Speakers
Click on each speakers image to read their biography
Click on each speakers image to read their biography
Claire Gillies is the CEO of BT Group’s Consumer division, overseeing major UK telecommunications brands BT, EE, and Plusnet. An experienced telecommunications executive with over 25 years industry experience, Claire was appointed in April 2025 following her distinguished executive career at Bell Canada, where she ultimately served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and President of the Consumer division. During her time at Bell, Claire also served as the President of the Wireless division and President of The Source, Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer.
She was previously the Chair of Kids Help Phone Board of Directors; Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service for all young people in Canada and was the Co-Chair of their recent‘Feel Out Loud’ campaign which raised over $300M for youth mental health.
A passionate advocate for advancing women in leadership, Claire supports global leadership development programmes such as the International Women’s Fellowship and Rotman School’s Judy Project.
Claire holds both a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from McMaster University, Canada. She has been recognised for her executive leadership with North American accolades including The Globe and Mail’s 2022 Report on Business Best Executive Award and the Wayne C. Fox Alumni Award from the DeGroote School of Business, Canada.
Dawn is Chair of the Barclays Women’s Super League, National Youth Theatre and Digital Theatre. She is Deputy Chair of Channel 4 and is on the Board of Grosvenor Estates. She is also Chancellor of Edge Hill University.
Dawn is a veteran of the media industry having worked in television for 30 years, holding senior positions at ITV as its first Network Controller of Kids and Daytime and latterly Managing Director of Global Content. She was also the first Director of Programmes and subsequently CEO and Chair of Channel 5. Dawn also worked at BSKYB as Managing Director of Channels and Services. She spent 3 years as Yahoo’s SVP in EMEA and was CEO and non-executive director of Getty Images for 7 years.
Dawn was also a member of the Government’s 2021 Expert Panel for a Fan-Led Review of Football.
In 2017 she was News International’s Visiting Professor of Media Studies at Brasenose College, Oxford University. She is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Television Society, and in 2018 was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Edge Hill University for her outstanding contributions to the media industry.
Dawn was awarded a CBE in the King's Birthday Honours in 2024.
Kelly leads the Strategy and Portfolio function, responsible for driving the development and execution of VodafoneThree's corporate strategy and major programmes including the merger integration plan. She joined Vodafone UK in 2021 as Head of New Business Development, overseeing the consumer product strategy. Kelly has also held senior positions in commercial, marketing and strategy at BT and Comcast, where she delivered major transformation programmes and propositions across mobile, broadband, convergence and customer experience.
In October 2023, Dr Gillian Tett took office as Provost of King’s College, Cambridge.
An anthropologist by training, Gillian was previously Chairman of the US Editorial Board and America Editor-at-Large at the Financial Times.
Alongside her role as Provost, she continues to write a weekly column and is a member of the editorial board for the FT. She is the author of, among other books, Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life and the New York Times bestseller Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe.
Gillian has received several awards in recognition of her work, including Columnist of the Year (2014), Journalist of the Year (2009) and Financial Journalist of the Year (2008) at the British Press Awards; the British Academy President’s Medal (2011); and the American Anthropological Association President’s Medal (2022) and in 2024, was awarded an OBE for her services to journalism.
She has an undergraduate degree and PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, based on research conducted in the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Max is the CEO of VodafoneThree, the largest mobile company in the UK, serving 29 million customers. Previously, during his six years as Vodafone UK CEO and Chief Commercial Officer, he revitalised the Vodafone Brand with campaigns such as 'Be Unlimited', 'Keeping the UK connected' and the 'The Great British Broadband Switch,' attracting millions of new customers and driving market leading customer experience metrics. Prior to Vodafone he held key leadership roles in the formation of EE and the subsequent integration into BT. He is a passionate customer-focused and commercially-driven marketeer with over 25 years of international telecoms experience.
Nick has worked at Sky for over 20 years and was appointed Group Chief Operating Officer in February 2025.
