Alex led the strategic change programme to conceive and establish The Sofa Delivery Company. Alex has over 30 years’ experience working in retail supply chain and logistics within the UK and Internationally, with both Boots PLC, and The DFS Group. Alex holds an MBA and a BA (Hons) Business Studies and is also a member (MCIT) of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Michelle leads initiatives to empower small and medium-sized businesses to grow globally. Through Alibaba.com’s AI-powered B2B platform she enables smarter sourcing, lowering barriers to business creation and international trade, and leveraging a diversified global supplier network to help level the playing field for SMEs in competitive markets. Michelle previously served as Co-Managing Director of Alibaba Group France from 2022 until the Group’s restructuring in 2023. She joined Alibaba Group in 2016 and has held senior roles across business development and strategic partnerships, managing key accounts and driving growth across a broad range of digital commerce solutions for markets in Europe and China.

Daniel is a globally recognised expert in AI and investor in emerging technologies. He's the CEO of the award-winning AI company Satalia, acquired by the world's largest media company in 2021, WPP, where he is also the Chief AI Officer. Daniel has been recognised as one of the top 10 Chief AI Officers globally.Amongst his investments, Daniel is also Co-founder and CEO of the world's first commercial research organisation to understand machine consciousness, Conscium.Having received a Masters and Doctorate in AI at UCL, Daniel has several academic roles including UCL's Computer Science Entrepreneur in Residence, focused on using AI to solve business and social problems.
Daniel is a serial TEDx and keynote speaker on AI, ethics, innovation and decentralisation, and is a faculty member of SingularityU. He has advisory and executive positions across companies and governments where he actively promotes purposeful entrepreneurship and technology innovation.

Muk joined The Very Group in 2019 as a Lead Product Manager and is now Head of Digital Product. With nearly 15 years of experience across start-ups and large-scale retailers, he brings deep expertise in driving digital innovation and creating seamless, customer-focused experiences. At Very, Muk leads the digital product strategy, shaping the future of online retail for over four million customers. Before this, he made a significant impact at Tesco and Pets at Home, enhancing digital experiences and delivering meaningful change for customers. Muk’s journey reflects his passion and commitment to creating experiences that truly make a difference for customers.

Corinne leads the expansion of Reserved in the UK, having introduced the Polish fashion brand to the market in 2017 with a flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. Her career in retail spans leading roles at River Island and Kurt Geiger at Selfridges London, where she launched the children's footwear department and managed all regional concessions within the shoe hall. Corinne’s tenure at adidas is particularly distinguished. She spearheaded the launch of the adidas Originals Neighbourhood store on Carnaby Street and was instrumental in

introducing the first Stella McCartney collaboration in the UK. Additionally, she served as Head of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) for adidas’s UK retail team, leading impactful initiatives within the organisation.

Simon joined Pets at Home in September 2020 and plays a key role in guiding the company's digital transformation and AI adoption journey.

Throughout his career, Simon has been at the centre of implementing new and innovative technologies to drive business transformation. With a strong background in artificial intelligence and enterprise architecture, he has successfully led numerous projects that integrate cutting-edge AI solutions into existing business frameworks, ensuring seamless adoption and maximising value.

At Seasalt, Christian directs the strategic and systems‑thinking approach to circularity, ensuring it supports commercial priorities and coherent decision‑making. With over 20 years of experience in sustainability, ranging from conservation volunteering to developing and delivering corporate ESG and sustainability strategies. Based in Cornwall, Christian brings a broad perspective shaped by work across manufacturing, engineering, and retail. Christian’s career is driven by a belief that strategy, purpose, and culture should work together to create practical change and support sustainable commercial growth. He is committed to making sustainability engaging, inclusive, and easy for people to connect with both inside organisations and in everyday life.

Sara Shomstein is currently Vice President, Client Management and B2B for Global Merchant Services UK at American Express. She began her career at Amex over 18 years ago and prior to her current role, worked in business development, signing and managing a number of strategic EMEA bank partnerships. She serves as an Executive Director on the American Express Payment Services Limited Board. Sara is originally from Brooklyn, NY.

Ned has spent over 15 years in the UK and the US working with global mid-market and enterprise retailers to drive impactful business change through innovative workforce technology.

