People
Meet the Team Behind CTO Academy
A dynamic team of seasoned tech leaders and visionary educators dedicated to shaping the future of technology leadership.
Founders
Andrew Weaver
CEO, Lecturer, Coach
20+ years of executive-level commercial experience in SME and early-stage companies across multiple sectors, inc. law, tech, travel, leisure, and property. Particular expertise around strategy, sales, funding/finance, M&A, and mindset. Course leader/mentor at London-based startup accelerator. Cranfield MBA graduate.
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Jason Noble
CTO, Lecturer, Coach
Tech entrepreneur with extensive board-level IT innovation and computer science experience. Has been a technical director of software businesses and managed large, complex enterprise projects with successful exits. Career has been defined by driving innovation, strategic & operational planning, training, technical sales, and software agile project management.
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Martyn Knight
CFO
Martyn is an accomplished CFO/FD with a depth of valuable experience across corporate finance, corporate governance, funding, due diligence, restructuring, treasury, compliance, and investor functions. Based in London, UK.
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Nati Welner
Customer Services Lead
Nati leads our customer service team. If you’ve been with CTO Academy for a while, you’ve probably heard from her with a warm welcome — part of our mission to ensure every member gains maximum value from the program. Based in Argentina.
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Betina Zanchin
Senior Platform Engineer
Betina makes our tech work. She is responsible for the development of our main platform, which is updated weekly. With automation being her superpower, she automates all of our menial tasks. Based in Brazil.
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Igor Katusic
Content and Website Manager
If you found us on the web, then it was probably Igor who helped make that happen. He looks after our content, newsletter, and messaging, while also helping grow the CTO Academy network by connecting with technology leaders exploring their next stage of development. Based in Croatia.
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Rodrigo Grosso
Developer
Rodrigo supports the development of our core technology stack. He is a key contributor to technology innovation at CTO Academy, working on new tools, new systems, and initiatives. Based in Brazil.
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Julian Costley
Entrepreneur, Investor, LBS Mentor
Serial investor in 26 companies with a career of executive roles at Thomson Reuters, France Telecom, BSkyB and exited E*TRADE in 2001. Mentor at London Business Model and recently purchased his own publishing company.
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Lucy-Rose Walker
Entrepreneur, Business Coach, Author
Co-founded and exited a business support company in the UK in 2012. Has since authored “Misadventures in Entrepreneuring” and is now focused on coaching startup founders, lecturing, and a senior role in the Bitcoin Collective.
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Vyom Upadhya
CTO, CIO, CDO, Executive Director
Vast executive experience across multiple sectors, developing top-tier talent, maturing processes, and advancing technologies. Also has a leading role in the South Florida Tech Hub.
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Jim Mortensen
Fractional CTO, COO and Leadership Coach
Technical leader with extensive business achievements over a wide range of domains. Jim has a particular expertise in technical due diligence, strategic planning, data security, and the payment card industry. He also coaches senior technology leaders from around the world.
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Santiago Garcia da Rosa
CTO, Co-Founder, Y Combinator Alumni
Hands-on CTO at Nowports, a South American Unicorn in the logistics space. Also a regular contributor to publications on technology, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
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Gus Power
VP of Architecture and Engineering
Vast experience across multiple sectors, from enterprise to startup. Described as being a “people-friendly techie,” with an extraordinary knowledge of the dynamics behind software development. He is known for saying, “The solution doesn’t have to be as big as the problem.”
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Mita Patel
CTO, Co-Founder, Coach and Fmr Head of Product
20 years of deep experience across Business Acquisition, Product Leadership, Software Development, and Account Management. “I use lean methodologies to validate, build, and commercialize real problems worth solving for users and customers.”
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Staffan Noteberg
Best Selling Author of “Pomodoro Technique”
Staffan focuses his writing and lecturing on personal productivity and answering the question, “How can we complete things when we have so many tasks to do?” Well, you won’t get more done simply because you accept more requests; the opposite is true.
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Luca Rossi
CTO, Head of Engineering, Founder of Refactoring Newsletter
An entrepreneur who loves leading engineers in developing great products. Formerly a CTO, Co-Founder and Head of Engineering, now creator and founder of the growing Refactoring Newsletter for Engineering Managers.
