Voting open for the most influential woman in UK technology 2019

Hall of Fame

Each year, our judges also choose several women to join the Computer Weekly Women in Tech Hall of Fame, to recognise the lifetime achievement of past winners of the list and those who have made a lifetime contribution to both the sector and the women in tech agenda.

Current members of the list are: Chi Onwurah, Sarah Wood, Hannah Dee, Sherry Coutu, Gillian Arnold, Maggie Philbin, Jacqueline de Rojas, Joanna Shields, Jane Moran, Dr Sue Black, Dame Wendy Hall, Dame Stephanie Shirley and Baroness Martha Lane Fox, as well as last year's most influential woman, Amali de Alwis. This year’s additions will be announced soon.

Vote now

Computer Weekly readers can now vote on who they feel is the most influential woman in UK technology in 2019.

Click on your choice below and then on the “submit” button (or the arrow button on mobile) at the end of the list and your vote will be registered. Note that the list appears in a randomised order.

Voting closes at 5pm on 23 August 2019.

The shortlisted 50 (in alphabetical order)

Alice Bentinck, co-founder, Entrepreneur First

Bentinck is the co-founder of Entrepreneur First, a firm focused on supporting technology startups from around Europe. As part of the Entrepreneur First initiative, Bentinck also co-founded Code First: Girls, an organisation that provides part-time coding courses across university campuses.

She was on the advisory board of Founders4Schools for two years, and is on the Computer Science Department Industrial Liaison Board for Imperial College London.

Bentinck appeared on Computer Weekly’s rising star list in 2014.

Anne Boden, CEO, Starling Bank

As well as being the CEO of digital challenger bank Starling, Boden is a member of its board of directors and founded Starling in 2014 to build an organisation focused on providing the best customer experience possible.

Before that, Boden was COO at Allied Irish Bank, and has previously headed up EMEA global transaction services for RBS.

In 2019, she released a book, entitled The Money Revolution, which aims to help people manage their money in a digitally driven world.

Anne Marie Neatham, COO, Ocado Technology

Neatham began her career as a software engineer in software and retail firms around the world. After joining Ocado as a software engineer in 2001, she worked to become head of Ocado Technology in Poland in 2012, where she set up the firm’s Polish arm from scratch.

In 2014, Neatham became chief operating officer of Ocado Technology, where she looks after infrastructure and operations for the UK and Poland. She believes that to get young girls into technology careers, encouragement needs to start early in the education system.

Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO, Stemettes

Imafidon founded volunteer organisation Stemettes to inspire the next generation of women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) via a series of panel events, hackathons and through the media. She is also a board member at Inspirational You, a fellow of the RSA and a DCMS digital skills partnership board member.

Imafidon won the FDM Everywoman Rising Star of the Year award 2014 and has featured in Computer Weekly’s list of the Most Influential Women in UK IT after being marked as a Rising Star in previous years. Before Stemettes, Imafidon started her career in IT as a business analyst intern and web designer before becoming an enterprise collaboration strategist at Deutsche Bank. 

Bethany Koby, CEO and co-founder, Technology Will Save Us

Entrepreneur Koby founded Technology Will Save Us to educate people about the technology that is becoming an essential part of our lives. The organisation, of which Koby is CEO, encourages people to make, experiment and be creative with technology.

She is also a founding faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and before her current work was the social impact director for brand consultancy Wolff Olins.

Carrie Anne Philbin, director of education, Raspberry Pi Foundation

Named as one of Computer Weekly’s 2016 women in tech rising stars, Philbin leads strategy, CPD programmes and learning resources at the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Philbin has worked to advance technology education in schools, acting as a board member for the Python Software Foundation and Computing At School (CAS) and chair of CAS #include to make computer science education accessible to all.

Philbin is also a YouTuber, writer and secondary computing and ICT teacher, and creates a number of online resources for teenagers to help them get started with Raspberry Pi technology. She has a YouTube series dedicated to making role models within the IT industry more visible to teenage girls.