He previously spent seven years in the US leading Quinyx’s commercial operations, partnering with major brands including J.Crew, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Victoria’s Secret to drive operational efficiency and frontline workforce innovation.

Dr Tom Wormald is Managing Partner at Yonder Consulting, where he leads the company’s insight function. He has spent over four years at Yonder, helping clients better understand people, culture and behaviour to inform strategy and decision-making.

Before the merger with Yonder, Tom was Managing Director at Decidedly, following an earlier role there as Director of Insight and Strategy. He has also held senior leadership positions at Deliberata and ICM Unlimited. Tom holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Manchester.

Katie brings over eight years of strategic commercial expertise to Just Eat Takeaway, where she has been instrumental in forging and scaling high-impact commercial partnerships across different business units in the organisation. Currently as the Global Head of Health & Beauty, Katie leads the category's vision and execution across three continents, developing scalable, compliant propositions that unlock growth in this complex and regulated sector. Her expertise lies in balancing commercial ambition with regulatory rigor, positioning Just Eat Takeaway as a trusted platform for Health & Beauty on-demand commerce worldwide.

Rory serves as Logile’s VP of Value Realisation, a role dedicated to helping customers unlock the full potential of our Operational Planning platform. His focus is ensuring that retailers not only implement our solutions effectively but also achieve measurable, sustained value from them.

With a long-standing background in productivity, Rory is passionate about empowering retailers to transform their operations, enhance efficiency, and drive profitability through proven, data-driven outcomes.

Before joining Logile, Rory built an extensive career in Retail Operations across the UK, Africa, and North America. Having held leadership roles in Retail Innovation, Productivity, and Workforce Management, he brings deep operational expertise to leading our customer-focused Value team.

Chris is the Head of Retail at White Stuff, leading 125 shops across the UK, Ireland, and Germany and overseeing a team of more than 1,000 colleagues. Since joining the business in 2018 as an Area Manager, he has played a pivotal role in driving retail growth, leading expansion plans, and implementing operational strategies that improve performance and efficiency across the store network. With a strong belief that commercial success starts with engaged and motivated teams, Chris is passionate about creating people-first cultures that deliver exceptional customer experiences. He is known for combining strategic thinking with hands-on retail leadership, focusing on developing high-performing teams, strengthening brand consistency, and adapting retail operations to meet evolving customer expectations.

Mei is an Applied AI Strategist at Satalia with over 10 years of experience navigating the intersection of business and technology. An AI realist focused on immediate impact, she builds and integrates AI products into complex operating models to solve practical delivery challenges. With a Master’s in Mathematics from Durham and a background at BCG and Avanade, Mei partners with business and technical teams to turn technical potential into organisational reality.

Liam leads True’s advisory practice that exists to help leadership teams act with clarity, pace, and confidence. By combining deep sector knowledge, investment and operational experience, and a commitment to long-term value, True works as a fully independent and solution-agnostic advisor to identify, quantify, and capture significant value creation opportunities for global corporates – creating billions in enterprise value in the process.A trusted partner of ambitious consumer and retail leaders and a passionate innovation strategist, Liam believes design and technology hold the key to transforming our world for the better. His 20 years of international experience span M&A, new venture building, technology partnerships, startup studios, innovation-focused joint ventures and new business line development for some of the world's best loved brands.True is a privately owned, UK-headquartered investment and advisory firm dedicated to the consumer and retail sectors. With approximately $1bn in assets under management across private equity, venture capital, and public equities, and a team of 40 professionals, True works with clients across the globe to create long-term, measurable value.

Spencer is the founder and CEO of Pure, a multi-channel, healthy food brand with retail, catering and wholesale operations. Pure’s purpose is to make deliciously good food, creating moments of joy when people are on-the-go or at work. Customers can visit one of its shops for breakfast, lunch or coffee; have Pure delivered for meetings, events, conferences and teams; or find a stockist for Pure’s premium, wholesale food-to-go range, all handmade in its own kitchens. 

