Lorcan is the driving force behind the Analytics Institute, establishing it as a professional membership body in 2016. It has since grown to represent over 3,000 professionals and 110 corporate, government and SME organisations working in the analytics industry. In this capacity, he also manages the annual National Analytics & AI Awards and the International Analytics Summit held each November.

Passionate about the role of data analytics can play in revolutionising how businesses interact with customers and how Government can better serve their citizens. He is a strong advocate for the Data Analytics sector and has been instrumental in raising the profile of Analytics and AI in industry and government.

An international business executive, Lorcan has done business in over 80 countries with particular focus on the Middle Eastern and Asian markets. Previous senior roles include Global Sales and Marketing Manager with Ericsson Education, Head of Government Sector with BT and Deputy CEO with the ECDL Foundation.

In November 2019, he travelled to Kuala Lumpur for the launch of the Analytics Institute Malaysia and will continue to internationalise the Analytics Institute with his global business experience.

Lorcan holds a BA Hons in Business Studies from University of Ulster and an MBS in International Marketing from Smurfit UCD.

Dr Paul Kavanagh is a medical doctor, specialist in public health medicine, and holds postgraduate qualifications in Community Health, Health Economics, Medical Education, Healthcare Leadership and Data Science.  He is currently a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in the HSE National Health Intelligence Unit where he works with senior leaders across the health system, mobilising the power of health information and analytics to frame, explore, and better inform key decisions about the critical challenges facing population health and health services in Ireland.   In the past, Paul has led a wide range of strategic initiatives across different health system settings in areas including population-based health planning, health improvement, disease prevention, clinical governance, and medical education.   He is also Senior Honorary Lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Examiner with the Faculty of Public Health Medicine and member of the National Screening Advisory Committee of Ireland.

Ciarán Hickey is highly respected and widely recognised across Europe for his data science skills and ability to integrate data driven processes into organisations. Ciarán partners with IBM’s clients to understand their challenging business problems and to develop innovative solutions leveraging data, analytics and AI services to enable them to transform their operations. Ciarán is also a member of IBM's European AI Core team and an active member of the UKI Data Science and AI communities and is a global instructor for the data science practice, training analytics teams in best practices and using innovative ways of working to solve complex analytics problems.

Medb Corcoran leads for ‘Accenture Labs’ in Ireland, based at The Dock, Accenture’s global flagship R&D and Innovation Centre located in Dublin’s Silicon Docks. In her role at Accenture Labs, Medb incubates and prototypes new concepts through applied R&D projects that are expected to have a significant strategic impact on Accenture, its clients and society. Medb also drives the Artificial Intelligence R&D work for Accenture Labs. This involves exploring new ways of addressing critical business problems by applying leading-edge AI techniques.

Matthias is a Research Fellow applying innovations in machine learning and artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems. He believes that artificial intelligence will revolutionise the social sciences and help the discipline contribute more to society. He specialises in machine learning algorithms for natural language processing, clustering, time-series forecasting and outlier detection. He completed his MPhil (distinction) and DPhil in Economics (no corrections) under the supervision of Professor Bent Nielsen. His undergraduate degree is from the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. He is an associate member at Nuffield College and the Oxford-Man Institute. Before academia, he worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Goldman Sachs. Currently, he is the co-investigator of the ESRC grants on "Big Data Analytics to scope applications of AI in professional services" and "Mapping the LawTech Ecosystem in the UK". He is director of Oxford Artificial Intelligence, an AI startup with a mission to accelerate Big Data and AI adoption in scaleable use cases

Martin is an Analytics Manager on the Advanced Analytics team at AIB.

He is an experienced analytics professional with a strong track record of supporting the organisation through the intelligent use of data and analytics.

In his role he delivers Machine Learning and AI solutions to improve business and customer outcomes. Recent Projects include improving Anti Money Laundering Processes, Credit Management and Marketing Strategies.

Martin holds an MSc. Business Analytics and BSc. Mathematical Sciences & Computing and has experience working across a number of Data, Analytics and Strategy roles.

Beth Rudden transforms people and companies through analytics and empowerment with the ethical use of data. She leads large, geographically dispersed analytic teams to develop cognitive analytic solutions that deliver actionable insights for IBM’s clients. Beth has received patents on solutions that provide clearer insights, better customer understanding, and faster implementation. Her background in anthropology, language, and data science also help her develop models for the transformation of the IBM services workforce.