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Jof Walters
Entrepreneur, No-Code and Fintech Pioneer
25 years focused on the creation of new financial products and services. Has led new product development, innovation, and banking teams, launching and exiting two fintech companies. Now co-founder of Million Labs in the UK with a focus on the use of no-code technology.
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Andrew Bryant
Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach
World-leading expert on Self Leadership and author of multiple best-selling books on and around the topic. Andrew also travels the world as a keynote speaker and executive leadership coach to major corporations.
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Hariharan Gopalan
CTO and Meditation Instructor
Diversified IT experience in small and large-scale information systems for private and government clients. Now a CTO based in the US, but also brings to CTO Academy his insight and knowledge as a Meditation Instructor.
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Caleb Storkey
Entrepreneur, Keynote Speaker, Author
Serial entrepreneur, international speaker, author, and consultant, Caleb has worked with a wide range of businesses, from multinationals to highly disruptive and fast-growing startups. He is also a co-author of “Futureproof: How to Get Your Business Ready for the Next Disruption.”
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Joseph Trodden
CEO, Co-Founder, Coach
With a focus on practical mindset and strategy techniques for leaders, Joseph coaches teams on focus, decision-making, team culture, mindsets, and communication, emphasizing combining the different cognitive styles on the team.
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Lauren Hill
Security Consultant, Barclays
With a 1st class BSc in Cybersecurity, Lauren is focused on concise sharing of the real threat landscape with tools like threat mapping and trend analysis.
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Mike Stephens
CEO, Head of Entrepreneurial Academy
Describes himself as a “restless idea-hunter, with a deeply held belief in the power of creativity and curiosity to change the world; hence, my love of working with entrepreneurs. I love to see the limitless possibilities in people and businesses.” Currently CEO at a major business support organization in the UK.
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Tim Dahlstrom
COO
Passionate about the potential of No-Code technologies, whilst from the US, Tim is currently working as the COO of Zeroqode, a no-code web development agency, and is located in Kazakhstan.
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Zoe Tuffs
Coach, Mentor, Speaker
After 20 years working in live events and leading teams in corporate organizations such as Google, Toyota, BMW, and Samsung, Zoe has taken that experience into a coaching and career development practice.
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Samer Bechara
CTO, Mentor
With many years of experience managing technical teams and delivering projects, Samer’s work experience spans from startups to companies generating tens of millions in revenue. He is a skilled manager of cross-border teams.
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April Edwards
Senior Cloud Advocate, Microsoft
April is a senior cloud developer advocate and the DevOps practice lead at Microsoft, specializing in application transformation. Her focus is on working on Microsoft Azure to take customers on a journey from legacy technology to serverless and containers, where code comes first.
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Tim Plumridge
Head of IT
Experienced Head of Information Technology with a history of working in the international trade and development industry and a background in business. Tim’s main focus is on IT Transformation, Strategy, Management, and Information Security.
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Anna Ashford
Lawyer, Investment Director, Board Advisor
Anna is an unusual lawyer in that she gets business because she’s also a director, investor, and founder of ALT-Legal in the UK. This means her lectures are focused on the practical and necessary role that law plays in the business life cycle, wherever you are in the world.
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Samuel Rowe
Senior Customer Success Architect, GitHub
Works with customers to succeed in their business objectives through the use of GitHub and is passionate about technological evolution, improvement, and programming languages.
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Sanjay Mistry
Group CTO, NED, Coach
Sanjay brings extensive leadership experience across technology and operations, particularly around organizational transformation, scaling, system and process revolution, leading through change and disruption. He is also an experienced coach working with tech leaders around the world.
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Henry Fairpo
M&A Advisor, Strategic Consultant, Investor
During recent years, Henry has been involved in two international exits, an LBO, a major fund raise, and was part of an award-winning team at the British Private Equity Awards. He understands the M&A market and how to structure deals between competing stakeholders.
