Meet the 2024 Speakers

Susan Walsh

Susan Walsh is The Classification Guru. She has been cleaning, classifying and fixing dirty data for over a decade and set up The Classification Guru Ltd 2017 to solve dirty data problems in the procurement world. Susan is an industry thought leader, an influencer and a global speaker. She has been listed in the DataIQ100 for the last two years, as well as winning DataIQ Data Champion 2022 and 2023. She’s also a Key Influencer for the Accounts Payable Association, promoting the benefits of clean data across many industries. She’s a published author of Between the Spreadsheets: Classifying and Fixing Dirty Data

Pete Daykin

Wordnerds, harnesses artificial intelligence and linguistics to analyse and interpret large volumes of unstructured text data. Wordnerds specialises in providing valuable insights from sources such as surveys, complaints, emails, web chats, online reviews and CRM entries. This is particularly beneficial as it helps Housing Associations understand how to quickly improve tenant satisfaction.

Pete's journey with Wordnerds began in 2015 when he responded to a tech challenge from Nissan. By combining AI with linguistic analysis, he demonstrated how to identify quality issues in social media data, which led to the foundation of Wordnerds.

Leon Gordon

As a renowned expert in his field, Leon Gordon delivers engaging and insightful presentations that provide organizations with the tools and knowledge to excel in the data-driven era.
Leon empowers audiences with cutting-edge strategies and practical insights to harness the power of data and technology.

Greg Freeman

Data Literacy Academy help large organisations such as, Bentley Motors, Sony Music Publishing and Coventry Building Society, roll out data literacy and culture programmes at scale across their businesses. With a background crossing commercial and data technology roles, he’s seen the issues driven by lack of data literacy first-hand, so set out to help drive data culture and adoption of data products, with data literacy at the core.

Onyeka Nweze ACG

Onyeka is an experienced governance professional and chartered company secretary in the UK. Onyeka has industry experience in the legal, engineering and insurance/ financial services sectors but comes from a legal background in law after obtaining an LLB in law and then going on to achieve her MSC in Corporate Governance. Onyeka is additionally an associate member of the Chartered Governance Institute and was the first ever Governance professional to be featured as a candidate on the BBC The Apprentice.

Onyeka is an advocate for modern governance and continues to promote the importance of this. She is a subject matter expert in general executive / board & committee administration, corporate governance processes, global board operations and board training and advisory . She has also been recognised in the past as a modern leader for digital transformation innovation.

Jonathan Cox

Jonathan has over 15 years of experience providing data analysis and business support to the social housing sector. He previously worked for two large London Housing Associations before joining the Housemark data team in 2012. Jonathan has delivered a range of data consultancy projects, and recent clients include Catalyst Group, Trivallis, Solihull Community Housing, Stonewater Group and Aster Group.

Gary Randle

Gary joined Cadcorp over 20 years ago after earning a BA (Hons) in Geography and an MSc in GIS. He brought with him an enthusiasm for the Cadcorp Spatial Information System® and its capability to help organisations gain deeper insight into their data. After managing the company’s business development team for several years, his appointment to Sales Director enables him to further build upon the success of Cadcorp in the geospatial industry.

Samir Sharma

Samir is the CEO & Founder of datazuum, a leading consultancy specialising in data strategy and analytics, that helps organizations extract value from the data they generate, to improve operational efficiency, drive new revenue and gain competitive advantages over business rivals.

He helps business leaders, and their teams map out their data strategies, plan for and deliver the future. Having 20 years of international experience in the UK, Europe, US, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, working across many verticals such as retail, CPG, media, technology, logistics, postal, insurance, housing, banking, telecoms and the public sector

Paula Tighe

Paula Tighe is a leading governance, risk and compliance professional with over 20 years’ experience in information management, privacy and security.

Paula is well known in her field for supporting private and public sector organisations in Sport, Health, Housing, Transport, Legal, Manufacturing and Technology. Paula worked across housing both private and public for over 10 years and has a wealth of knowledge and experience of applying housing data management systems alongside applicable UK and EU GDPR.

Paula joined National Express UK & Ireland in early 2022 and has worked across multi-discipline transport network industries in the UK, EU/EEA and internationally. She is a voice of reason, a solution finder and advocate for customer and people-centric services, ensuring personal data and privacy programmes remain a top priority and informs high-level decision making.

Alistair Stewart

Alistair has been at Great Places Housing Group for over five years. He started out as a GIS Graduate and has since held roles as a GIS Officer, Performance and BI Specialist, and Reporting Specialist. Through these roles, he has worked with most areas of Great Places, including development, asset management, repairs, neighbourhood services, and performance reporting for senior leadership and the board.

He is now one of the Team Leaders within the Business Intelligence Team and is responsible for the Group’s BI tools, including Microsoft Power BI and GIS, the development of the Group’s Data Warehouse, and the creation of new BI solutions for use across the business.

Katy Vincent

Solihull Community Housing (SCH) are an Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) set up in April 2004 to run the housing service on behalf of Solihull Council. They manage just under 10,000 tenanted homes and approximately 1,000 leasehold properties.

Katy joined SCH in May 2023 as their Business Intelligence Manager and has over 7-year experience in various data roles within Social Housing.

Tolu Ajakaiye

Tolu Ajakaiye is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Evance Consulting Ltd, where she leads complex business change and digital transformation initiatives. With over 15 years of experience in strategic business analysis, change management, and digital innovation, Tolu partners with public and private sector organisations to deliver tailored solutions that streamline operations, improve customer experiences, and enhance service delivery. Her solutions have consistently led to increased efficiency, cost savings, and improved customer satisfaction.