Christina Scott, chief technology officer, News UK; deputy CTO, News Corp

Scott was appointed chief technology officer for News UK at the beginning of 2016 to assist with its digital initiatives, and she is also deputy CTO for parent company News Corp.

Before 2016, Scott was CIO at the Financial Times for over three years, where she was responsible for technology across the FT group, leading a 400-plus global team responsible for building and operating the infrastructure, business applications, data and consumer products across multiple platforms.

Scott has over 20 years’ experience across the media, IT and engineering industries. Before joining the FT, she worked for the BBC, BT Vision, News International and ITV Digital, and as a consultant at Accenture.

Cindy Rose, CEO, Microsoft UK

Rose was appointed CEO of Microsoft in the UK in 2016, responsible for the firm’s product, service and support offering across the region.

Previously, Rose worked in senior roles across the technology industry in firms such as Vodafone and Virgin Media.

Debbie Forster, CEO, Tech Talent Charter

Forster is CEO of government-backed initiative Tech Talent Charter, which aims to boost diversity and address gender imbalance in tech roles. She is also director at consultancy Novel Design, and director for international development at NCSSS.

During her time as co-CEO at Apps for Good, Forster inspired hundreds of students, teachers, industry experts and sponsors to engage with the organisation. As well as scaling at an impressive rate under Forster’s leadership, Apps for Good is working hard to tackle diversity in STEM education.

In 2017, Forster received an MBE for digital innovation, and was named WISE woman of the year in 2016. She has regularly featured in Computer Weekly’s Most Influential Women in Tech list.

Debbie Wosskow, co-founder, AllBright; former CEO, Love Home Swap

Wosskow is chairman and co-founder of AllBright, a platform designed to help support and fund female entrepreneurs in the UK. She is also co-founder of digital platform Lifestyler.me and former CEO of home-exchange platform Love Home Swap.

Until March 2017, Wosskow acted as chairman for Sharing Economy UK, the trade body that represents the UK’s sharing economy businesses.

Eileen Burbidge, chair, Tech Nation; partner, Passion Capital; government special envoy for fintech

Burbidge is a partner at Passion Capital, the London-based venture capital firm that she established with Stefan Glaenzer and Robert Dighero. She brings extensive operational experience to her investment activities gleaned from business and product development roles at Yahoo, Skype, PalmSource, Openwave, Sun and Apple.

She also serves as chair for Tech Nation, is the special envoy for fintech for HM Treasury, and was previously a member of the prime minister’s business advisory group.

Elena Sinel, founder, Acorn Associates & Teens in AI

Sinel founded Teens in AI and Acorn Associates to help young people who want to solve real-world problems using technology such as artificial intelligence, virtual, augmented and mixed reality.

She has won awards for her work, including CogX 2017 Awards in Using AI for Social Good Projects, and was a finalist in MassChallenge in 2016 and the Women In IT Awards in 2018.

Before working on Acorn Associates and Teens in AI, Sinel was a consultant for several firms, including the British Council, NGOs, Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Project.                

Elizabeth Denham, information commissioner

As information commissioner for the UK, Denham is responsible for ensuring that information rights are in the public interest and leads the office dealing with the Data Protection Act 2018 – the UK’s implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Before becoming information commissioner, Denham was the information and privacy commissioner for British Columbia, Canada, responsible for compliance with public and private sector privacy legislation and access to information law.

Elizabeth Varley, co-founder and CEO, TechHub

TechHub is at the heart of the London Tech City movement to attract startups to east London and boost investment and innovation in UK IT, and Varley is its CEO. She has set up new TechHub operations in Bangalore, Bucharest, Berlin and Riga, as well as other UK sites in Manchester and Swansea.

Previously, Varley set up Online Content UK as an organisation for online content professionals running an industry-focused community and regular events.

She was one of the founding steering committee members of the DigitalEve women in technology organisation in the UK. Varley also sits on the board of the Digital City Exchange at Imperial College London and is a tech innovation board member, data pitch programme, for the Open Data Institute.