Hilary is a business coach for retail and consumer product founders, guiding them to increase profit and clarity without burnout through a proven 9-step roadmap. Before moving into coaching, she spent almost 30 years in cross-functional commercial roles with brands including Boots, Superdrug and Marks & Spencer. Her most recent corporate role was Global Commercial Director at The Body Shop, where she supported 80 international markets and led the implementation of AI to improve commercial decision-making. She's now building a portfolio career as a Profit Coach and Non-Executive Director, bringing commercial rigour, strategic clarity and practical growth expertise to founders and leadership teams.

Abhay he leads enterprise data, analytics and AI transformation initiatives across the UK and Europe for CI&T. He specialises in helping organisations unlock operational efficiency and business value through modern data platforms, cloud technologies and AI-led innovation.

Prior to joining CI&T, Abhay held senior leadership roles at Avanade, leading large-scale data and AI programmes built on Microsoft Azure and Databricks technologies. He has extensive experience working with enterprise clients to modernise data estates, improve decision-making and scale AI adoption responsibly across organisations.

Abhay is passionate about bridging the gap between business strategy and technology execution, with a particular focus on practical AI adoption, data-driven operating models and building high-performing technology teams.

Rob has more than 23 years of experience in retail operations, workforce management, and frontline transformation across the UK and US, spanning both industry and consulting leadership roles.

He previously served as Managing Director of Accenture's Workforce Management Practice in North America, leading large-scale multi-country workforce management and transformation programs for organizations ranging from 5,000 employees to global enterprises with more than one million employees.

As a Global Executive at Avanade, he advised some of the world's largest organizations on frontline workforce strategy and leading business transformation through AI with Microsoft Copilot.Rob began his career on the frontline at Boots as a Store Manager in multiple formats before moving into central operations and IT leadership.

Melissa is the Global Director of Retail Strategy and Insights at CI&T (NYSE: CINT), a global AI Deployment partner for tech-integrated business solutions for companies such as Domino's, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle and more. Previously, she was a senior advisor at Gartner, covering omni-channel, e-commerce, mobile commerce, and social commerce strategy.

Melissa is a retail futurist whose methodology is rooted in cross-industry consumer insights and innovation. She graduated with an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and began her career at Target focusing on merchandising strategy. She is regularly featured on CNBC EMEA Squawk Box, bringing US retail expertise to Europe. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Influencer, RTIH Top Retail Technology Influencer and a member of the RetailWire BrainTrust.

David is a seasoned commercial leader with nearly 30 years of experience transforming how technology and services deliver value for customers. At Vista he brings a powerful blend of technical expertise and strategic vision, aligning teams and ideas to drive meaningful growth.

With a career that began in engineering, David brings deep technical insight alongside strategic commercial expertise. He has led complex transformation programmes for major brands including Royal Mail, DHL, and Asda, and held senior roles at Zebra Technologies and Toshiba, where he oversaw retail solutions across the UK and Ireland.

David is passionate about helping retailers navigate change - connecting systems, services, and people to unlock efficiency, resilience, and lasting value in an evolving industry.

Dr Gareth Menton is Head of Product for Retail Media at Carwow, where he is building the next generation of media and data solutions for automotive brands. With a background in senior roles at Just Eat Takeaway.com, he brings a platform mindset to commerce media, one that looks beyond onsite real estate to unlock the full value of audience, intent, and data offsite. His focus is on bridging brand and performance in ways that deliver impact for both advertisers and consumers.

Pete is an investor, non-executive director, and operator partner at Need it for Tonight (NIFT), a same-day fashion delivery platform headquartered at Westfield White City. Since 2023 he has worked alongside the founding team to scale the business across its marketplace, B2B SaaS, and 3PL offerings, supporting the company’s exponential growth, with 100+ partner stores and 400+ brands now on the platform.

Pete has more than two decades of institutional financial markets experience prior to joining NIFT. Most recently as co-founder, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director at Cape Ann Asset Management, giving a combination of early-stage operational experience and public equity asset management.

Today he splits his focus between scaling NIFT, advising on capital raising and partnerships, and active property investment across the UK.

James is Senior Director of AI and Data at Just Eat Takeaway.com, where he leads the team delivering generative AI solutions across the business. A Cambridge mathematics graduate, James has built his career at the intersection of technology and leadership - holding engineering leadership roles at JET since 2017, and previously at bet365 and Next Group PLC.