC) I have seen first-hand how policies could be better aligned and how initiatives could benefit from having more consistent quality-control measures across counties.

    Through my work at AWS, rolling out an EMEA-wide tech re-skilling programme, I am passionate about sharing ideas and concepts across boarders. Ideas shaped in a different country, based on the context of their economic climate, industry needs and socio-economic requirements, can often be translated into other countries and cultures, bringing a fresh perspective to shared challenges.

    I am an experienced speaker on topics such as diversity in tech, purposeful leadership and skills-based hiring and have contributed to articles, studies and interviews on the subjects.

  • Sahar Danesh

    Sahar Danesh is the Senior Government Engagement Manager at BSI, the UK’s National Standards Body. As a key member of BSI’s Standards Policy team, she leads engagement with government on digital and technology policy, identifying opportunities where standardization can deliver tangible benefits for UK businesses and society.

    Sahar plays a central role in defining the governance frameworks of the future, ensuring that technology—especially AI —is developed, implemented, and adopted in ways that is safe, transparent, and inclusive. Her work focuses on embedding transparency and public trust at the heart of technological progress, so that innovation benefits everyone and no community is left behind.

    A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IET, Sahar’s career spans private consultancy, central government policy, and leadership roles in professional institutions such as The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Her fellowship reflects her outstanding contributions to engineering, tech policy, and governance.