VIP Dinner Guests

The Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS – First Minister for Wales

Eluned Morgan was born in 1967 in Ely, Cardiff. She was educated at Glantaf Welsh language comprehensive school. She won a scholarship to the United World College of the Atlantic and gained a degree in European Studies from the University of Hull. She formerly worked as a researcher for S4C, Agenda TV and the BBC.

Eluned’s political career started at the age of 27 when she was elected as the youngest Member of the European Parliament in 1994. She was only the fifth woman elected to a full time political position in the history of Wales, and the first full time politician in Wales to have a baby whilst in office. She represented Wales for the Labour Party from 1994-2009. In this role she became the Labour spokesperson on industry, science and energy and spokesperson for the 200 strong Socialist Group on Budget Control matters. She authored the Green Paper on energy on behalf of the EP and led the Parliament’s discussions on the Electricity Directive where she ensured new rights for consumers and demanded that Member States of the EU addressed the issue of fuel poverty.

From late 2009 until July 2013, she worked as the Director of National Business Development in Wales for SSE (SWALEC) one of the UK’s largest energy companies. During 2013 -2016, Eluned Morgan served as the Shadow Minister for Wales in the House of Lords, and from 2014-2016 she served as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. She was granted a peerage in 2011 and is formally known as Baroness Morgan of Ely.

Eluned Morgan was elected to the National Assembly in May 2016 as regional member for Mid & West Wales. In November 2017 Eluned was appointed Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning. On 13 December 2018 she was appointed Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language which she held until becoming Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and the Welsh Language on 8 October 2020. Eluned was appointed Minister for Health and Social Services on 13 May 2021, and re-appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 21 March 2024.

Eluned Morgan became First Minister of Wales on 6 August 2024.

Aled Miles – CEO of Intellistack & Welsh Government Envoy to the US

Aled is the Chief Executive officer for Intellistack. He has also been the Welsh Government Envoy to the United States for the past 6 years. During a 20 year career in the U.S. Aled has led the global $2.5BN Norton branded software business for cyber security behemoth Symantec (now Broadcom), and is a three-time Chief Executive Officer transforming private equity backed global technology organizations.

He has served on public and private boards (Including 6 years on the board of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama) and is delighted to be returning as Chair for Wales Tech Week. He is currently a non-executive director and board member of Australian founded Lixa.life leading the fight in AMR (AntiMicrobial Resistance).

A proud welshman, originally from Bridgend, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Andrew Gwatkin – Director of International Relations and Trade, Welsh Government

Bio and headshot coming soon

Andy Jones – SVP Delivery EMEA, Vantage Data Centers

As senior vice president, development delivery, Andrew Jones is responsible for the delivery of data center developments across EMEA, along with overall responsibility for new site development and the functional teams across the region that support this effort.

For nearly three decades, Jones has worked with global infrastructure companies to bring large scale, complex projects online successfully – on time and on budget – earning a multitude of industry awards in the process. From commercial centers to residential buildings, government facilities and cultural landmarks, he is an experienced leader with a background in business growth and change management.

Prior to joining Vantage, Jones served as managing director of major projects for Mace Group, Ltd., an international consultancy and construction company, where he led managed turnover of more than £700m while delivering a procurement diversification strategy. During the previous 18 years, he held a range of leadership roles at Carillion Group, most recently as chief operating officer at a time of significant change for the £4b global construction company. In this role, he established centers of excellence and instilled a disciplined approach to site selection, mobilization and delivery of contracts, health and safety, and procurement.

Jones graduated with a first-class Bachelor of Science degree (honors) in construction management from the University of Glamorgan, now the University of South Wales. He also completed executive programs at Oxford University’s Said Business School in corporate reputation and INSEAD Fountainebleu in M&A and corporate strategy.

Avril Lewis MBE – Managing Director, Technology Connected & Wales Tech Week

Avril Lewis MBE is the Managing Director of Technology Connected, the collective voice of Wales’ digital technology industry. Since her appointment in 2012, Avril has elevated the organisation’s profile, promoting Welsh technology globally and positioning Wales as a hub for emerging and enabling technologies.

Avril is the driving force behind Wales Tech Week, the country’s largest international tech summit, and the Wales Technology Awards, which celebrates innovation in the industry. She established the Technology Leadership Council to bring together industry leaders in shaping the future of tech in Wales and launched the Technology Connected Network in June 2024 to foster collaboration and growth within the whole tech ecosystem.