Prior to his current role, he was Sky’s Chief Business Officer with oversight of Sky’s advertising sales division, the distribution of Sky programming on third-party platforms, content agreements with local and international partners and our sports rights acquisition strategy. During the rest of his career at Sky he has held a range of positions across Finance, Strategy and Sky News, including the role of Chief Operating Officer at Sky News.
Nick has a degree in Economics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.
Thorold Barker is a Senior Adviser to AlixPartners. He sits on the board of Moelis & Co and Tiger 21 in New York City and is a regular speaker and moderator - having appeared on stage at big global events including Davos, Web Summit, and the Future Investment Initiative. His live interviews have included Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Christine Lagarde, Rishi Sunak, David Attenborough, Satya Nadella, Ana Botin, Ryan Reynolds, Antony Blinken, Olaf Sholz, Steve Schwartzman, Mark Carney.
Thorold is the former Editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa at the Wall Street Journal, where he was also the masthead editor overseeing all global events and live Journalism. Before joining the Wall Street Journal in 2008, to recreate the paper’s Heard on the Street Column, he was U.S. Lex Editor for the Financial Times in New York. Thorold started his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Co and has a degree in Modern Languages from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Rich Caccappolo is Vice Chairman, Media at DMGT, where he focuses on strategic initiatives shaping the future of news publishing. He previously served as CEO of DMG Media and joined MailOnline as COO in 2013. During his tenure, he played a key role in driving MailOnline’s commercial growth and transforming it into the world’s largest English-language news site. Earlier in his career, he worked across technology and media organizations including U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey’s office, eMusic, Creative Commerce LLC, and iVillage, using his strategic vision to drive growth and operational improvements across digital platforms.
Dominic was named EVP, Publisher, The Sun in 2022. He oversees all aspects of The Sun’s business: on digital platforms, in print, and across an array of highly successful brand extensions: from Fabulous, the biggest women’s lifestyle brand in UK media to fantasy football brand Dream Team and gaming brands including Sun Bingo.
The Sun is the #1 newsbrand in the UK, reaching more than 30 million readers each month across all its digital and print platforms. It is also growing audiences fast in the US via the-sun.com. The Sun is famous for its campaigning journalism, celebrating heroes across society and giving voice to the voiceless. Working with editor Victoria Newton and his senior leadership team, Dominic is focused on developing The Sun’s audience, products and revenues to their full potential.
Dominic joined News in 1991 and held various roles across The Sun and The Times before leaving the business in 1999 to launch a digital arm for a major publisher and subsequently joining Mirror Group Newspapers as Group Advertising Director.
In 2006 he returned to News and since then has held a number of senior commercial roles across the business. In 2018 Dominic was appointed Group Chief Commercial Officer for News UK, overseeing all national commercial operations across print, digital, video and radio.
Dominic is News UK’s Diversity Board chair. In 2021, Dominic was recognised as Commercial Leader of the Year by Campaign, as a top 20 Global Ethnic Minority Executive Role Model by EMpower, and Social Mobility Champion of the Year by the Social Mobility Awards.
Sophie is CEO, UK Consumer at Sky. She is responsible for Sky UK’s consumer business, overseeing the end-to-end product, go-to-market and customer experience, including contact centre, field operations, supply chain, change and transformation. Prior to this role, Sophie was Sky’s Chief Consumer Officer, leading the Sky and NOW consumer revenue teams.
Prior to this role, Sophie was Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Xfinity. In this capacity she led the Consumer Growth & Engagement group focused on growing consumer relationships, consumer and employee engagement with products and services, the quality of the sales experience and the strength of the Xfinity brand.
Sophie joined Comcast from Sky following a 15-year tenure in which she held leadership roles in the Marketing and Finance functions. During this time, she worked on the launch of NOW, Sky’s streaming service, the acquisitions of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland and Sky’s Operating Efficiency program. She also led Sky Mobile, driving substantial growth in revenue and profit, and becoming the UK’s fastest growing mobile network.