Hayaatun Sillem, CEO, Royal Academy of Engineering

Sillem worked for the Royal Academy of Engineering for 12 years before being appointed its CEO in 2018.

Previous roles at the Academy include deputy CEO and director of strategy, director of programmes and fellowship, and head of international activities.

As well as her work for the Academy, Sillem is the commissioner and chair, expert stakeholders panel for Made Smarter UK, chair of judges for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment, and a trustee of EngineeringUK.

Helen Milner, chief executive, Good Things Foundation

Milner is founder and CEO of the Good Things Foundation (formerly the Tinder Foundation), a not-for-profit, staff-owned social enterprise that aims to help the 11 million people on the wrong side of the UK’s digital divide to become confident with digital and online technologies.

The Foundation won a government contract in 2014 to support its digital inclusion strategy. Until May 2017, Milner was also a specialist government adviser of digital engagement for the Public Accounts Committee.

Helen Wollaston, CEO, WISE

Wollaston has been chief executive of not-for-profit WISE since 2012, focused on helping more women to take roles in STEM. In her role, Wollaston has led campaigns to encourage young girls into STEM subjects, and helped companies to ensure women have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

As well as her work at WISE, Wollaston owns a consultancy company, Equal to the Occasion, and is a non-executive director for Zero Waste Scotland.

Hilary Leevers, CEO, EngineeringUK

Leevers has been chief executive of EngineeringUK since the beginning of 2019, focused on helping young people to become engineers.

With a background in both science and education, Leevers was previously head of education and learning at the Wellcome Trust, where she led a team that worked to develop a programme to improve science education.

Before that, Leevers was an assistant director for the Campaign of Science and Engineering, where she worked with politicians, civil servants, universities and industry to develop policies impacting science and engineering across the UK.

Jacky Wright, chief digital and information officer, HMRC

Wright joined HM Revenue & Customs in October 2017 and leads the department’s digital transformation programme – one of the biggest in the public sector in Europe. Wright joined the department after several years at Microsoft, where she served as corporate vice-president.

Previously, she was a CIO at BP for three years, and a CIO at GE for eight years. She is also an advocate for women in technology.

Janet Coyle, director trade and growth, London & Partners

Coyle holds several roles, including leading the export and growth strategy for London & Partners, leading the annual summit for Silicon Valley comes to the UK, and acts as co-chair for the Tech London Advocates Scale Up Group.

She is also an adviser for charity Founders4Schools and is working on a programme for the mayor of London to change how the capital’s high-growth companies can conduct business overseas.

Jeni Tennison, CEO, the Open Data Institute

Tennison is CEO of not-for-profit the Open Data Institute, and was awarded an OBE for services to technology and open data in 2014. Previously, Tennison was technical architect and lead developer for Legislation.gov.uk and acts as executive director for Open Addresses UK.

Until 2015, Tennison was a member of the Open Data User Group, an independent ministerial advisory group for the Cabinet Office.

Jess Wade, postdoctoral research associate, Imperial College London

Wade, a postdoctoral research associate at Imperial College London, conducts research into polymer-based light emitting diodes (LEDs), and has been published in several scientific journals.

To help tackle gender imbalance on Wikipedia, and to shine a light on women in STEM, Wade ran a year-long campaign to add profiles of women in STEM to Wikipedia.

Previously, Wade served on the WISE Campaign Young Women’s Board and the Women’s Engineering Society Council. 

Jo Twist, CEO, UKIE

Twist is CEO of UKIE, the games industry trade body that aims to make the UK the leader in games and interactive entertainment.

With a long career in entertainment, Twist was previously commissioning editor for education at Channel 4, responsible for commissioning digital games across several platforms.

She was also the multi-platform commissioner of entertainment and Switch for the BBC in the early 2000s.

