Tech Policy Expertise: Start-ups and scale-ups

  • Lisa Johnson

    Lisa Johnson is Starship Technologies’ Vice President of Global Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. Starship is the world leader in autonomous robot delivery, having completed more than 8 million deliveries globally. Lisa leads on all aspects of regulatory policy, with a particular focus on market entry and creating supportive regulatory environments for first-of-a-kind technology. Her team is responsible for developing industry-leading social acceptance campaigns for the introduction of embodied AI into public spaces.

    Prior to joining Starship, Lisa worked in external relations and political affairs for UK trade unions and Members of Parliament.

  • Maddy Steggall

    Maddy Steggall is a policy and communications professional with experience spanning government, strategic consultancy, and financial services. She is currently Policy Adviser to Kanishka Narayan MP, leading work on AI, startups, and digital economy policy. Her role includes developing initiatives such as the All Hands on Tech campaign and supporting parliamentary and industry engagement on tech and innovation.

    Previously, Maddy worked in strategic communications at Teneo and FTI Consulting, advising clients in technology, financial services, luxury fashion, and climate policy on corporate reputation, public affairs, and media strategy. Earlier in her career, she worked at Société Générale in Paris, supporting corporate communications and translation for the investment bank.

    She is also a member of the Labour Digital committee, helping shape Labour’s tech agenda, and is active in Women in Tech Policy networks.

  • Lucie Caswell

    Lucie is a senior strategist and negotiator, specialising in connecting IP and innovation, copyright and digital music rights affairs. Lucie has negotiated international relations and commercial deals on all ‘sides’ of the stakeholder table. Lucie also leads government policy for the UK’s entertainment retail sector, representing music, video and games.

    Lucie started her music career at iconic, independent music publishers, later spending time focusing on song rights and innovation licensing, going on to bring a range of music services and rights holders into agreement, including for Deezer, Sony/SYCO, Sandbox Game, Singa and Bandcamp.

    Representing at sector level, Lucie is the former CEO of the UK’s performing artist organisation, the FAC, Chief Policy, Rights and Public Affairs Officer for the Music Publishers Association and, is currently Chief Innovation and Government Affairs Officer for the UK’s entertainment retail body, ERA.

    Lucie is a dedicated advocate of equal opportunities and ethical innovation; championing arts as catalyst for change and emancipation.

  • Lina Ghazal

    Lina is a policy and public affairs professional with over a decade of experience in media and tech, both in the public (Ofcom) and private (TF1, Meta) sectors. She’s currently leading regulatory and public affairs for safety tech provider Verifymy.

    Lina is an expert in building large-scale policy initiatives and partnerships and has led engagements about online regulation with diverse groups of stakeholders and regulators across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the US.

    Lina studied Law, Economics and Management at Ecole Normale Superieure and Queen Mary University of London. She holds a Master of Finance & Corporate Strategy from Sciences Po Paris.

  • Kir Nuthi

    She holds over seven years of Government Affairs and Tech Policy experience in the US and UK. Kir previously headed up the regulatory portfolio at a UK advocacy group for tech startups and held various public affairs in US tech policy. All involved policy research and campaigns on competition, artificial intelligence, access to data, and pro-innovation regulation.

    Kir has an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London and a BA in both Political Science (International Relations) and Economics from the University of California San Diego.

    Outside of techUK, you are likely to find her attempting studies at art galleries, attempting an elusive headstand at yoga, mending and binding books, or chasing her dog Maya around South London’s many parks.

  • Kelli Fairbrother

    Kelli Fairbrother is co-founder and CEO of xigxag, a Cornwall-based startup leading first-ever innovation across the digital audiobook ecosystem. She’s ex-McKinsey, Whitbread, Deluxe digital media, and the former Chief Operating Officer of print tech scaleup Gelato. Not content with taking on Amazon, Kelli is a leading voice in also challenging Apple and Google’s monopoly control of mobile app ecosystems in the UK.

