The AI Workforce Council is a hand-picked group of senior AI, data and transformation leaders shaping the Workforce 2027 Blueprint. Each member is doing this work in their own organisation right now, from financial services and media to insurance, retail and consulting.
The Blueprint is La Fosse’s practical guide for UK leaders on how to plan their workforce for the AI era. Structured by executive role, with specific recommendations for CPOs, CHROs, CTOs, CISOs and CDOs, drawn straight from the Council’s conversations. Meet the people writing it.
Daniel Ferguson
Associate Partner, JMAN Group
Daniel brings 15 years of experience blending data expertise, computer science and business acumen to turn raw information into insight that drives business results, across a wide range of industries and at scale. He has built and led teams delivering web, app and data products end to end, taking ideas from concept to production on cloud platforms.
As an Associate Partner at JMAN Group, Daniel now leads on AI strategy and the design of agentic systems. He channels his data and product leadership into helping clients turn bold AI ambition into working reality that delivers measurable value.
Daniel joins the AI Workforce Council to bring his practitioner view on where agentic systems are landing in real organisations, and how leaders should think about moving from AI ambition to delivery.
Loretta Franks
Chief Data Officer, Mars
Loretta is Global Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Mars (formerly Kellanova / Kellogg Company), where she is unlocking the full value of data by partnering with functional leaders to develop bold data strategies and drive accelerated value creation.
She joined Kellogg Company in 2007 and has led large, diverse teams across IT, Finance and Global Business Services at the $13bn consumer goods company. Her teams have delivered programmes that have transformed operating and sourcing models, organisational designs, cloud migrations and change agendas. Her focus today is on harnessing data, AI, machine learning and advanced analytics, alongside driving change management and championing data and AI literacy across the enterprise.
A dedicated mentor and advocate for women in STEM, Loretta has featured in CDO Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Data Leaders and DataIQ’s Top 100, and is a member of the Shoptalk Europe Advisory Board.
Loretta joins the AI Workforce Council to bring her experience of scaling data and AI capability inside one of the world’s largest consumer goods businesses, and what it takes to drive genuine enterprise-wide adoption.
Hiten Parmar
Chief Procurement Officer, Beazley Group
Hiten has spent more than 25 years transforming business at the intersection of global commerce, regulation and technological disruption. From his early days at Reuters to global leadership roles at UBS, HSBC and GSK, he has led complex, disruptive transformations involving third parties at scales ranging from half a billion to many billions in annual spend.
His career is defined by an ability to span traditional C-suite domains, translating innovation into tangible bottom-line results. He has been a primary architect of business agility, leading digital transformations and establishing greenfield capabilities that integrate data, workforce and AI into the core of modern business models.
Today, as Chief Procurement Officer at Beazley and a mentor to the next generation of leaders, Hiten continues to push the boundaries of how organisations use third-party partnerships to drive growth in an unpredictable, AI-driven world.
Hiten joins the AI Workforce Council to bring his experience of leading complex, high-value third-party transformations across regulated global businesses, and how procurement and AI strategy intersect in the modern enterprise.
Srimanth Rudraraju
Engineering & AI Transformation Leader
Srimanth is a technology and data leader who has delivered large-scale engineering and AI transformations across global financial institutions, including LSEG, Lloyds Banking Group, JP Morgan, EY and HSBC. His work has modernised legacy estates into open, cloud-native data platforms and industrialised AI inside engineering delivery, all while staying genuinely hands-on with the technology.
Today, he advises boards and senior executives on using data, AI and cloud to unlock growth and resilience, and serves as Technology Non-Executive Director at LCB. He was recognised in the DataIQ Top 100 most influential people in data and AI in Europe, and is an Ambassador at AI Summit London 2026.
Srimanth joins the AI Workforce Council to shape how organisations turn AI ambition into engineering reality, and how boards should be thinking about the shift.
Alex Bissett-Powell
Chief Technology Officer, McDonalds UK
Alex is the Chief Technology Officer for McDonald’s UK & Ireland. A seasoned transformation leader, Alex is currently focused on leveraging AI and digital innovation to solve operational business challenges and empower frontline restaurant teams.