June Angelides, founding embassador, Fifty Fifty Pledge; founder, Mums in Technology

Previously chosen as a Computer Weekly women in UK technology Rising Star, Angelides is founder and CEO of Mums in Technology, which partners with industry to provide an immersive learning experience that encourages new mothers to take their children to school with them while they learn to code.

She founded the company in 2015 when on maternity leave from Silicon Valley Bank, where she held roles as an associate for accelerator growth and an associate for entrepreneur banking.

Angelides is also an investor at Samos Investments, and is a founding ambassador of the FiftyFiftyPledge.

Kim Nilsson, co-founder and CEO, Pivigo

Nilsson is passionate about how data impacts people’s lives, the impact people can have when given the right skills, and how connections can change the world, all of which she combines in her role as CEO of Pivigo.

The data science marketplace connects data scientists with companies that want to outsource their data science and AI needs. Previously, she chaired the big data and skills working group at TechUK.

Magdalena Krön, ‎head of Rise London and FinTech platform lead, Barclays; co-founder, Geek Girl Meetup UK

As head of Rise London and vice-president of open innovation at Barclays, Krön is responsible for connecting London startups with Barclays to encourage growth in the ecosystem.

Krön also co-founded Geek Girl Meetup in the UK, a network for women and girls interested in technology and design startups. Before her work at Barclays, Krön helped more than 300 startups with early stage business strategy as head of operations and investment manager at Capital List and the London Co-Investment Fund.

Margot James, digital minister

James became digital minister in early 2018 after a government reshuffle. She covers issues such as broadband, telecoms, broadcasting, creative industries, cyber security, tech startups and the tech industry.

Previously, James was minister for small business, consumers and corporate responsibility at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Marija Butkovic, founder and CEO, Women of Wearables

Butkovic is CEO of Women of Wearables, an organisation that tries to connect women in the wearable tech, fashion tech, internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) fields. She is a digital marketing, technology and business consultant, as well as a serial entrepreneur and an advisory board member for the Independent Fashion Advisory Board (IFAB).

Naomi Timperley, board member, Capital Pilot; co-founder, Tech North Advocates

One of Computer Weekly’s 2017 women in technology Rising Stars, Timperley is a freelance consultant, and a director of Tech North Advocates, a private sector-led collection of tech experts who champion the technology sector in the north of England.

She is also an honorary industry fellow at the University of Salford Business School, a board member for FutureEverything and a board member of Capital Pilot.

Nicola Mendelsohn, managing director, Facebook Europe

Mendelsohn has been vice-president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa operations at Facebook since 2013. She is responsible for growing Facebook’s advertising revenue and improving relationships with brands across the region.

She has served as president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and Women in Advertising and Communications London (WACL). She was executive chairman and partner of Karmarama advertising agency for five years. She is chair of the corporate board of Women’s Aid.

Mendelsohn was director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and industry chair of the Creative Industries Council until 2018, non-executive director of consumer goods firm Diageo and co-president of charity Norwood.

Pip Jamieson, founder & CEO, The Dots

In 2014, Jamieson founded The Dots, a network designed to help professionals such as creatives, freelancers and freelancers, where she is also CEO. The network will use data about teams to make personalised recommendations to clients.

The Dots has been developed as a highly diverse platform – the community is made up of more than 68% women, 31% BAME, and 16% LGBT+ members.

Poppy Gustafsson, co-CEO, Darktrace

Gustafsson has been at cyber and AI firm Darktrace since 2013, holding several roles, including CFO and COO, before becoming co-CEO in 2016.

She has been featured in lists such as the Management Today 30 under 35 list, and was a winner in the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards in 2019.

Before joining Darktrace, Gustafsson held roles as corporate controller for HP Autonomy, fund accountant at Amadeus Capital Partners, and assistant manager at Deloitte.

Priya Guha, venture partner, Merian Ventures; chair of board of trustees, Modern Muse

Guha took the role of venture partner at Merian Ventures at the beginning of 2019, having previously been ecosystem general manager for the London campus of Silicon Valley-born co-working space RocketSpace.