With early experience in professional services, followed by a successful career in the semiconductor industry, completing an MBO and ultimately the sale of a multinational business, Avril has long been a champion for Welsh technology.

Additionally, Avril has founded working groups including the Technology Connected Blockchain, Photonics, and Data & AI Councils to promote the adoption of emerging technologies. In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded an MBE in 2018 for her services to the technology industry in Wales.

Chris Meadows – NED, CSconnected

Chris’ career in electronics and semiconductors started at British Telecom Research Laboratories before joining a new joint venture between BT and US based DuPont in 1986.

Chris was part of the founding team at Epitaxial Products International Ltd (EPI) in Cardiff in 1988 which became IQE plc in 1999 following a successful IPO.

With a background in science and engineering, Chris also holds an MBA and has held several senior management positions within the semiconductor industry, in particular with the IQE Group before establishing CSconnected, representing the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster that is rapidly evolving across South Wales and the West of England.

David Rosser – Director, Welsh Government

Bio and headshot coming soon

Dr Elizabeth Shaw – Founder, 1000 Black Voices

Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is one of the most trusted strategic voices in responsible AI today. She advises global brands and institutions on how to navigate the fast-moving risks of artificial intelligence, guiding leaders from surface-level compliance toward governance models that can genuinely scale. Her work turns ethical ambition into operational reality.

She is a Scout with Ada Ventures, the Inclusive Alpha® firm backing founders who are reshaping the future of ethical innovation. She also founded 1000 Black Voices, a global platform accelerating Black tech founders by opening doors to the social, financial, and structural capital that fuels growth. Through the Ethical AI Initiative, Dr. Shaw designs governance frameworks that centre human judgement and long-term responsibility. Her approach blends regulatory expertise with real-world scenario planning, cross-sector red-teaming, and an unflinching focus on avoiding ethical debt before it becomes unmanageable.

Her perspective is sharpened by participation in high-stakes global convenings and major innovation stages. She brings this deep insight in support of executives as well as founders and her investment lens.

At the heart of her work is a simple but urgent belief: organisations must move beyond being passive adopters of AI. Dr. Shaw equips leaders to step into the role of Chief Judgement Officers, championing systems where human wisdom, societal impact, and ethical responsibility remain non-negotiable.

Gareth Hopkins – Head of Customer Engineering, Vodafone Business

Gareth Hopkins is Head of Customer Engineering at Vodafone Business, leading the UK’s Technical and Engineering teams. He has 20 years’ experience in Telecoms and was previously a member of the BT board in Wales.

A keen club cyclist, he has served as a Mountain Rescue volunteer and with HM Coastguard.

Heidi Badgery – Senior VO International Markets, Intellistack

Responsible for international markets at Intellistack, Heidi is an experienced go to market leader in the technology industry. Heidi has led businesses across global markets, living and working in the United States, Asia and Australia.

Heidi has worked for Fortune 500 companies, Symantec, Adobe and most recently was the Managing Director for Alteryx in ANZ.

Howard Rupprecht – Managing Director, CSconnected

Howard has been involved in electronics manufacturing for over 35 years, starting as a process engineer, working on automotive electronics. He subsequently pursued a successful career in international sales, product marketing and business development, primarily supplying production equipment to the electronics industry, culminating in 10 years living and working in Silicon Valley.

Howard subsequently worked as Vice President of Business development at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, focusing on technology commercialization, supporting the creation of new spin-out companies, IPR licensing and contract research services. He continued to run the VTT MEMSfab subsidiary company and was responsible for operations at the Micronova semiconductor fab – the largest R&D fab in Northern Europe, an open-access fab which specialized in MEMS, photonics and nano-electronic fabrication.

Returning to the UK in 2020, Howard worked as director of operations strategy at Rockley Photonics in Newport, building supply chain capabilities with multiple semiconductor foundry service providers. In 2024, he was appointed managing director of CSconnected Limited, with a brief to support company growth within the South Wales Compound Semiconductor Cluster.

Howard qualified originally as a mechanical engineer but also has a degree in business administration. He brings a combination of broad technical know-how and senior management expertise, gained internationally within both private and public sector organizations.

