Alex has led BET since its inception in 2012 having previously been headteacher of two secondary schools. The Trust consists of 27 schools across primary, secondary and special phases in the South-East. In September 2023 he launched the charity, AI in Education, which provides specialist guidance to schools and colleges on how to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape purposefully and safely. He was awarded an OBE for services to education 2021. 

Nicola Brandon is the Director of Digital Innovation in Teaching and Learning at NPTC Group of Colleges, where she leads on embedding emerging technologies, including AI, to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment. She has played a key role in the college’s AI strategy, overseeing the implementation of AI-powered learning solutions to support student outcomes and reduce staff workload.

Nicola has led a Welsh Government-funded AI project in collaboration with CENTURY Tech, focusing on the use of AI to personalise learning in Maths and English while providing real-time insights for educators. She works closely with national and regional stakeholders to align AI adoption with strategic priorities in further education.

As a leader in digital transformation, Nicola is committed to ensuring that AI and digital innovation are integrated effectively, equitably, and sustainably, helping to prepare staff and students for the future of education.

Christian Turton is the EdTech Lead at Chiltern Learning Trust, he also recently led on the national work on the Safe and Effective Use of AI in Education for the Department for Education with materials released this year to support training on AI in all schools and colleges. With almost 25 years of teaching experience, Christian is passionate about how technology can improve equity and learning outcomes for pupils. He has also led major EdTech initiatives, including creating a course for the Queen Rania Teacher Academy in Jordan, taken by over 18,000 teachers across the Middle East, and developing an introduction to AI course for the Teaching School Hubs network. Christian combines successful classroom experience with strategic leadership, ensuring schools can use technology and AI safely, effectively, and meaningfully to support teaching, learning, and teacher workload.

Ben Davies is the Computing Subject Lead (Primary) at BCS – The Chartered Institute of IT Professionals. With over two decades of experience in education, Ben brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.

Prior to joining BCS, Ben spent 23 years as a primary school teacher, during which he held several key positions. These included serving as a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) for Computing and ICT, as well as a Local Authority lead practitioner for ICT. His extensive background also includes experience as an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainer. Beyond his formal roles, Ben is an accomplished content creator and co-author of series of primary school computing text books.

Ken is Deputy CEO and Online Safety Director at SWGfL. He draws on twenty years as a teacher and school leader and ten years as a School Improvement Adviser with Plymouth’s ICT Team.

Ken’s broad canvas of experience has seen him work with a wide range of agencies including the UK government and the European Commission. Ken regularly speaks at conferences around the world. He has been involved in developing multiple resources, frameworks and tools to increase the wellbeing and safety of children and young people when they are online including the multi-award winning 360 Degree Safe online safety self-review tool, the BOOST toolset for children’s settings, and the SEL tools SELMA and ENABLE. His latest work is ProjectEVOLVE, an innovative set of free resources and knowledge mapping to support young people’s online lives, used by 17,000 schools and 85,000 educators in the UK and around the world.

With a specialism in Computing and Digital Learning, my expertise lies in how we can utilise technology to enhance teaching and learning as well as organisational efficiency. Having led multiple digital transformation within schools I have witnessed firsthand the benefits technology can have on society, from giving students the opportunity to flourish in a digital world to empowering staff to work effectively and efficiently. My current work is focused on building strategies and practical tools that utilise AI safely and effectively, with the ultimate goal of enhancing what we currently do, not replacing it.   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/waqasali23  

Emily was previously Director of Research at the EEF, overseeing the EEF’s research portfolio, including our programme evaluation work and our work to understand the impact of the everyday choices that school leaders and teachers can make.

Throughout her career Emily has been involved in the generation of rigorous evidence and working to ensure it has real world impacts. This started with research into possible treatments for malaria, before training as a secondary science teacher and working to improve education by applying education research findings in practice. Emily also worked at the Wellcome Trust, leading on projects spanning education research, policy and practice.

Leading the EEF combines Emily’s two key passions: rigorous research design and improving education for disadvantaged pupils.

Emma Darcy is Director of Technology for Learning at Denbigh High School in Luton, recognised as both an EdTech 50 school and a UNESCO Digital Strategy Best Practice Case Study. For ten years she held the same role at Chiltern Learning Trust, culminating in 2024 with the trust winning the MAT Excellence Award for Digital Innovation. In 2021, Emma joined the BETT Advisory Board and won the Gold Pearson National Teaching Award for Digital Innovator of the Year. In 2023, Denbigh earned the Edufuturists Award for Secondary School of the Year and Emma received the Global EdTech Award for Most Impactful Senior Member of Staff. She is now a Trustee for Apps For Good, a Workstream Lead for the AI in Education initiative, an Associate with TransforMATive and a member of the Digital Futures Group.

Jonathan is an experienced computer science teacher and education leader, with expertise in whole school leadership for behaviour, curriculum, enrichment, CEIAG, e-safety and Ed-Tech.

Jonathan works for the Harris Federation as a Senior Consultant leading Computer Science and AI, overseeing the quality of curriculum and delivery of Computer Science and IT in all academies to over 11,500 students. He developed the NIoT Computing ITE Curriculum and resources delivering the course to trainees at the London and South-East Campus, as well as creating and delivering ECT and ECT+1 training for the Harris Institute of Teaching.

Jonathan is also a stage 3 Senior PDL for STEM Learning and leads the Harris Federation AI strategy, promoting effective use and delivering training for all staff.

Kirsty has worked in the Research team at Parentkind since 2018.  As well as the network of PTA fundraisers across the UK,  Parentkind champions the role of parents in education, working with schools, parents and policy makers to support every child to thrive and reach their potential. Kirsty manages the National Parent Survey, the largest survey of its kind in the UK and has undertaken research amongst parents on subjects including parental engagement, school attendance, mental health, exams, the Covid pandemic, changes to the school day and school year, school uniform, and screen use.   

Prior to joining the charity sector Kirsty worked in research roles in the public and private sectors including Investors in People UK and NHS Kent and Medway. 

Alex has led BET since its inception in 2012 having previously been headteacher of two secondary schools. The Trust consists of 27 schools across primary, secondary and special phases in the South-East. In September 2023 he launched the charity, AI in Education, which provides specialist guidance to schools and colleges on how to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape purposefully and safely. He was awarded an OBE for services to education 2021.