At the end of 2018, she became chair of the board of trustees for everywoman-backed charity Modern Muse, which aims to help girls more informed about possible career choices.

Guha also acts as an adviser for Tech London Advocates and Big Youth Group, as well as a council member for InnovateUK and an ambassador for London Tech Week 2019.

Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO, Century Tech

In 2013, Lakhani founded Century Tech, a teaching and learning platform focused on subjects such as artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, big data analytics and blockchain, where she is also CEO.

Lakhani is also a frequent speaker, a member of the board of advisors at Heathrow, and a non-executive director at the Teaching Awards Trust.

Rebecca George, lead public sector partner, Deloitte

George has been lead public sector partner at Deloitte since 2006, where she is responsible for projects such as improving citizen outcomes, helping public sector improve efficiency and developing best practice. She is also Deloitte’s lead partner, government and public services, and NWE board member.

Before joining Deloitte, George held several roles at IBM.

Rioch Edwards-Brown, founder, So You Wanna Be In Tech?

Edwards-Brown, entrepreneur and founder of So You Wanna Be on TV?, is an advocate for diversity and has extensive media experience.

She began So You Wanna Be on TV? as a community outreach programme after her son was shot and stabbed at school, and uses the platform to tackle the lack of diversity and social mobility in TV by providing free employability skills through partnerships between TV, brands, corporates and the community. Based on her already successful model, she launched So You Wanna Be In Tech? in 2016.

Sarah Burnett, executive vice-president and distinguished analyst, Everest Group; chair, BCS Women

Burnett is an analyst in information technology services and business process outsourcing. Executive vice-president (VP) at Everest Group, she uses her skills to lead the group on global service delivery automation research and European practice across its global services research areas.

Before joining Everest Group, Burnett was VP of research at Nelson Hall, covering areas such as infrastructure ITO, cloud, and government BPO. Burnett is now chair of BCSWomen and in 2017 launched the BCSWomen AI Accelerator.

Sarah Luxford, director, Global Resourcing; co-founder, TLA Women in Tech

Luxford is co-lead of Tech London Advocates’ women in tech group and was co-founder of Croydon Tech City, the second-fastest-growing tech cluster in the capital, in charge of developing new relationships with investors, tech companies and potential stakeholders. She is now director at recruitment company Global Resourcing.

Previously, as director at Nexec Leaders, Luxford worked with founders, investors and business leaders to find the talent they need. She was noted as one of Computer Weekly’s 2015 Rising Stars.

Sarah Turner, founder, Angel Academe

Turner founded Angel Academe, a pro-women and pro-diversity angel investment group focused on technology. She is currently CEO of the group, and is also an external board member and chair of the investment committee for venture capital fund the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.

Turner is also a board member of the UK Business Angels Association, the trade association for early-stage investment, and in 2007 co-founded consultancy Turner Hopkins, which helps businesses create digital strategy.

Sarah Wilkinson, CEO, NHS Digital

In 2017, Wilkinson was appointed CEO of NHS Digital. Before this, she was CTO at the Home Office, where she led many of the most critical IT systems supporting UK borders and policing.

Previously, Wilkinson was managing director and head of corporate systems technology at Credit Suisse for over two years, having previously worked at HSBC, UBS and Deutsche Bank in various senior IT roles. She also acts as a non-executive director for NatWest Markets and King’s College London.

Sarah Winmill, CIO, British Transport Police

Winmill has been with the British Transport Police since 2016, originally as acting CTO and now acting CIO. She has a history of working with not-for-profit organisations, having been head of IT at the Royal Academy of Arts, head of information systems services at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and chair of Charity IT Leaders.

Sharon Moore, CTO for public sector, IBM UK

Moore is CTO for public sector at IBM UK, having previously focused on designing technical solutions for IBM’s clients in the travel and transportation industry, incorporating engagement, IoT and analytics technologies, in her role as industry technical leader for travel and transportation. Moore is also a non-executive director for Censis – Innovation Centre, board member of Scotland Women in Technology, and deputy chair of BCSWomen.