Jacqui Murray – Director for South Wales, High Value Manufacturing Catapult

Jacqui Murray is the Director of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult for South Wales. Her background is in the Welsh steel industry, environmental regulation, UK battery and advanced materials innovation. Jacqui’s role is to ensure Wales has exceptional links to the entire HVMC network, provide leadership to Welsh manufacturing at a strategic level and through a digital factory hub inspire a greater adoption of digital and automation tools increase productivity.

She continues as chair of the £65m SmartNanoNI Advisory Group and previously held the positions of Chief Operating Officer of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and Deputy Director of the £611m million Faraday Battery Challenge, where she helped lead government investment to develop batteries that are cost-effective, high-quality, durable, safe, low-weight and recyclable.  She is a member of the UK Government Battery Taskforce.  Jacqui continues to advocate for diversity and inclusion in engineering and the positive impact that manufacturing brings to our communities and the UK.

Jinél Fourie – Director Public Policy EMEA, Vantage Data Centers

Jinel Fourie is a strategic public affairs leader specialising in the intersection of transformative technologies and societal needs. As Director of Public Policy, EMEA at Vantage Data Centers, she established and now leads the region’s policy and community engagement function – helping advance the expansion of hyperscale AI and cloud infrastructure across EMEA. Her portfolio spans energy and grid reform, digital and AI sovereignty, and high-impact government and community partnerships.

Before joining Vantage, Jinel led several strategic functions at a globally leading micromobility operator, where she supported the business’ rapid global expansion and strengthened the company’s leadership in sustainable urban mobility. Her early career spanned a range of areas from African governance and diplomacy, international policy research, intellectual property, and international customer account management.

Originally from South Africa, having lived in Mexico and now based in Berlin, Germany; Jinél brings a wealth of international experience and perspective that she now applies to building the bridges between public and private sector actors to leverage the potential of transformative technologies for the greater good. 

Julie Fazackerley – CEO of MicroLink Devices UK & NED of Technology Connected

Julie currently serves as CEO of MicroLink Devices UK Ltd and joined the company in February 2022.

Julie has extensive knowledge in Technology Management and has a strong background in defence and military aircraft from her time working within the production and manufacturing areas at BAE Systems.

Previous roles have included leading the R&D programme for PHASA-35 solar-powered HALE aircraft and leading the acceptance and trading of Typhoon and Hawk aircraft into export customers in the Middle East.

Justin Walker – VP Digital Solutions, Thales

Justin Walker is a graduate of Southampton University in the UK, with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Systems Engineering. He started his career as design authority for military aircraft flight controls and progressed into fight simulation where he delivered the first FAA certified “zero –flight-time” training simulator and led the business into delivering pilot training services.

This successful growth in Thales services activities positioned Justin to lead all of Thales UK’s Security & Services activity incorporating railway communications signalling, encryption and secure and mission critical IT. Success in this role took Justin to Paris HQ to develop and deliver the divisional Strategic plan, winning and delivering the 2009 Identity Card Programme.

After 28 years with the group Justin was asked to lead Lockheed Martin Information Solutions Europe which he did successfully for 2 years presiding over the sale of the business to Leidos. Programmes successfully delivered to MoD, GCHQ, Met Police, MoJ, NATO and Oil & Gas. Justin then ran a Cyber Security SME for two years and followed leading the transformation of Capita’s Defence & Security activity addressing profitability and performance and adding £1.3B of new business during COVID.

Inspired by Thales journey to digital, the acquisition of Gemalto and some key professional relationships Justin returned to Thales and was appointed VP Digital Solutions in 2024 leading the Cyber and Secure communications businesses and responsible for taking responsible AI, secure cloud, identity and secured by design to market.

Justin lives in Surrey with his wife Laura and two dogs, he enjoys Sailing.

Dr Louise Jones – National Manager for Wales, Innovate UK

Dr Louise Jones joined the Innovate UK regional team as the Regional Manager for Wales In September 2023. Louise started her career as a KTP associate in a Welsh SME, putting the outputs from her KTP project towards her PhD at Bangor University. Louise then worked at a commercial research group working on projects funded by Innovate UK and Welsh Government which then led to her working with a Catalytic converter manufacturing company to help them set up a manufacturing plant.

Following this she led on collaborative industrial research projects within Bangor and Wrexham Universities funded by Welsh Government or WEFO which started extending her connections in Wales to Welsh Government, Industry and other research groups across Wales.