Before stepping into his current role, Alex served as CIO for McDonald’s International Operated Markets (IOM) and CIO of McDonald’s Japan, where he spearheaded major infrastructure modernisation and standardisation programs across multiple global markets. Alex is passionate about the intersection of technology and talent, focusing on how large-scale workforces can be supported by emerging AI technologies.
Alex joins the AI Workforce Council to bring his perspective on how AI is reshaping the relationship between technology and large-scale frontline workforces, and what that means for how organisations plan and build capability.
Richard Sargeant
Managing Director and Partner, BCG X
Richard is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, where he supports UK and global clients in transforming their organisations to benefit from AI. He is passionate about the intersection of strategy, technology and society.
Before BCG, Richard was Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Faculty, the UK’s leading independent AI firm, where he oversaw a 15-fold increase in revenue and raised over £65m of investment in four years. Earlier, he served as Director of Digital and Data Transformation at the Home Office and as a founding director of the UK’s Government Digital Service, which put users at the heart of public service design and reshaped how UK government delivers digital services.
Richard joins the AI Workforce Council with a career spanning industry, government and consulting, and a rare view of where AI is genuinely shifting how organisations work.
Simon Farnsworth
Chief Technology Officer, ITV
Simon is Chief Technology Officer at ITV, where he brings decades of leadership from across the media and entertainment industry. Before ITV, he served as EVP and Chief Technology Officer at News UK, where he shaped the structure, architecture and talent needed to reach an audience of nearly 40 million people each month across publishing and broadcasting platforms.
Simon has also been CEO of GlobeCast Australia, Head of Telstra Broadcast Services, and CTO for Broadcast Technology and Operations at Discovery, where he spent six years leading a global team and shaping the company’s technological direction.
Simon joins the AI Workforce Council to bring his experience of driving innovation and digital transformation in one of the most complex, high-volume content environments in the UK.
Alan Patefield-Smith
Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Admiral
Alan is CTIO for Admiral Group’s UK Insurance business, where he leads technology to make sure customers can protect their homes and vehicles and receive dependable, effortless service when they need it. He brings more than 25 years of technology leadership experience, having led strategy, transformation and operational excellence for global brands including Admiral Group, Barclays, Bupa and GE Capital.
Alan is known for unlocking business value from technology through cloud adoption and the shift from legacy to digital systems. He also specialises in helping organisations get new products to market faster by improving operating model design and adopting agile and lean ways of working.
Alan holds a BA in Business Studies from the University of North London and joins the AI Workforce Council to bring his experience of running technology inside one of the UK’s largest insurers.
Monica Verma
CISO and AI Advisor, Monica Talks Cyber
Monica is a three-time CISO, keynote speaker, and founder and CEO of Monica Talks Cyber. With more than 20 years in tech and cybersecurity, she was ranked Top 3 CISO in EMEA in 2023, and named in the 2022 Top 50 Women in Tech and the 2019 Best Security Advisor lists. She holds the board-certified Qualified Technology Expert designation and is a former board member of the Cloud Security Alliance.
Her keynotes on agentic AI, AI governance and the evolution of cybercrime have reached audiences of more than 2,000 across global stages, with clients including PwC, Microsoft, Nokia and FT Live. She writes The Predictability Factor, a newsletter at the intersection of AI, security, privacy and tech, and hosts the Monica Talks Cyber podcast, with a community of more than 43,000 followers across her platforms.
Monica joins the AI Workforce Council to bring cybersecurity and AI governance into the conversation.
Tia Cheang
Group Chief Data & AI Officer, Investindustrial
Bio coming soon.
Find out more
The AI Workforce Council is part of Beyond Headcount, La Fosse’s campaign on how UK organisations should plan their workforce for the AI era. Visit the Beyond Headcount page to find out more about the campaign, submit a question for the Council to take on, and get the Workforce 2027 Blueprint before it’s public.