A certified Business Analyst and Change Manager, Tolu’s expertise is comprehensive, encompassing Agile, Waterfall, Lean Six Sigma, and Prosci/ADKAR methodologies. Her adeptness at engaging stakeholders and aligning technology solutions with strategic objectives, consistently delivering measurable ROI, reassures the audience of her comprehensive knowledge.

Tolu’s work spans multiple sectors, including government, housing, and not-for-profit organisations. She has led numerous impactful projects, including modernising CRM and CMS systems for a professional association, unifying outdated systems at a major UK housing association, and revolutionising supplier setup processes for a London Borough Council, reducing processing time by 99.6%. These successful examples instill confidence in her ability to deliver results.

Passionate about mentoring and team development, Tolu also serves as a mentor for emerging business analysts. Her dedication to fostering high-performing teams capable of navigating complex transformations is evident in the success of her mentees, many of whom have gone on to lead their own successful projects and initiatives.

Alan Swift

Alan Swift is the Technical Director and founder of Manifest Software Solutions, recognised as the leading independent provider of systems integration solutions in social housing.

Alan has worked in social housing IT for over 35 years during which time he has headed up local authority software development teams, been the head of IT for an RSL, and chaired national social housing IT user groups.

Having seen firsthand how housing colleagues needed good IT software to do their jobs, he felt large suppliers could be doing more for their customers. Deciding to write his own mobile working software, he setup his own company which in 2013 was voted the best mobile working software company in social housing.

Being a great advocate of systems integration, Alan now promotes the use of integration and automation in housing to deliver better and more cost-effective services to the public.

Graham Ryan

Graham has been with CGA since 2009 and has been instrumental in delivering successful national and international projects for many of our blue-chip clients in the rail, automotive, mobile network, financial services, professional services and public sectors. His landmark projects for CGA include Renault, Coca-Cola and ALJ. Graham came to CGA after a long and illustrious career at top global brands including SG Johnson, Bosch Power tools and NXT Plc. Graham's ethos is to build immersive and high-quality relationships and he believes that deep partnerships, characterised by mutual respect and trust, deliver the best outcomes for clients and their customers.

The work Graham does create a customer experience roadmap that is both easy to relate to and practically deliver.

Amanda Bartley-Leonard

John Wickenden

John has over 20 years’ experience in the social housing sector covering local authorities, ALMOs, housing associations as well as membership and trade bodies. John’s research covers all aspects of social landlords’ work, with up-to-date analysis of key policy issues and how they affect day-to-day operations.

He is an expert in how to measure the work of landlords in the social housing sector, with a deep understanding of English Social Housing Regulation. John’s recent projects include creating a set of building safety compliance measures, understanding how and when the sector will achieve carbon net zero and developing a forecasting methodology for housing costs, performance and satisfaction.

Simon Parker

Prior to managing the team that demonstrates the Cadcorp product suite to prospective and existing customers, Simon was a Project Manager at Cadcorp. As a PRINCE2 Registered Practitioner, this involved implementing GIS software solutions onsite or in the Cloud for Government, Housing and Emergency Services. Before joining Cadcorp, he held various GIS roles at Luton Borough Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Katy Gooblar

With over a decade of experience of leading data and information teams at the Royal College of Nursing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct, she’s seen first-hand how critical mindset shifts are when it comes to thinking about, talking about and working with data.

She’s a firm believer that data is for everyone, and she now works closely with C-Suite executives to drive wide-scale data literacy across enterprise organisations. Her passion for creating inspiring education is helping Data Literacy Academy deliver impactful programmes to bring people on an empowering data journey.

Dave Loudon

Dave Loudon is one of the most experienced and successful social housing technology consultants in the UK having worked in the sector for 20 years, just under 5 as a Director of Corporate Services for Berwickshire Housing Association and 12 as the founder of one of the most prolific management consultancies, DTL Creative, where he worked with over 100 landlords and over 20 technology suppliers. He has worked across a varied range of systems and data related services and strategies for landlords and is known for his ability to work across all areas of housing operations and strategy.

Before his decades in housing, David was a senior leader in technology across Oil and Gas, Telecoms, Engineering and Consultancy.

Dave is now the founder of Digital Bark a new force in the sectors use of technology, challenging and encouraging more efficient and effective use of systems, data and technology to better the customer experience.

He is well known for his extensive network and is asked regularly to speak at events, take part in think tanks, working groups and many other initiatives.

Dave is a passionate believer in the sector and technology as a force for good and is also a board member for a Scottish landlord, where he is also a member of the audit and risk committee. He is also a non-exec for a technology solutions provider and a technology contributor for Housing Executive magazine.

Andy Smith

Andy is an experienced project manager and impact measurement and management practitioner, specialising in social housing, real estate and impact investing. He also plays an operations management role managing and developing teams and business systems.
Andy helps build and manage collaborations with partners across the public, private and social sectors. He has led the development of a standard approach to ESG and Impact Reporting for Social and Affordable Housing working with a wide range of stakeholders, including housing associations, lenders and investors.

Andy joined The Good Economy in 2018 from Social Finance, a consulting firm focused on finding better ways to tackle social problems. He was project manager of Leaving Well, an innovative tech product enabling local authorities to better support young people leaving the care system. Prior to this, Andy spent six years at The Challenge, a charity set up to encourage social integration. Andy’s role was to scale up its National Citizen Service and lead on impact evaluation as well as the delivery of its apprenticeship programme Step Forward.

Paul Norman

Jonathan Driscoll Regulator of Social Housing (RSH)

Jonathan is Assistant Director at the Regulator of Social Housing and leads one of the Regulatory Engagement teams working with local authorities. Jonathan has worked at the Regulator for four years and in that time was involved with the development and delivery of the new consumer standards and operating model. Before that, Jonathan worked in healthcare regulation and for an ombudsman and is currently a trustee of a hospice.