Tech Policy Expertise: Start-ups and scale-ups

  • Safyah Akhtar Malik

    Digital Marketer with over 10 years experience, managing
    monthly budgets ranging from £5000 up to £2.1M, leading
    high performing teams and driving organisational vision.
    Data-driven approach with a laser focus on ROI.

    Providing cross-functional strategic direction, with
    winning digital marketing strategies and applying subject
    expertise across e-commerce, EdTech, FinTech sectors as
    well as spearheading non-profit growth.
    Self-motivated, worked remote and hybrid, in local and
    international teams. British and Canadian.

  • Saba Shaukat

    Saba Shaukat is a pioneering international business and technology executive with over 25 years of experience. She specialises in leveraging frontier technologies to drive transformative change and has a deep expertise in transitioning FTSE 250 companies into the next wave of growth and profitability.

    Currently, Saba is creating an AI Agency and heads Engagement and Innovation at the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE), a joint venture between the Home Office and QinetiQ on AI, data analytics, deep fakes, economic crime and emerging technology. She helps the Government in accelerating digital transformation initiatives to drive disruptive innovation and implement policies to enhance security, national resilience, and UK prosperity.

    Previously, Saba was the Group Director of Technical Capability and Innovation at QinetiQ plc, where she led a team of top scientists and engineers. She focused on frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous systems, cyber technologies, immersive augmented reality, human-machine teaming, advanced materials, quantum computing, lasers, and human behaviour.

    Throughout her career, Saba has driven transformational technologies resulting in over £1 billion in new revenue. She has extensive international experience in strategy and commercial development and has held several board positions as a Non-Executive Director and Trustee. She recently became a Board Fellow at the world-wide renowned Royal College of Art(RCA), the leading school in innovation design engineering with the capability to tackle complex challenges faced by society and the planet.

    Saba’s career also includes significant roles at Capita, BT, Vodafone, Deloitte Consulting, and PwC, where she contributed to global market entry strategies, business turnarounds, and new technology ventures for both enterprise and consumer sectors.

    An alumna of Harvard University’s Kennedy School for Executive Leadership Training and the London Business School with an MBA, Saba is a thought leader and board advisor. As a former regional board member of The Prince’s Trust, she has inspired young people from disadvantaged communities to win national entrepreneurial awards.

    Saba is also a contributor to the bestselling book, The Power of Purpose. She is dedicated to embracing disruptive ideas and advancing skills, science, and technology for societal good amid rapid technological change.

    In her spare time, Saba is an avid sailor, traveller, and explorer of new science and technological innovations for the 21st century.

  • Nettah Njoroge

    Policy only works when people understand, trust, and see themselves in it.

    That belief has shaped my 15+ year career, building and leading campaigns, programs, and partnerships that bridge the gap between strategy and lived experience. I’ve worked across Eastern and Southern Africa, as well as in the UK, delivering cross-sector projects in health, education, gender equity, and public engagement.

    My background blends strategic communications, policy research, and programme delivery. I’ve managed donor-funded initiatives with budgets over $1M, worked across 36 African markets, and partnered with government ministries, NGOs, and media platforms to scale impact. From designing AI-informed tools to expand cervical cancer screening access in underserved communities, to founding a grassroots menstrual health initiative that reached 1,400+ street-involved girls in Nairobi, I’ve built work that translates insight into action.

    I Bring Deep Expertise In:
    1. Localizing programmes across diverse cultural contexts
    2. Communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences
    3. Leading stakeholder alignment across government, community, and donor ecosystems
    4. Designing evidence-based campaigns that shift behavior and inform policy

    I leverage my cross-border experience and communication-first approach to inform policy engagement, program design, and research translation, particularly in areas of public health, social equity, and inclusive innovation.

  • Molly Fluet

    Molly is a dynamic commercial leader with over 15 years of experience driving success across digital media, advertising, and strategic partnerships. With deep expertise in political and policy communications, she has a proven track record of scaling high-performing teams, building robust revenue pipelines, and leading global business development efforts.

    Spending more than a decade at the forefront of digital journalism, Molly played a pivotal role in transforming a digital news company from start-up to scale-up across the US and Europe. Her work sits at the intersection of media, technology, and politics—giving her unique insight into how businesses and governments must evolve in step with rapidly shifting environments and emerging technologies.

    Currently, Molly serves as Head of New Business for Public and Politics at YouGov, where she leads commercial teams across the UK, US, and Europe. She is responsible for defining and executing strategy to drive growth within the public sector and political markets. Her remit includes penetrating new territories, expanding existing business lines, and shaping client solutions that are agile, data-informed, and future-focused.

    A collaborative and creative problem solver, Molly works closely with internal teams and external partners to deliver innovative insights and research services tailored to the fast-changing needs of decision-makers in policy, government, and advocacy.

  • Magali Van Bulck

    Magali Van Bulck is the Head of Policy & Government Relations (EMEA) at Wise and the founder of Accept My IBAN, a platform to report IBAN discrimination which has successfully put this consumer protection issue on the political agenda.

    She sits various fintech and payments advisory committees and is part of the board of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, Fintech Belgium and PayBelgium. In her role at Wise, she has been heavily focused on improving transparency in financial services, lowering the cost of remittances and providing a pathway for non-banks to join the financial infrastructure. She joined Wise in 2016. Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money. Launched in 2011, Wise is one of the world’s fastest growing, profitable tech companies.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.