Before joining Sky, Sophie served as an audit associate at Ernst & Young, London.
Sophie received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Birmingham and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland.
Sophie currently serves as Independent External Member of the Audit and Risk Committee of John Lewis Partnership plc. During her time in the US, Sophie served on the Board of the Red Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania and was a member of the Economic and Community Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and served on the Board of Zola.
Rajiv has over 25 years’ experience in digital infrastructure centred around the build & management of large fibre-based networks & services in the US, Europe and Asia with a focus on strategy execution, business transformation and operational capability.
Rajiv was previously COO at Colt Technologies where he had responsibility for all service delivery, technology, operations, product, strategy and systems functions in managing a global network business spanning 36,000 route kms.
Prior to this, Rajiv was COO at AboveNet Communications with 2 million+ fibre-miles of metro network where he played a key role in the growth & strategic restructuring of the company resulting in industry-leading financial performance.
In addition, Rajiv has held senior roles at Reliance Jio, Alcatel and has worked extensively as a Senior Advisor to Private Equity & Infrastructure investors in evaluating digital infrastructure opportunities globally.
Christian Hindennach joined Virgin Media O2 in February 2023 and was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer in December 2023.
Christian is responsible for the commercial performance of the O2, Virgin Media and giffgaff which includes defining consumer & brand strategy, designing customer centric products and propositions, executing marketing & communication activities as well as implementing digital transformation for all commercial activities. He is also responsible for overseeing the execution of the company’s three-year strategic plan.
Christian formerly held the position of Chief Commercial Officer of German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland responsible for customer growth, customer and product management, customer experience, pricing and offering, marketing and communication and helped Sky in Germany to successfully navigate through Covid, regaining consumers trust and diversifying its content offering.
Previously Christian was CCO with Liberty Global’s cable operator Unitymedia for eight years until the asset was sold to Vodafone Germany in 2019, tripling its value from 2012. Between 2006 and 2012 Christian held various senior leadership roles in O2 Germany in sales and marketing.
A passionate cyclist and still active in basketball, Christian lives with his wife Sonja and his 3 boys Lenny, Linus and Luis in the surroundings of Munich.
Karl Holmes is Senior Vice President, Direct to Consumer & General Manager for Disney+ in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was appointed to this role in January 2025.
Since joining Disney, Karl has overseen the expansion of Disney+’s consumer reach across EMEA. This includes a series of major new distribution partnerships ranging from Sky in the UK & Ireland, to Shahid and STC in the Middle East. He has also agreed pioneering deals with free-to-air broadcasters across the region to deepen Disney+’s local content offering, including ITV in the UK, Atresmedia and RTVE in Spain, Rai in Italy and ZDF in Germany.
As well as being the dedicated streaming home for Disney’s blockbuster movies and classic TV shows, Disney+ is growing investment in exclusive local scripted Originals like ‘Rivals’, must-see general entertainment series such as FX’s ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette’ and Hulu’s ‘The Testaments’, and unscripted Originals including ‘Raising Chelsea’ and the upcoming ‘Castle Man’ (w/t). This expansive range of content is showcased in the new Disney+ EMEA consumer marketing platform, ‘A Lifetime of Great Stories’. This is rooted in Disney’s heritage of stories and characters with multi-generational emotional appeal while celebrating the modern, award-winning stories available on Disney+.
Prior to joining Disney+, Karl held roles at Sky, 21st Century Fox and BCG, and has served on the board of major media companies across the Middle East and South Asia.
Lutz previously served as CEO of Virgin Media from June 2019 to May 2021, after spending ten months as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Lutz is also a member of the Liberty Global Executive Leadership Team.
Prior to his time at Virgin Media, Lutz was CEO of Unity Media, a position he held from January 2011. While at Unity Media, he played a key role in the acquisition of Kabel BW by Liberty Global and the subsequent integration of both companies. He served in several senior management roles with the Telefónica O2 group from 1998 onwards, lastly leading the integration of Hansenet Telekommunication GmbH as its CEO in Hamburg, when it was acquired by Telefónica O2 in early 2010.