Louise joined Innovate UK KTN in September 2013 and has had roles spanning Photonics, Additive Manufacturing and lastly Energy systems where she focused on challenge led work around net zero. Throughout her time at IUK KTN Louise had continued to be involved in Welsh activities and frequently engages with Welsh Government and the ecosystem within Wales.

She sits of advisory panels for CCR, North Wales Growth Deal, CS-Connected SIPF and Photonics Connected using her knowledge and connections to offer support and guidance when needed. She also led on the Adoption and Diffusion pilot within North Wales working with her existing contacts and expertise to deliver workshops to help define the needs of the region.

Since joining Innovate UK Louise has co-created a Collaborative Innovation Plan for Wales in partnership with Welsh Government which she hopes will lead to amplifying the support Innovate UK provides to further benefit the Welsh innovation ecosystem as well as fostering new opportunities for Wales.

Mark Sweeny – CEO, de Novo Solutions

I am a multi-award-winning Founder and Group Chief Executive of de Novo Solutions a specialist Welsh technology company, based in Langstone, Newport, South Wales, focused upon the experience economy using Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow technologies adding significant value to our clients by re-imaging corporate operations by delivering data driven personalised digital experiences over standardised processes.

I have been personally recognised for my entrepreneurial ventures being awarded Great British Entrepreneur Awards Technology Entrepreneur Wales 2023, Fintech Wales Awards Fintech Leader 2025 and LDC One-To-Watch 2025. de Novo itself has been recognised by Lloyds Bank Business Awards 2024, Welsh SME Enterprise Awards 2024 and listed by Elite Business 100 in No7&6 in 2024/2025.

In 2025 de Novo was recognised in the Sunday Times 100 as the 8th fastest growing business in the UK.

Previously I was the Founder and Chief Executive of Certus Solutions, the very first only dedicated implementation partner of Oracle Cloud applications, which resulted in a successful trade exit by acquisition to Accenture UK Ltd in May 2018. I remained post acquisition as a Managing Director in Accenture’s Oracle UK&I business until September 2020.

Certus was the pioneer of Oracle Cloud across the UK&I, specifically in the UK Public Sector Central Government space, undertaking multiple implementations, whilst also amassing a blue-chip portfolio of large multi-national clients, in North American, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. At its peak Certus was an Oracle Platinum Partner, with a global presence employing 120 people over three continents, and was Oracle’s HCM Cloud EMEA Specialised Partner of the Year 2017.

As a serial entrepreneur I have been directly involved in the start-up of four businesses, whilst my extensive experience and knowledge, specifically in UK Central Government Shared Services, has enabled me to provide counsel to the boards of international software houses and to several government departments. I am equally renowned for my business development activities with over $100m professional services engagements personally sold and delivered over my career, whilst also being a Business Angel Investor and Advisor providing guidance to various small medium enterprises – a cause I very much champion.

I am a member of Institute of Directors (IoD), a Fellow of the British Computing Society (FBCS) and also hold a First Class Honours degree in Business Studies from Westminster University and a MBA from the Strathclyde Graduate Business School.

Matthew Griffin – Futurist, 311 Institute

Matthew Griffin, is a multi-award winning geopolitical advisor, leadership coach, and Futurist who NASA have described as a “Walking encyclopaedia of the future” and a “Futurist polymath.” One of the world’s most renowned Futurists and strategic foresight experts Matthew is the 15 times author of the best selling “Codex of the Future” series, and is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years whose mission it is to democratise access to the future for everyone, irrespective of their abilities or background. An in demand international keynote speaker, university lecturer, and mentor he is also the only Futurist to have been invited to speak alongside world leaders at both the UN COP and WEF Davos, and his two multi-award winning YouTube channels put him in the top 0.1% of YouTubers worldwide.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and lead several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world’s most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, Dow, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances

Dr Maud Eijkenboom – Managing Director, Lixa

Dr Maud Eijkenboom is a seasoned Life Sciences executive and entrepreneur, who bridges deep scientific expertise with business building. She is Managing Director and co-founder of the Australian biotech company, Lixa, where she is working to create real-world, scalable solutions to one of the greatest global health threats — antimicrobial resistance.