Sheila Flavell, COO, FDM Group

Flavell was appointed COO of IT service firm FDM Group in 2008, and is an executive board director of the firm.

She played an integral role in the group’s flotation on AIM in 2005 and was a key instigator of the management buy-out of the group in 2010 and the subsequent float on the main FTSE market in June 2014. Flavell spearheads FDM’s Global Women in Tech campaign and FDM’s Getting Back to Business programme, aimed at providing opportunities for returners to work.

She sits on the main board of TechUK and the Women in Tech Council and is frequently called to advise government committees on various issues, especially around the digital skills gap.

Flavell was named Leader of the Year at the Everywoman in Technology Awards 2017, and was recently recognised as one of the top 25 Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market by CEO Connection. 

Sophie Deen, CEO, Bright Little Labs

Deen, a former lawyer, is CEO of social enterprise Bright Little Labs, a children’s education company that makes educationally valuable, gender-neutral and ethically sourced toys and materials.

Bright Little Labs is the creator of Detective Dot, who is a developer by day and a detective by night, and the heroine of the organisation’s stories. Everyday objects come to life around Dot and she can’t remember where they are from, so Dot helps them to discover their roots. Last year, Bright Little Labs announced a funding partnership with Turner International.

Sue Daley, head of AI, cloud and data analytics, and associate director of technology and innovation, TechUK

Daley leads TechUK’s work on cloud, data, analytics and AI and has been recognised in the UK Big Data 100 as a key influencer in driving forward the big data agenda.

As well as being a regular industry speaker, Daley is also a judge in the annual UK Cloud Awards. Before joining TechUK in January 2015, she 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 such as data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety.

Suki Fuller, founder, Miribure

Fuller founded Miribure in 2015. The company uses data gathering and analytics to promote strategic decision-making in firms.

She is also a founding ambassador of the FiftyFiftyPledge and is co-founder and CEO of incubator and accelerator Salaam Ventures, which focuses on assisting ethical startups.

Tabitha Goldstaub, co-founder, CognitionX; chair, government’s AI Council

Goldstaub is an expert in the impact that AI has on society, co-founding CognitionX, a platform and network that helps to build AI and data-driven systems. She also acts as marketing counsel for Founders4Schools, adviser for The Prince’s Trust and is the co-founder of Future Girl Corp, an organisation that runs free events for future female CEOs. She also acts as a judge for Teens in AI.

Tara Donnelly, interim chief digital officer, NHS England

As the government kick-starts tech-focused organisation NHSX, Donnelly was appointment chief digital officer to help lead a team responsible for liaising with tech firms and digital health innovators.

Alongside her work with NHSX, Donnelly is a member of the board of trustees at health charity Nuffield Trust, president of the Health CEO’s Club, and chief executive of the Health Innovation Network.

Trudy Norris-Grey, chair, WISE

Norris-Grey is chair of WISE (Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) and until 2019 was global managing director of local regional government, smart cities and connected infrastructure in Seattle, US, followed by a role as deputy CEO of enterprise and global partnerships at AXA.

The WISE campaign is aimed at encouraging more girls and women to pursue STEM careers. Previously, Norris-Grey held senior executive posts at BT, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Eastman Kodak. She has also chaired the CBI Innovation, Science & Technology Committee and was chair of UKRC before it merged with WISE.

Wendy Tan White, vice-president, X. Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory; board trustee, Alan Turing Institute; member, Digital Economy Council

Tan White is vice-president at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, a group of investors and entrepreneurs aiming to use technology to save lives.

Tan White co-founded and was CEO of Moonfruit until 2015, a DIY website and online shop builder for small businesses. She was a general partner at Entrepreneur First, a programme and fund focused on early-stage deep tech companies, and until 2018 was an advisory board member for the Government Digital Service.

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