From 2006 to 2010, he was Managing Director, Marketing & Sales for Telefónica O2 in Germany.
Before joining Telefónica O2 in 1998, he worked as a product manager with T-Mobile.
Allison Kirkby is the Chief Executive of BT Group, the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services. She was appointed in February 2024 after serving as a Non-Executive Director on the company’s Board since March 2019.
A deep telco and transformation expert and seasoned leader in the sector, Allison spent a decade in Scandinavia running telecoms businesses: Telia (Sweden, 2020 – 2024); TDC (Denmark, 2018 – 2019); and Tele2 (Sweden, 2015-2018), prior to returning to the UK.
Allison qualified as a chartered management accountant while working at Guinness. She went on to broaden her financial, operational and international experience at Procter & Gamble where she spent 20 years, before entering the telecoms industry at Virgin Media in 2010.
In January 2025, Allison joined the board of the GSMA, a global organisation which represents companies across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries. In the same year she was appointed an Adviser to the UK Government’s Board of Trade in March and also became a member of the Government’s Women in Tech taskforce. Allison has previously been a Non-Executive Director of Brookfield Asset Management and was Chair of the Audit Committee and a Non-Executive Director of Greggs, the much-loved British bakery chain.
The first female to lead BT Group in its 179-year history, Allison is committed to creating inclusive workplaces, embracing diverse voices and ideas to boost innovation, resilience, and to build better products and services for all customers.
Dana is Group Chief Executive of Sky, one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies and part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology group. Dana has managed both cable and satellite businesses around the world and is recognised for her track record for accelerating growth.
Since Dana joined in 2021, Sky has launched two new world-leading streaming platforms – Sky Glass and Sky Stream. These products build on Sky’s passion for entertainment and mark a shift from providing content over satellite to via the internet and straight to people’s TV’s.
Under her leadership, Sky continues its commitment to the cultural economy, creating award-winning original content, producing the biggest live sporting events, and providing free access to news and the arts.
A series of landmark sports rights deal have recently been secured by Sky including the broadcast rights to show a record number of Premier League fixtures in a new four-year deal from 2025/26; the UK broadcast rights to the EFL through to the 2028/29 season; the US Open tennis to 2027; Formula 1 to 2029; and the Women’s Super League. Dana has also overseen the expansion of Sky’s long-term partnerships with UK public service broadcasters, Channel 4, ITV, and the BBC, as well as new long-term agreements that have brought Apple TV+, Paramount+, and content from Peacock onto Sky’s Entertainment OS platform.
Dana has overseen the continued diversification of Sky’s business, with Sky Mobile becoming the fastest growing mobile operator in the UK, the rapid expansion of Sky Broadband’s customer base, and the launch of Sky Protect, a first of its kind smart home protection and insurance service.
Before joining Sky, Dana led transformation and growth for many of the world’s largest media and telecommunication companies serving as President of Consumer Services for Comcast Cable, the largest broadband and PayTV operator in the United States; President and Chief Operating Officer of Virgin Media; and Chief Transformation Officer of Liberty Global.
Ed McCarthy is the Chief Operating Officer at DAZN, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform. Ed joined DAZN in 2020 from Access Industries, where he oversaw some of its key European portfolio companies in the technology and media sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked as an attorney at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
Larry Tanz is Vice President of Content for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
A 12 year Netflix veteran, Tanz oversees all programming from EMEA across series, films, nonfiction, and acquisitions. He leads a team of creative executives behind shows such as Lupin (France), The Empress (Germany) La Casa de Papel (Spain), and Adolescence (UK) and films such as Troll (Norway), All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany), and Under Paris (France), and nonfiction titles including Love is Blind (France, Germany, Habibi, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and UK) and Beckham (UK).
