The fast-moving future of digital payments – Iana Dimitrova, CEO, OpenPayd

Iana Dimitrova, CEO of OpenPayd, discusses how we are moving towards a world where AI agents will be making transactions without human intervention, her thoughts on the governor of the Bank of England’s comments about stablecoins threatening the very nature of money and how the firm is looking to expand to the US.

Louise Ballard, co-founder of early-stage firm Atheni.ai discusses how we move AI usage to the next level, from simply responding to questions to actually building systems that can really benefit businesses and organisations. She also talks about why the UK government’s plans to reskill 10 million workers in AI might be seriously flawed and how, as a 55-year-old female founder, she has navigated the tough funding environment.

Anu Adebajo, CEO of Newton Venture Program, discusses how we train the next generation of investors, the real solutions to a lack of diversity in the industry and how much of VC success is down to pure luck.

Rebecca Sykes, a partner at Brandtech, discusses how AI is being used to transform marketing. The firm has worked with global brands and believes AI-generated content can revolutionise the creative industries. She describes the firm’s system as the nervous system of modern marketing, connecting cultural signals, media performance and sales data. She also discusses the rise of AI slop, and how brands make sure that AI doesn’t send them seriously off message.

Many people will have learning another language on their bucket list and with the help of AI that reality is creeping ever closer. Ed Crook, strategy and operation leader at German-based AI translation firm DeepL discusses how the startup is helping business get language nuance right, what it is like to build a startup in Germany and why he thinks there will always be a place for language learning in schools. 

Varun Bhanot, co-founder and CEO of Magic AI discusses the journey of growing one of the UK’s most successful AI firms, how the AI-enabled mirror his company devised is disrupting the fitness industry, what he learned from the 149 rejections he got when pitching the business and why his team consists are what he calls ‘interpreneurs'. Bhanot also explains how he juggles a young family with running his business and the role crop circles played in his marriage.

Katie Gallagher OBE, managing director of Manchester Digital discusses why the city is being seen as a blueprint not just for tech start-ups but for wider economic growth too. Gallagher chats about Manchester’s rich heritage in digital technology from cyber-security to e-commerce and how it is building on that to be one of the UK’s key AI hubs. 

Amelia Armour, Partner at Amadeus Capital talks to Jane Wakefield about the impact of having a female co-founder in the male dominated world of VC, what tech she is excited about for the future and how AI might help democratise entrepreneurship.

Dr Farzana Rahman, chief executive officer of Hexarad, discusses her journey from medical doctor to startup founder, how companies like hers are tackling the high demand for medical treatments not being met by the NHS and how AI is being used in the health tech ecosystem. Hexarad is an end-to-end radiology platform wherein users can get diagnoses from scans such as CTEs and MRIs. 

Beckie Taylor, co-founder of Tech Returners, discusses her long career in HR and how the buzzword of diversity has changed to questions about the impact of AI, how she found the journey from becoming a mum back into the workplace, and why CVs might not be the best way for women looking for a pathway back into the tech industry.    Taylor also spoke on her hometown of Manchester and whether it holds the secret sauce to building long-lasting and thriving tech communities.