With 30 years experience in customer analytics spanning consumer banking, telco, mobile, social and tech industries, Max has worked for established brands such as Virgin, Skype, Orange, Microsoft and facebook as well as a number of start-ups both in the UK and globally. Dividing his time between London and Cornwall he currently leads the Data and Analytics function at numan, partnering with Growth, Finance, Product, Commercial and Operations teams - focussed on delivering relevant, timely, accurate and action-oriented insights.  

Colin Birchenall is Chief Technology Officer at the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, a COSLA‑hosted partnership supporting digital and data work across all 32 councils in Scotland. His work spans the development of national strategy, delivering collaborative programmes, providing technical assurance and skills and capability building.

Colin is particularly passionate about how better use of data can support earlier, more targeted and preventative interventions; helping public services make better decisions, focus resources where they are most needed, and improve outcomes at a local level. He works closely with councils, COSLA and the Scottish Government to promote shared approaches, common standards and trusted ways of using data responsibly.

Arlene Hewitson-Townley is an Analytics Transformation specialist at Lloyds Banking Group, with nearly 20 years’ experience working in financial services. Over that time, Arlene has helped drive a complete cultural and technical transformation in analytics, technology and ways of working - moving teams away from legacy tools and manual processes towards modern platforms, automation and AI. Collaborating with colleagues across the business, she delivers change by developing tools and approaches that make analytics more useful, more accessible and better aligned to how people work.

Those experiences have shaped her belief that the ability to adapt is just as important as the technology itself. An experienced people leader, Arlene champions adaptability as a core skill for future proofing talent too - influencing how teams are hired, and developed, whilst supporting colleagues to build confidence through change. She believes in openly sharing what works, and what doesn’t, to spark curiosity, learning and truly innovative thinking.

Candice leads the Customer Insight & Engagement team at Lloyds Banking Group, where her focus is on turning insight into action. With over a decade of experience in financial services, Candice is passionate about storytelling and bringing insight to life.

Over her career, she has helped drive engagement with insight across the organisation and bring insight into more decisions. Collaboration sits at the heart of Candice’s approach, believing the best insight is created together and strengthened through shared ownership.

She sees creativity and technology as a powerful combination for removing friction and creating space for deeper thinking. Known for her open, authentic leadership style, Candice enables teams to think differently, learn fast and turn insight into meaningful impact.

I am a senior data and customer insight leader in the UK social housing sector, with over 20 years’ experience transforming how organisations use data to drive decision-making, improve services, and deliver measurable customer outcomes.

Currently Head of Customer Voice at Orbit, I lead the strategic direction of customer insight, involvement and research—ensuring customer feedback directly informs governance, operational delivery and continuous improvement. I have played a key role in embedding real-time feedback loops, developing customer segmentation and personas, and strengthening the link between data, regulation and service delivery.

Previously, I held senior leadership roles at Stonewater, where I supported the organisation’s transition to becoming more data-driven and insight-led—building end-to-end reporting capability and advancing the use of customer and operational data to shape strategy.
Across my career, I have consistently championed the use of insight to influence decision-making at every level, from frontline services through to board governance.

Verity Gill is an independent marketing effectiveness consultant who advises the DigData UK Board. She has over 2 decades of experience in analysing data, most recently as Group Marketing Analyst at Google, where she led brand marketing effectiveness measurement in EMEA. Previous to this role she was Marketing Science Director at Meta before becoming the Brand Effectiveness Lead at The John Lewis Partnership.

She is passionate about measuring the impact of marketing through understanding human-media interactions; she is both a trained Econometrician and a Digital Anthropologist. This interest in data and human behavior has shaped a varied career across Government Intelligence, Investment Banking and Media Econometrics. Following her passion for digital media, in 2006 Verity launched the first online social network for grandparents in the UK, Grannynet, which ran as a Social Enterprise for 8 years.

In addition to her digital and media experience, Verity has completed a Masters at University College London in Digital Anthropology. She has three teenage children and lives with her husband in Suffolk where she runs and cycles when she can!

Nicola Griffin leads Commercial Product Development at Channel 4, specialising in digital product innovation and revenue growth. Her team is responsible for developing new opportunities for advertisers across Channel 4’s streaming platform. With over 20 years’ experience in media - including fourteen years at Channel 4 - she has been instrumental in shaping the broadcaster’s streaming advertising proposition.

Nicola has led the development of several market-first ad innovations, including Channel 4’s Pause ad format, Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) offering and a Gen AI-powered advertising solution, designed to democratise TV advertising for SMBs by lowering creative and production barriers. In her role, she drives the development and delivery of innovative ad products, combining data, creativity and technology to unlock new opportunities in the evolving TV and streaming advertising landscape. 

Matthew Polley is a senior commercial leader with over 15 years’ experience across the UK media industry, specialising in data-driven advertising, audience strategy and advanced targeting solutions.

Currently at Channel 4, Matthew works with brands and agencies to develop innovative advertising solutions across streaming, broadcast and first-party data. Prior to this, he was Data Partnership Controller at Sky, where he focused on strategic data partnerships and audience-led advertising capabilities.

Across both roles, Matthew has helped shape how broadcasters use data and technology to deliver more effective and measurable advertising campaigns.

Alec Davison is a Senior Manager in Insight & Analytics at Asda, where he leads geospatial analytics, data science, and AI strategy across a 1,200+ store estate. He brings over eight years’ experience delivering data-driven insight across retail, property, transport, insurance, and technology.

He specialises in translating analytics into measurable commercial impact, using a rigorous, value-led approach to prioritisation and performance measurement. His work ensures data initiatives directly inform high-value decisions, including capital allocation, network optimisation, and competitive strategy.

Alec is a strong advocate for positioning analytics as a core strategic capability within organisations, shaping decisions rather than supporting them after the fact. Alongside his leadership responsibilities, he remains hands-on, developing production AI solutions to ensure his work stays grounded in practical delivery as well as strategic direction.