Larry previously served as CEO of Michael Eisner's digital studio Vuguru (now Tornante Television), CEO of LivePlanet (with founders Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sean Bailey and Chris Moore), and held senior positions at AOL Time Warner and Mercer Management Consulting. He is a founding board member of Water.org which has empowered more than 68 million people with access to safe water or sanitation through affordable financing.
Tanz lives in Amsterdam with his wife and three kids.
Tanz has his Bachelors degree and a Masters degree from Harvard University and his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining Ofcom, Melanie was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2015-2020) and held senior roles across the Civil Service, working in partnership across the public and private sectors.
She started her career as an economist and spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe Director. She was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office between 2011 and 2015, and prior to that she served on the Board of HMRC as Head of Business Tax and as a Tax Commissioner.
Melanie has held non-executive roles including with the consumer body Which?. She is a Patron of the Patchwork Foundation, which promotes the participation of under-represented young people in democracy.
Natalie Black CBE joined Ofcom in 2024 as Group Director for Communications and Networks and Executive Board Member. She is also responsible for leading Ofcom's work on the implications of Artificial Intelligence.
Previously, Natalie was the UK’s first His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, she led the UK’s trade strategy and operations across 15 countries and was the UK’s first Senior Economic Official to ASEAN. Highlights included the UK’s first Digital Economy Agreement, securing new investment deals from Australia and Japan and joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In the UK, Natalie was Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit where she oversaw the AI Review (2017) and established and led the first cross-government Online Harms Unit. Natalie has over 10 years of experience in cyber security and led the National Cyber Security Programme as Deputy Director and Director of the Office of Cyber Security in the Cabinet Office after joining the Civil Service from London2012, where she was Chief of Staff to the Director of Security.
Natalie is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was previously a trustee of Bletchley Park and co-founded GBxAsia (now British Tech Advisers) to support collaboration between the UK and Asian tech ecosystems.
Natalie is a graduate of the LSE and Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Fulbright scholar.
Simon has 30 years of experience working with Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) companies. Before joining CityFibre, Simon was a partner at Goldman Sachs where he spent 18 years in London and New York. There he held senior roles in the Investment Banking division including Global Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman of EMEA as well as a number of leadership roles in the TMT banking team.
Prior to joining Goldman, Simon worked for Baring Brothers in London and Hong Kong. He is a fellow of the institute of chartered accountants, qualifying with Coopers and Lybrand. He is a graduate of Imperial College, London.
Anna Bateson is chief executive of Guardian Media Group, one of the world's leading audience-funded news organisations. Before becoming CEO in 2022, she was the Guardian's chief customer officer and interim CEO, helping the Guardian reach more than one million paying supporters globally. Her experience in working with world-leading digital brands and global audiences includes senior roles at Google, YouTube, Bloomberg, ITV and MTV.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine has built his career in France and internationally in the media world.
First, Executive Director of Le Figaro, in 1995 he is a member of the founding team of the Emap Group in France, becoming a few years later Chief Executive Officer and then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emap France. In 2000, he joins the Executive Board of Emap plc. and concomitantly, from 2000 to 2005, serves as Chairman of EMW, the Emap/Wanadoo digital subsidiary.
In 2006, he is appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Editions Mondadori France and one year later becomes General Manager of all digital business for the Mondadori group. In 2009, Arnaud de Puyfontaine joins the US media group Hearst, serving successively as Chief Executive Officer of its UK subsidiary, Executive Vice President of Hearst Magazines International and Managing Director for Western Europe.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine joins Vivendi in January 2014, as Senior Executive Vice President in charge of its media and content operations. Since June 24, 2014, he has been Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine also serves as Chair of the Board, Havas N.V., Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gameloft SE, Member of the Board of Directors of Louis Hachette Group, Member of the Supervisory Board of Canal+ and Member of the Board of Directors of Lagardère SA. He is also Honorary Chairman of the French-American Foundation and ESCP Alumni.
He is Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite et Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. He also was awarded the OBE (Officer of the British Empire) and the OMRI (Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana).