With three decades of experience in international pharmaceuticals, med-tech, consumer-healthcare and biotech, she has held senior roles in multinational, listed and start-up companies. At Lixa she leads the company’s mission to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally across human health, agribusiness and industrial markets. Lixa’s technologies are first in class, first in therapeutic area approaches that universally break bacterial resistance and thus re-instating the effectiveness of the existing global antimicrobial arsenal. In human health, Lixa is preparing for Phase 2 clinical trials, and in shipping Lixa has achieved proof of concept by demonstrating the absence of marine fouling on metal plates left 5 months in the ocean. A significant personal driver for Maud is her family experience: one of her children suffered from a chronic, recalcitrant infection which fueled her commitment to solving the core of the AMR crisis.

Nan Williams – CEO & Founder, Four Agency

Nan is a Welsh entrepreneur who founded one of the UK’s leading independent international marketing services & AI firms 25 years ago (https://www.four.agency).

Now with operations in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cardiff & Aberystwyth. She specialises in reputation management, generative AI and strategic communications. She is also a non-executive director at Wales Millennium Centre, Welsh National Opera, Arts Council Wales, Careers Wales; a member of the WRU Business Advisory Panel; and is Pro-chancellor of Swansea University.

Former chair of GlobalWelsh and current President of the London Welsh Centre. Born in Anglesey; brought up in Llanidloes; now lives between London and Cardiff. Educated: Llanidloes, Cambridge and Cranfield School of Management. Two grown children; one small puppy; getting her Welsh back up to scratch!

Nia Davies – Managing Director at Davlec & NED of Technology Connected

Nia has been running her family business since 2002. She diversified the company’s portfolio from agro-electronics to include catering equipment, Hi-Fi, healthcare electronics, and expanded its automotive client base. Davlec innovates in Dairy Farming electronics, supplying products to UK-based firms and exporting globally.

In 2014, Nia acquired Leema Electro Acoustics, a high-end Hi-Fi company, and revitalised the brand, earning numerous awards and accolades. She also serves as Managing Director of Leema. Her expertise in the Hi-Fi industry led to her appointment as Director of Mitchell and Johnson Electronics, another British-owned Hi-Fi company, where she works on increasing market recognition.

Nicola McNeely – Head of Technology Services, Solicitor & Partner, HCR Law

Nicola McNeely is a leading Technology Lawyer at HCR Law, based in their Cardiff office but her role is national across our 11 offices in the UK and also international.

Nicola has spent 27 years servicing Technology clients in Wales and beyond, helping with digital transformation, technology adoption, innovation, intellectual property and commercialisation. She has worked in industry for up to 13 years during this time, helping businesses with international expansion and new technology adoption.

Paul Taylor – Head of Public Sector, Vodafone Business

Paul is an experienced senior sales leader with extensive experience in technology and telecoms, driving growth across complex enterprise and public-sector accounts. He has held leadership roles at BT, Colt Technology Services, and Vodafone, where he has led teams serving IT, media, telecoms, banking, and international sectors.

With a proven track record of building high-performing teams, developing strategic partnerships, and delivering significant revenue growth, Paul combines deep sector expertise with a passion for helping organisations achieve their goals.

He is now fully focused on enabling UK public-sector organisations to harness technology to deliver better citizen outcomes.

Paul lives in West Sussex has two grown up children and enjoys riding his bike around the Sussex countryside, he completed the Lands End to John O’Groats bike ride in 2019 for the Vodafone Foundation.

Paul Evans – CEO of Box UK & NED at Technology Connected

As CEO of Box UK, Paul drives strategic growth, working with clients and prospects seeking transformative digital solutions that deliver measurable ROI and competitive advantage.

With over 20 years experience spanning consultancy at Accenture and KPMG, large scale digital delivery with FIS and Sapiens through to six years of leadership at Box UK, Paul has architected digital transformations for FTSE companies and ambitious scale-ups alike.

Prof Pete Burnap PhD – Director, Cyber Innovation Hub

Professor Burnap is Director of the Cardiff Centre for Cyber Security Research, and Airbus’s only global Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Analytics. He was appointed to the UK Government’s AI Council, advising on AI and the data economy. He is Co-Director of Cardiff University’s flagship Digital Transformation Innovation Institute.

His research covers the development of artificial intelligence approaches to automated cyber attack detection and response, and the fusion with risk and human factors of cybersecurity. He has been involved in research grants worth in excess of £23m, leading large awards from EPSRC, ESRC and industry – publishing dozens of articles in top journals and conferences, as well as translating research into commercial products.