Claire is an Associate Partner, proud data geek, retail obsessive and leads IBM Services Retail teams for Data, Analytics and AI. She spends her time working with clients to unlock real, transformative value from their data with her teams and a little help from analytics and AI. People are her passion, and her mission is to create projects that her teams relish working on. Diversity and Inclusion are hugely important to her DNA and is an active member of Women in Data UK and supports Girls in Data UK too. She’s a member of the IBM Global Industry Academy.

Rosie is a software engineer within the Emerging Technology group, a unique division of IBM Research tasked with bridging the gap between research and business. Rosie works closely with clients to articulate and deliver new business solutions, building first of a kind and prototype systems using the latest technologies.

Joern Ploennigs leads the research on AI 4 Digital Twins at IBM Research. He works on several aspects of enriching IoT by AI including machine learning, semantic reasoning, and natural interfaces to enable autonomous, highly scalable, and accessible IoT solutions for a sustainable future. Prior to joining IBM in 2012, he was leading a junior research group at Technical University Dresden, Germany, and the data analytics group in the Irish strategic research cluster ITOBO as Feodor-Lynen fellow of the Humboldt-Foundation. He holds a master in electrical engineering for automation and control as well as a PhD and a Habilitation in computer science from Technical University Dresden. He is program committee member of several renowned international conferences and journals, founding editor of the IEEE IoT Magazine and board member of the IEEE IoT initiative.

As Chief Data Scientist for the European Consulting Practice within IBM, Wouter has over 15 years of experience in advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning consulting.  He combines a cross-disciplinary focus with strong hands-on analytical skills and diversity in both toolset and background knowledge and has guided companies through all phases of the AI maturity curve, resulting in dozens of successfully completed projects inside and outside of IBM.

In the global Analytics practice, he is responsible for AI/ML-related strategy, expert delivery, and education, and is a member of the global AI Next Skills Council and the Trustworthy AI CoE.

Andy Stanford-Clark is the Chief Technology Officer for IBM in UK and Ireland. He is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor with more than 40 patents. Andy is based at IBM's Hursley Park laboratories in the UK and has been working in the area that we now call the Internet of Things for more than 20 years. He has a BSc in Computing and Mathematics, and a PhD in Computer Science. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle, an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton, and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

Casey Scott-Songin is the Senior Manager: Data & Insight at The National Gallery, London.

She leads a team of quantitative and qualitative researchers who are responsible for understanding the holistic visitor experience at the Gallery as well as how it extends online. Her role is to inspire the organisation to make data-informed decisions and bring visitor voices to the forefront of experiential design.
 
She is a social/cultural anthropologist with a decade of experience in User Experience Research at organisations such as The British Museum, Which?, and Publicis Sapient. She specialises in bringing qualitative and quantitative research methods together to tell better stories. She is also the founder of The Creative Researcher, an online platform that helps researchers use creative methodologies in their practices. You can follow her on Twitter at @TheCreativeRes1.

Daphne Cheung is currently a Data Scientist at The Walt Disney Company, strengthening the enterprise-wide network infrastructure using storytelling, machine learning, and data-driven technologies. Upon graduating from world-renowned entrepreneurship school, Babson College, she has operated at the intersection between business, technology, and data. Her past experience includes business intelligence and visualization work at The Boeing Company, as well as partnering with the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong and Singapore on advancing entrepreneurial technology initiatives in Asia-Pacific. Apart from her work at Disney, Daphne promotes data as a catalyst for change in diversity and inclusion programs in the U.S, most notably within the [email protected] program and LA-based technology non-profit, LA Tech4Good.

Her talk is entitled Data-Driven Storytelling: A Narrative in Numbers

David Barrett is a research scientist at Google DeepMind. He leads research projects in deep learning, computational neuroscience and applications of machine learning for positive social impact, in areas such as air pollution modelling. David has a PhD in machine learning and computational neuroscience from University College London, an undergraduate degree in theoretical physics from Trinity College Dublin and postdoctoral training from the University of Cambridge.  He joined Google DeepMind in 2016 and continues to lecture PhD students in data analysis at the University of Cambridge. He returned to Ireland in 2019 to start research for DeepMind in Dublin and is actively involved in developing the machine learning community in Ireland.

David Benigson founded Signal AI in 2013 in his parents North London garage. Since then, he has taken Signal AI through multiple rounds of funding totalling over £40m, built their customer base to over 450 of the worlds largest organisations such as British Airways, Deloitte, HSBC, Barclays and has grown the company from just 3 people to over 150 across three continents. Led by David, Signal AI has won numerous awards including New Business of The Year and the AI Pioneer Award at the National Business Awards in 2017 and 2018, Hottest B2B SaaS at the 2018 Europa Tech Awards. 