Arnaud de Puyfontaine is a graduate of the ESCP Business School (1988), the Multimedia Institute (1992) and Harvard Business School (2000).
As Vice President and Managing Director for Google in the UK and Ireland, Kate Alessi leads teams that manage business partnerships and promote the use of Google’s AI across the UK. Her main goal is to expand the opportunities that AI offers to all regions of the UK. She works with business leaders to use AI for growth, collaborates with policymakers to keep the UK at the forefront of innovation, and advocates for upskilling programs that help people use technology to advance their careers.
Before taking on her current role in July 2025, Kate held several regional and global leadership positions at Google. She was the Vice President, YouTube & Video Global Product Solutions and the Head of YouTube Brand Solutions for Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Earlier in her career, she served as the Head of Industry, Healthcare, for the U.S. market.
Kate joined Google in February 2010, bringing with her over a decade of experience in marketing, strategy, and corporate development from high-growth companies. She also has a background in entrepreneurial ventures, having helped launch and build two leading cosmetic brands, an online healthcare portal, and a venture capital fund. In these roles, she was responsible for developing and executing broad marketing campaigns, negotiating high value sponsorship deals, and building content community channels.
Before her entrepreneurial ventures, Kate was a management consultant focused on the Financial Services sector and worked in venture capital in both Silicon Valley and Boston. She holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Kevin MacLellan is the President of Global Content Distribution and International at Paramount, a Skydance Corporation. With over 30 years of television and media experience, Kevin manages the planning and execution of Paramount’s international strategy, overseeing its global offices and networks, including Channel 5 in the UK and Network 10 in Australia, and leads the licensing of all Paramount film and television content to platforms and broadcasters worldwide.
Prior to joining Paramount in August 2025, Kevin served as Chairman of Global Distribution and International Media at NBCUniversal for eight years, where he scaled annual revenue from $2.5 billion to $5 billion and managed 2,500 employees across 36 countries. He built and ran international operations spanning 120,000 TV episodes, 4,500 films, 9 streaming services, and 65 networks, while driving profit growth through landmark deals with Netflix, Amazon, and Sky. He also helped develop and greenlight global hits including Downton Abbey, The Last Kingdom, and The Gilded Age. He previously held senior roles at HBO, Sony Pictures, and Comcast.
A dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom, Kevin has lived and worked around the world, including London, Prague, Singapore, Sydney, and New York. He is a member and former conference chair of the Royal Television Society and a founder and board member of the Soho Recovery Centre, one of the largest drug and alcohol recovery centres in Europe. Kevin lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Brian, and their two sons.
As the Managing Director of YouTube UK & Ireland, her remit involves working with Government and policy makers and leading partnerships across the broadcast, communications, music and creative sectors to ensure British talent thrives globally. Alison also represents YouTube on the UK Government’s Creative Industries Council.
With a career defined by the intersection of creativity and technology, Alison’s background spans both the public and commercial sectors. Before joining Google in 2011, she held roles in advertising and worked alongside government departments, including the Foreign Office and MI5. She held several senior leadership positions during her 11 years at Google, culminating in her appointment as Managing Director of YouTube in 2023.
A diversity advocate, Alison is an active member of Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership (WACL) and a vocal champion for the growth of women’s football. Committed to inspiring the next generation, she also volunteers with Speakers for Schools, providing career guidance to secondary school students.
Dame Carolyn McCall OBE is CEO of ITV plc, which has undergone a significant transformation to ensure it thrives and succeeds in a ferociously competitive digital media world. Under Carolyn's leadership since 2018, ITV has successfully transitioned from a linear organisation to a strong linear and digital media, entertainment and global production business.
Between 2010 and 2017, Carolyn was CEO of easyJet, leading a turnaround that resulted in a customer-focused airline that made it easy and affordable for passengers. The share price quadrupled during her tenure. From 2006 to 2010, Carolyn was CEO of the Guardian Media Group, leading six Divisions and creating the investment trust that helped to secure the Guardian's financial and editorial independence. From 2002, she was CEO of Guardian Newspapers Ltd.
