In our latest spotlight of this year’s London Tech Week speakers, UKTN caught up with Bev White, CEO of technology and talent provider Nash Squared.
White, who holds a degree in computer science, has held various senior tech leadership roles since 2002. She was recently identified as one of the most influential women in UK tech and has overseen Nash Squared making its biggest investment into people in technology in the company’s history.
Ahead of London Tech, which takes place 10-12 June at Olympia, UKTN caught up with White to talk about regional tech innovation strengthening London, ensuring the capital remains a “beacon for diversity in the tech community”, and which speaker she’s looking forward to seeing.
1. What’s the London tech scene’s biggest competitive advantage?
Bev White: London is a melting pot of diversity and creativity, and together they make a fertile ground for establishing and growing technology ideas. I also love the buzz of London. ‘Buzz’ is a hard concept to measure but its ever presence is the oil in London’s wheels.
I am also encouraged about the growth of centres of tech innovation in the UK, from Edinburgh to the great cities of the North and Midlands. In our hybrid working world, I think this strengthens all the country, including London.
2. If you could pick one way to improve London’s tech sector, what would it be?
BW: London’s secret sauce is its diversity; of cultures, people, ideas. I believe critical to its future success is that it remains a beacon for diversity in the tech community and an attractive place to live for the world’s most talented people.
3. It’s been a challenging couple of years for the tech market. How do you see the rest of 2024 playing out?
BW: The sector has been hit by some quite strong economic headwinds recently, but moving forward I am quite optimistic. Our own research suggests a return to growth in six to nine months. One thing is for sure is that we are only at the tip of the iceberg in the role tech can play with organisations, and as economies return to growth, I am expecting to see an uptick in tech investments.
4. Name a speaker who you’re looking forward to seeing at London Tech Week?
BW: There are many names to choose from, many very familiar and great speakers! I am interested to hear what Jimmy Whales, Wikipedia founder says around the world of information and influence.
In the last twenty years, our communication channels have entirely changed, both in format and in who the content creators are. How we deal with this information, and misinformation, is one of the key challenges of our time.
5. What do you expect to be the biggest themes coming out of this year’s London Tech Week?
BW: I fear I am being unoriginal here and will say AI. Right now, we are in the ‘getting to know you at pace’ phase, and really for most organisations AI is used as a personal productivity tool. What excites me is where we go next.
We are already seeing some interesting use cases – from chatbots to code development to enhanced data analytics, AI has the potential to take things to a new level.
You can see White speak on 12 June at 11:40 on the Corporate Innovation Stage in a panel discussion titled ‘Diversifying your Talent Pipeline – Building a Future-Ready Tech Team‘.
Book your London Tech Week pass here.
The post LTW speaker spotlight: Nash Squared CEO Bev White appeared first on UKTN.