David is a Forbes 30 under 30 alumni and a Young Ambassador of the Princes Trust. David believes that AI has an important and positive role to play in every industry, supporting decision-making in every role with better data, insight and tools to discover the ‘unknown unknown’ risks and opportunities facing every business. He speaks regularly on the meani

Diana is a B2B marketing leader with over two decades of experience helping innovative businesses think differently about their propositions, products and processes to achieve better results.

Her approach is based on deep marketing experience backed-up by world class continuous improvement accreditations such as Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt), Agile, Lego Serious Play and Design Thinking from Harvard Business School.

Over the course of a 25 year career Diana has helped boost commercial, operational and marketing performance for some of the biggest and most innovative brands – whether large, global enterprises or fast-moving start-ups - across a range of industries and geographies. 

Diana is also a postgraduate lecturer at Trinity Tangent where she specialises in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

For more information about Diana, please visit her LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianabyrne/

Johnathan is Chief Data & Analytics Officer at AIB where he has responsibility for data management and governance, data engineering and analytics. Johnathan has 20 years’ experience in fields across the whole data lifecycle.  He has held senior roles in AIB and the Royal Bank of Scotland, including Head of Data Innovation and Chief Data Officer. Johnathan served on the Industry Steering Board of CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for Applied Data Analytics & AI.
Johnathan holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from University College, Dublin.

Kenny is an international retail consultant with over 25 years’ experience, the majority with premier luxury fashion retailer Harvey Nichols in Ireland, the UK and abroad. Retail is an industry that is undergoing huge transformation particularly with the growth of online shopping and its never been more important to know your Customer - right stock, right place at the right time.

Kenny is a member of the Institute of Directors Ireland and, in his spare time, a keen cyclist, which allows him to experience the beautiful Irish countryside at every opportunity.

HARVEY NICHOLS  MANCHESTER
New Cathedral Street | Manchester | M1 1AD
+44 (0)161 828 8802 | +353 (0)86 6011955

HARVEY NICHOLS  DUBLIN
Dundrum Town Centre | Sandyford Road | Dublin | D16 WOCO
+353 (0)1 291 0401 | [email protected]
www.harveynichols.com

Kent Graziano (AKA The Data Warrior), is the Chief Technical Evangelist for Snowflake and an award winning author, speaker, and trainer, in the areas of data modeling, data architecture, and data warehousing. He is an Oracle ACE Director (Alumni), Knight of the OakTable Network, a certified Data Vault Master and Data Vault 2.0 Practitioner (CDVP2), and expert solution architect with over 30 years of experience, including more than 25 years designing data warehousing and analytics solutions (in multiple industries). He is an internationally recognized expert in Cloud and Agile Data Warehousing. Mr. Graziano has developed and led many successful software and data warehouse implementation teams, including multiple agile DW/BI teams. He has written numerous articles, authored three Kindle books (available on Amazon.com), co-authored four books (including the 1st Edition of The Data Model Resource Book), and has given hundreds of presentations, nationally and internationally. He was a co-author on the first book on Data Vault, and the technical editor for Super Charge Your Data Warehouse. You can follow Kent on twitter @KentGraziano or on his blog The Data Warrior (http://kentgraziano.com).

Kieran has over 20 years’ experience working as a Data Scientist, delivering data powered solutions to large global and domestic clients. Kieran has a mathematics and statistics academic background and excels in building and growing data, analytics and artificial intelligence capability, including specialist teams and technology solutions. Kieran is a Thought Leader in the field of analytics and has travelled the world, working with clients across all industries and speaking at technology, analytics and AI conferences. Kieran’s particular expertise lies in designing and delivering data powered solutions that maximise the client value from investments in data and analytics technology, with particular domain expertise in Financial Services and Public Services.

Linda Thackeray manages The Garage in Dublin, Ireland, part of the Microsoft Technology and Research group (T+R). The Microsoft Garage is a community of people who embrace programs, offerings, and facilities that drive hack culture, innovation, and learning.

In her 22+ years at Microsoft, Thackeray has extensive experience delivering programs and events that enrich employees’ lives through opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow in their roles. She developed and managed the annual One Week global Hackathon — a company-wide, multi-day, multi-location event that brings employees and interns from all over the company together to create, innovate, and hack on ideas that inspire them. The Microsoft One Week Hackathon is the largest private hackathon in the world. In her role, Thackeray also manages the Garage internship program which offers talented students a unique opportunity to work in small teams, hack on contemporary technology, conduct customer research, design, and develop a product.