Carolyn joined the Board of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation in 2024 and sits on the Finance and Commercial Committee. She also currently serves as a Non-Executive Director (NED) on the Board of Bridgepoint plc, and is the newly appointed President of The Marketing Society. She has previously served as a NED of Burberry, Tesco, Lloyds TSB and New Look Group plc. She served as a Trustee of the Royal Academy for 8 years, and Chaired their Corporate Advisory Board during this time.
In 2016, she was awarded a DBE for services to the aviation industry and received an OBE in 2008 for services to women in business. She was named Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year in 2008 and has received awards for business leadership from the Evening Standard and City AM. She has been named the most admired leader by Management Today three times, the only person to have won the award for two separate companies.
Katie Milligan is Chief Executive Officer of Openreach, the UK’s largest digital infrastructure provider and the engine behind the nation’s Full Fibre upgrade. Katie leads an organisation of around 25,000 people with a mission to build the connections that matter – underpinning the UK’s economic growth, public services, and future competitiveness.
Before Openreach
Katie joined BT Group in 2004 on its graduate programme, developing deep commercial and operational expertise across a range of senior leadership roles. She moved to Openreach in 2009 and has held positions including Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer. She has been instrumental in strengthening long-term partnerships with hundreds of communications providers across the UK and also led the commercial frameworks for government funded broadband programmes such as BDUK and R100, helping bring better connectivity to some of the hardest to reach communities in the UK.
Mike Fries is Chairman and CEO of Liberty Global. He was a co-founder of the company and has overseen its growth into a world leader in converged broadband, mobile and video communications with operations established in 50 countries over the last 30 years. Today Liberty Global serves 80 million fixed and mobile connections and generates $22 billion of revenue in Europe under some of the best-known consumer brands -- including Virgin Media-O2 in the UK, VodafoneZiggo in The Netherlands, Telenet in Belgium and Virgin Media in Ireland. The company is also an active investor in cutting-edge infrastructure, media and technology businesses.
Mr. Fries also serves as the Chairman of Sunrise Communications AG in Switzerland and Liberty Latin America Ltd. (both formerly 100% owned by Liberty Global), and is a board member of Lionsgate Studios Corp. and Grupo Televisa S.A.B. In addition to several philanthropic boards and initiatives, he is a board member of GSMA and Cable Labs, a trustee and finance committee member of the Paley Center for Media and a Communications and Technology Governor of the World Economic Forum. Mr. Fries holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University where he is an Emeritus Trustee and an M.B.A. from Columbia University where he serves on the Board of Overseers.
Daniel Thomas is the Global Media Editor for the FT. He was previously the chief UK business correspondent, executive news editor, deputy companies editor, telecoms correspondent and head of the Technology, Media and Telecoms team in London, property correspondent and FT Money reporter. He has worked for various titles covering property, advertising, finance and media.
Rhodri is the Editorial Director, appointed to the role in May 2026 after serving as interim BBC Director-General, from April 2026 until 18 May 2026..
Rhodri was previously the BBC’s Director of Nations and sat on the BBC’s Executive Committee. Appointed to the role in January 2021, he led the BBC’s work serving nations and local audiences across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Alongside this work, he also led the BBC’s Across the UK strategy to decentralise the organisation across the country as well as the corporation’s deployment of Generative AI technology.
Between 2011 and 2020, Rhodri was Director of BBC Cymru Wales where he led the opening of the BBC’s new production centre at Central Square in Cardiff in 2020 and oversaw a transformation in drama production set in Wales.
In June 2025, Rhodri was appointed Chair of BBC Media Action – the BBC’s international development charity which operates in more than 30 countries.