Professor Burnap also directs the Wales Cyber Innovation Hub – a programme aiming to grow the Wales cybersecurity sector by 50% over the next 5 years through innovations in IP commercialisation, and to develop a world class suite of hands-on cybersecurity skills programmes aligned to local industry needs – reskilling over 1500 people in South East Wales.

Ruth Patterson – Managing Director UK & Ireland, HP

Ruth Patterson is the recently appointed UK&I VP and MD, based out of HP’s UK Headquarters in Thames Valley Park, Reading, Berkshire.

Prior to current role, she was Global Head of the ACS Category Organization at HP Inc. Partnering globally internally across markets and functions, and externally with multiple partners, alliances, customers, to drive growth across a broad innovative portfolio, including Mobile and Desktop Performance Workstations, Retail Industrial Solutions, OEM, Data Science and AI Solutions.

Across her expansive career, Ruth has held multiple global leadership positions covering a span of functional and business areas. These include Displays and Accessories, Storage Technology, New Business Creation, Consumer Business, Strategic Alliances, R&D, multiple Marketing roles, General Manager of the prestigious HP Calculator Business and prior to moving to the PS ACS Category Team, held several roles in the ACS GBU (Product Marketing, OEM, GTM). She also held leadership positions in Europe and worked at Xerox, UK.

Ruth has partnered with industry leaders on technology programs and built strategic alliances, focusing on customer and partner growth across channels.

Ruth is an exceptional advocate across DE&I programs. Leads a Women in Leadership program and sponsors many individuals. She has graduated from both Stanford’s Executive Leadership Program, and more recently HP’s Accelerate Berkeley Executive Program, and holds an MBA from the University of Bath, UK.

Sam Evans – Director of Quality Assurance and External Affairs, Vishay

Sam is a quality and business excellence professional with over 42 years of experience in the semiconductor sector. Twenty-two of these years as a director working closely with international teams. A graduate of Cardiff University with an honour’s degree in chemistry, joining INMOS in 1984 after completing a research masters in thermodynamics.

He is the External Affairs and Quality Director for Vishay Newport, acting as the main government and customer interface.

He has extensive experience of building and maintaining business systems based on IATF, EFQM, VDA and other TQ best practise models as well as facilitating the development of strategic business plans using McKinsey and Hoshin techniques. 

Sam is the main business officer working closely with the Welsh, UK Government agencies and the CS Cluster. Facilitating the delivery of multiple RD&I projects, securing strategic funding support for the Newport site since 2017. He is the advisory board member of both Swansea and Cardiff Universities wafer-fab organisations. He represents Vishay on the CTO council of CS Connected and the APPG for semiconductors at Westminster

Sarah Williams-Gardener – Chair & NED, FinTech Wales

Sarah spent 17 years at IBM, latterly as Government Affairs Director working with Government departments, as well as working on commercial and innovation projects. Sarah was also a founding member of the team behind the challenger bank Starling. Since leaving Starling in 2019, Sarah held an interim CEO role at charity Hope for Children, as well as heading market, consumer insights and product design team at Fair 4 All Finance. In 2020 Sarah took up the role of CEO at Fintech Wales and in March this year she moved into the Chair role.

In addition to her role as Chair at Fintech Wales Sarah a NED at DVLA, and independent member of the Tata translation board, Chair of Business Beats Cancer Cymru and a trustee for Surviving Economic Abuse..

Susi Marston – Head of Wales, Public Sector, BT

Susi was appointed Head of Public Sector, Wales in January 2024, bringing over three decades of experience at BT. She began her career as an apprentice in 1994 and has since held a variety of leadership roles across the organisation. Most recently, she served as Marketing and Communications Lead within BT’s Business team, where she played a pivotal role in shaping strategic messaging and stakeholder engagement.

In her current role, Susi leads BT’s engagement with public sector organisations across Wales, working in partnership to address complex challenges and deliver improved outcomes for communities. She also oversees BT’s delivery of the Public Sector Broadband Aggregation (PSBA) programme, a flagship Welsh Government contract aimed at enhancing digital infrastructure across Wales.

Susi is based in North Cardiff, where she lives with her husband Lee and their two teenage daughters. Outside of work, she and her family are passionate football supporters.