Currently a Director in The Garage, Thackeray has held roles in the Developer group, Microsoft IT, the Windows division, and Worldwide Operations. Thackeray’s expertise covers products, customer service, operations, technical communities, engineering events, and hacker communities and facilities.

A pioneer in the use of data analytics in Formula 1 motor racing, Neil Martin has spent the last 25 years developing world-class solutions for teams including McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. Today he runs his own company, Random Logic, providing data analytics solutions into top level motor racing and clients from across industry, using deep knowledge gained from operating at the forefront of the data-driven Formula 1 environment.

Software which was originally designed and developed by Neil, or derived from his applications, is used by over half the Formula 1 grid today. As a result he is one of the leaders in the field within this high technology sport.

Neil pioneered the application of the Monte Carlo and Game Theory modelling techniques to Race Strategy in 1995 for McLaren Racing. Providing strategic options through the appropriate use of mathematical and business modelling techniques ensured that decisions were made with a more complete awareness of likely outcomes and their associated risk profiles.

This served as a springboard for him to also deliver mission control rooms, driver-in-the-loop simulators and wind tunnel solutions. Ultimately he changed the approach to Race Strategy modelling so that uncertainty was embraced rather than ignored as inconvenient or unlucky.

Having studied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, Neil wrote his MSc operations research paper on risk assessment. This was enough to secure him a career spanning over three-decades working in International Motorsports at the highest level.

As part of the senior management with McLaren Racing, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari Neil has worked with many World Champions and well-known names including World Champions Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Vettel.

As Founder of Random Logic Limited Neil provides world class consultancy and bespoke analytical software solutions to businesses across a number of racing series including: HWA Mercedes in DTM, Mercedes AMG in 24hrs racing, NASCAR, Formula 1 and Formula E. Neil also works with multiple television and independent media production companies, offering genuine and analytical insight on racing events.

He has spoken for a variety of organisations keen to gain insights into the application of data analytics in managing risk, optimising performance and ensuring a higher quality of decision making in Formula 1. His keynote presentations have received widespread acclaim and positive feedback from clients in sectors as diverse as banking, financial services and healthcare.

Professor Barry O'Sullivan, FEurAI, FIAE, FICS, MRIA, is an award-winning academic working in the fields of artificial intelligence, constraint programming, operations research, ethics, and public policy. He is interested in a variety of applications such as security, health system design and delivery, risk mitigation, and supply chain management. He also contributes to various Track II diplomacy efforts related to AI and applications of consequence at geopolitical and economic levels. 

Since 2010 Professor O’Sullivan has been a full professor (Chair of Constraint Programming) at the School of Computer Science & IT at University College Cork. He is the founding Director of the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at UCC, Principal Investigator at the Confirm Centre for Smart Manufacturing, and Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI. He is an Adjunct Professor at Monash University, Australia.

Steven Petrevski serves as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Aon Data and Analytic Services.  He is responsible for developing and executing Aon’s strategy to deliver the next generation of Data and Analytics driven value for its clients. He joined Aon in July 2017.

Prior to joining Aon, Steve was the General Manager of Security and Fraud Solutions at First Data. As GM, he was responsible for product development, sales and support for over one thousand financial institutions and one million merchants spanning local businesses to the world’s largest retailers and banks. Before joining First Data, he was with JPMorgan Chase and focused on driving technology strategy and business development across the cyber security, fraud, and analytics sectors by leveraging emerging technology connectivity with Silicon Valley. Previously, Steve worked in multiple roles at UBS including systems development and architecture in the Investment Bank and in the Technology Strategy and Alliance function. Steve began his career as a technology consultant at IBM.

Steve currently serves as an advisor to multiple firms including: Nanowear, a textile-based nanosensor technology with applications in the cardiac, neurological and diabetic monitoring markets; Feedzai, a data science company that detects fraud in omnichannel commerce using artificial intelligence; and ForgePoint Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage companies in cybersecurity. Additionally, he supports a number of charities, including The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Steve holds a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from The University of Michigan and an MBA in Marketing from The University of Georgia.

Lancaster is a former Leeds Tykes player and played representative rugby with Scotland at age grade level.

Having been forced to retire due to injury at the age of 30, the qualified teacher moved into coaching and had roles with the Leeds Academy and Leeds Carnegie before being appointed as the RFU’s Head of Elite Player Development in 2008 which included coaching the England Saxons.