  • Kathleen McGrath

    Kathleen McGrath holds the position of Privacy and Data Policy Manager for the Centre for Information Policy Leadership in London. Her work focuses on a range of privacy and data related issues such as in Artificial Intelligence, protecting minors online and data governance. Before joining CIPL, Kathleen worked in Knowledge Management at a silver circle law firm in their data protection and cyber security team where Lovells where she was responsible for conducting long term research, in-depth global horizon scanning and discrete research tasks for lawyers across the world. She produced numerous articles for publications such as the Institute of Privacy Professionals, Privacy Laws and Business and others in global data policy, including UK data protection laws, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and international digital cooperation. She has also previously worked in-house in data protection compliance for large organizations in the auditing industry as well as in the financial industry, where she was responsible for creating accountability processes to ensure the business complied with data protection laws.

  • Kate Hayward

    As the UK Managing Director of Xero, Kate Hayward is at the forefront of a technology-driven revolution in small business finance. Her leadership is dedicated to harnessing the power of Xero’s cloud finance platform to redefine how small firms operate, spearheading an AI-powered shift designed to eliminate hours of administrative burden.

    Kate consistently champions the critical role of digital transformation in empowering businesses to thrive. She has been instrumental in enabling compliance with HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative, leveraging Xero’s robust, cloud-based architecture to simplify what could have been a complex transition. This technological foundation provides real-time financial visibility, seamless bank reconciliation, and automated invoicing, ensuring businesses can manage payments with unprecedented ease and speed.

    Her deep understanding of technology’s practical impact fuels her advocacy. Kate actively addresses the “SME fallacy,” recognising that technology adoption and support must be tailored to the diverse needs of small businesses. She is deeply invested in tackling critical issues such as the digital divide and the need for enhanced financial literacy, extending her efforts to give these vital groups a stronger voice in government and industry discussions, notably through her involvement with initiatives like the Maple Review with Small Business Britain.

    Kate’s worldview is uniquely shaped by her personal and professional journey. Having grown up with a father who ran his own small business, she possesses an innate understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit and its inherent challenges. This lived experience, combined with her rigorous accounting qualifications and strategic roles prior to Xero, provides a robust foundation for her tech-driven, empathetic approach. She sees technology, particularly AI-powered innovations, as the key to freeing entrepreneurs to focus on their core passions, fostering growth and resilience. Through initiatives like the “Small and Mighty Enterprise Programme,” Kate is driving tangible support, demonstrating Xero’s commitment to building a more vibrant and financially robust small business ecosystem across the UK.

  • Justyna Lisinska

    I am a tech policy consultant with experience at the intersection of emerging technologies, innovation, and government. Over the years, I have led on high-level policy events, eg roundtables with MPs, and House of Commons receptions, policy labs helping to shape conversations on critical technology issues.
    My career spans academia, government, and think tanks. I earned a PhD in Web Science from the University of Southampton, during which I worked as a Policy Associate, contributing to evidence-based policy development. I also completed a secondment at the Cabinet Office, gaining firsthand experience in government policy-making. Previously, I served as a Policy Analyst at a leading technology think tank in Washington, D.C., and as a Policy Research Fellow at King’s College London, where I developed the UK’s largest academic programme on autonomous systems.
    I have specialised expertise across both hardware and software, focusing on emerging technology challenges, for example, including AI, autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, and issues around fake news and misinformation.

  • Jessica Zucker

    Jessica Zucker is a senior technology policy leader currently serving as Director of Online Safety Policy at Ofcom, where she co-leads a 120-person team implementing the UK’s groundbreaking Online Safety Act. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of technology, policy, and safety, she has shaped global approaches to safety governance, content moderation, and platform accountability.

    At Ofcom, Jessica manages regulatory frameworks for major tech platforms, pioneered transparency reporting standards, and led crisis response during critical public safety events. Previously, as Head of Misinformation Policy for EMEA at Meta and the global Head of Health Misinformation Policy, she created global policies affecting 2+ billion users and managed high-stakes decisions during COVID-19, elections, and international conflicts.

    Her career spans leadership roles at Microsoft, where she developed cybersecurity strategies and trained over 1,000 election officials across the EU, and the U.S. State Department’s Cyber Policy Office. A Fulbright Scholar and Harvard Kennedy School graduate (M.A. Public Policy), Jessica began her career founding an education nonprofit in South Korea.

    Known for driving organizational transformation and building strategic partnerships, Jessica regularly testifies before Parliament, speaks at major conferences, and serves as a media spokesperson on safety and online harms.