President & MD UK & Ireland and Sports EMEA, Warner Bros. Discovery
As President and MD for Warner Bros. Discovery UK and Ireland, Andrew leads the business, which includes multiple TV channel brands; Discovery, TLC, Quest, Quest Red, Really, Cartoon Network, Eurosport and TNT Sports. He also oversees the consumer products, home entertainment, TV licensing, digital distribution and affiliate sales in the UK and Ireland and supports the local Warner Bros. theatrical business. Andrew was recently responsible for the launch of HBO Max in the UK&I and he is now also leading HBO Max and discovery+ across EMEA for Warner Bros. Discovery.
As President and MD for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe, Andrew oversees WBD Sports’ businesses, brands and properties including TNT Sports in the UK & Ireland, Eurosport and the Olympic Games across Europe, as well as responsibility for the organisation's Events management and promotion division.
Joining the company in 2019, Andrew arrived from Lagardère Sports and Entertainment where he was the CEO.
Andrew is also a member of the Board of Sports United Against Dementia, part of the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK, helping raise awareness as well as funding for research and to support those suffering from dementia.
Gerhard Zeiler serves as President of International for Warner Bros. Discovery. Zeiler has strategic oversight for the company’s brands and joint responsibility for direct-to-consumer in more than 220 international markets. He is also responsible for local theatrical production and acquisitions, as well as managing the country and region-specific networks and businesses in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
Appointed President of WarnerMedia International in 2020, Zeiler added responsibility for Discovery Inc.’s significant international footprint following the close of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger in April 2022. He first joined Turner in 2012 as President, Turner International, where he oversaw the entertainment and kids’ networks in all markets outside of North America, working with core global brands on local and regional channels.
Prior to joining Turner, Zeiler was CEO of RTL Group, a division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann and Europe’s largest television production and broadcast company. Under his leadership, RTL expanded its international footprint, bringing hit competition shows like Idols and Got Talent to the U.S. market and growing its holdings to 41 channels and 34 radio stations across 10 countries.
Among his many professional honours, Austrian-born Zeiler is the first non-American to receive NATPE’s prestigious Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award in 2011.
Roula Khalaf is Editor of the Financial Times. She was previously deputy editor from 2016 to 2020, overseeing a range of newsroom initiatives and award winning editorial projects and leading a global network of over 100 foreign correspondents.
Before taking up the deputy editor role, Khalaf was the FT's foreign editor and oversaw the FT's operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Before that, as Middle East editor, she launched a Middle East edition and led coverage of the Arab Spring. Khalaf was named foreign commentator of the year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards in 2016 and her series on Qatar won the Foreign Press Association’s Feature story of the year in 2013. She joined the FT in 1995 as North Africa correspondent and before that was a staff writer for Forbes magazine in New York.
Rebecca leads the Adobe Digital Strategy Group for EMEA, partnering with executives to turn digital ambition into measurable outcomes. Her career has spanned both sides of the table, customer-side, delivering complex transformation programmes, and vendor-side, leading SaaS customer success teams. Rebecca is interested in how to align vision with execution, strategy with operations. Most recently, Rebecca led the build of a scalable operating model as Director of Transformation at Future Dreams, a breast cancer support centre, growing booked services by 36% in a single quarter and piloting GenAI to streamline operations. Rebecca has worked for Oracle, AWS, M&S and The Kings Trust.
Ian Rumsey is Chief Executive of ITN, one of the UK’s leading factual production companies and home to ITV News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News as well as Good Morning Britain and 5's daytime discussion shows. Founded in 1955, ITN produces award-winning journalism, documentaries, digital content and live programming for broadcasters, brands and platforms in the UK and internationally.
A BAFTA and RTS-winning producer, Ian has more than 25 years’ experience across programme-making and news. He began his career in newspapers before moving into television production, joining ITN in 2005. Since then, he has held senior leadership roles across the organisation, helping to shape some of ITN’s most impactful journalism and successful programmes, from ITV News, - including as Programme Editor of News at Ten - to most recently serving as Chief Content Officer, overseeing ITN Productions, ITN’s creative content division.