He was appointed to the role of England Head Coach in 2011 and led the team through four Six Nations campaigns and a Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Prior to joining Leinster Rugby as Senior Coach in September 2016, Lancaster had short term roles with the Atlanta Falcons, with British Cycling’s world-class performance programme, with the English FA and with Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup in New Zealand.

Paul Pierotti brings 25 years of experience as a consultant applying data-led insights to improve business performance and customer outcomes. He is a Partner in EY Ireland’s Data Analytics & Emerging Technology Practice, which includes a growing team of over 130 specialists.   Prior to that, Paul established and led Accenture Applied Intelligence in Ireland, responsible for all industries.  His client list includes Government, Financial Services, Utilities, Consumer Goods & Food, Life Sciences, Health and High Tech.

David started his career, with one of Ireland’s technology success stories, FINEOS and now  leads the sales of SAS’ risk solutions across Ireland and UK. David has worked with banks, insurers and public sector bodies, implementing analytically based solutions or advising on how firms get value from the use analytics and related topics. He has mentored students as part of their analytics programs and advised academic institutions on their course content for analytics. David holds qualifications in IT, statistics and analytics.

Mike Connaughton is a Senior Director and the Head of Analytics & Big Data for Oracle in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is a member of the EMEA & APAC business development Senior Management Team.

His focus is on helping drive competitive advantage for Customers, Partners and Oracle. He particularly enjoys challenging ‘conventional wisdom’ and exploring what business benefits can be achieved through the creative use of enhanced information management, machine learning and analytics.

He is a member of the IDC Advisory Council for AI and also an adviser on AI for the University of Oxford.

Before moving to Analytics & Big Data he was the Oracle Leader for Business Process Management and prior to that he was a Director for Oracle’s Security business in EMEA. He has 25 years’ experience working in the IT industry.

Prior to joining Oracle, Mike was the EMEA General Manager responsible for Governance, Risk and Compliance solutions at Sun Microsystems.

Outside of work, Mike is a rugby coach, occasional visitor to the Cresta Run and a Trustee and Board Director for Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People.

Dave is an Accountant turned Data Analyst and is the founder and MD of the Information Lab in Ireland. Dave and his team work with thought leaders in data analysis in enterprise organisations to help them design a better data experience.

Nathaniel was the first commercial hire at Fivetran, joining the company in 2016 when they were still a 7-person startup in San Francisco. With a strong drive to do whatever it takes to solve data integration challenges, Nathaniel consulted, onboarded and signed 115 of Fivetran’s initial customers. In 2018 Nathaniel moved to Dublin to lead Fivetran’s EMEA expansion. In the last 2 years Fivetran EMEA has grown to over 60 employees and 250 customers with offices in Dublin, London and Munich. Nathaniel is committed to ensuring Fivetran is the best data integration service for the EMEA market by investing in exceptional talent and locally relevant advancements in Fivetran’s technology.

Éanna Cunnane leads Customer Success for Looker within Google Cloud EMEA. As Google's enterprise platform for Business Intelligence, Looker provides organisations with a means to drive business outcomes through effective use of data, and the Looker Customer Success team aims to accelerate those outcomes for organisations of all sizes. At Looker, Éanna is responsible for the growth and retention of all EMEA clients and for strategic direction for the global Customer Success business; prior to joining Looker, he led enterprise Customer Success groups for both Linkedin and Salesforce. In those roles he built teams across Europe to drive services sales, support new product launches, and deliver industry leading customer satisfaction and retention numbers.

Ciara O’Brien is a business reporter with The Irish Times specialising in business and consumer technology. She is also a regular contributor for both national radio and television on all things tech.

Ciara will be chairing the discussion panel.

Eoin O’Reilly is the Head of Data Analytics and Emerging Technology at EY Ireland.

In his role, Eoin helps organisations design and deliver data-driven strategies to help grow revenues, optimise cost and manage risk. Eoin has deep experience delivering analytics and AI projects including reporting and visualisation, predictive analytics, simulation modelling, machine learning and text/image processing.

Elaine Robinson is currently the Analytics Manager in ESB. Prior to joining ESB, Elaine spent many years in telecoms, working as a senior manager across technology, commercial management and strategy roles. Elaine’s breadth of experience and passion for delivering business value means that she brings a unique perspective to her role in Analytics.

Mark Stopes is a BI professional with over 25 years’ experience of implementing BI solutions and improving business processes within the private and public sector. In the last four years he has established BI & DA competencies within the NTA, formulating and delivering strategy and managing the NTA’s journey into cloud and AI.