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Trevor Lea-Cox
Director, Former Group CIO
Direct experience with a large Transportation, Logistics, and Financial Services conglomerate. Trevor is also a Managing Director of the UK-based SME. He now specializes in Information, Systems, and Technology (IS&T) management, providing cross-industry consulting.
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Neil Macleod
CEO, CFO, MD of Multinational, Professor of Business
Neil brings a wide range of experience in senior executive positions in global companies from Australia to Luxembourg, USA to Malaysia. He is now an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee Business School.
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Alastair Hall
UK Country Manager at Innovation Consultancy
Alastair has developed a deep understanding of R&D tax and global grant funding opportunities, which, in his words, “can be an essential business intelligence tool, with some creative thinking, to help run your business or improve KPI’s.”
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André Louçã
CEO, CTO, Head of Data Science
With a deep knowledge of data and analytics, Andre was recently promoted to CEO after six years in the CTO role and as Head of Data Science before that.
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Rafa Prada
Head of Design, Lecturer at London College of Communication
Senior product design consultant, industry mentor, and lecturer whose work lies in the intersection of UX, Business, and Technology, specializing in digital products with an emphasis on collaboration practices and privacy.
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Kraig Appleton
Director of Data Science
Data scientist, distributed-computation, and machine-learning engineer with experience across a broad range of industries and applications.
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Paul Bayliss
Joint Managing Director and CTO at Smartodds
Paul brings deep expertise in analytics, technology leadership, and scaling data-driven organizations.
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John Brightwell
Director at WaveAccess
With 35 years at the helm of technology as a CEO and CTO, John has been at the forefront of software innovation and development.
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Sally Eaves
Emergent Technology CTO
Prof. Sally Eaves, described as the ‘torchbearer for ethical tech’, is an international advocate for inclusive opportunity. Founder of Aspirational Futures, she champions skilling and empowering interdisciplinary talent while advancing the use of emerging technologies for business transformation and social good.
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Paul Gerrard
Eminent Software Consultant, Author, Teacher, Coach
An internationally renowned, award-winning software engineering consultant, author, and coach. Host of the Technology Leadership Forum, Programme Chair of the 2014 EuroSTAR Testing conference, Programme Chair of the 2022 Hustef Testing conference, keynote speaker, and thought-leader.
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Michael Hausenblas
Product Manager, AWS
Open source product owner, delivering a distribution of OpenTelemetry and integrations with AWS compute environments. Contributing to upstream OpenTelemetry in End-User and Agent Management working groups.
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Arno Hollosi
CTO, Blackshark.ai
Professor and Research Scientist, managing the technology and development organization of Blackshark.ai’s geospatial analysis platform.
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Phil Kunovski
CFO, KYMIRA
Leader in R&D into new e-textile platforms for wearable technologies in sports, fitness, and medical markets. Currently CFO at KYMIRA; previously CTO for over eight years.
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Matthew O’Keefe
Principal Technologist
Results-driven senior technologist with over 25 years of success in building and distributing great products.
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Ian Price
Performance Psychologist, Author
Former CEO, now psychologist and author, Ian helps teams build mental toughness.
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Ashwin Ram
Cybersecurity Evangelist
Ashwin Ram is a seasoned cybersecurity expert and thought leader, combining executive consulting expertise with deep technical acumen.
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Alexander Wilson
Investment Director at NVM Private Equity
Alexander specialises in sourcing and executing £10–20M transactions across UK growth businesses.
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Lindsay Reid
Compliance Director and Consultant
Compliance practitioner and global director with deep insight and knowledge around areas of Training, Education, D&I, and Culture.
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Ainsley Bilton
CIO, Technical Director
Technical Director and CIO, with 30+ years of certified experience leading enterprise systems, delivery strategies, and business transformation. Hands-on, results-driven, and skilled across Agile, PRINCE2, Lean, and other frameworks, he specialises in turning strategy into measurable outcomes.
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Corey Latislaw
Director of Engineering & Executive Coach
Technology leader with nearly 20 years of experience across SaaS, B2B, fintech, and e-commerce. Has led large-scale engineering teams and major transformation programs for global brands, while also working as an executive coach and international speaker.
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Darren Armitage
Architecture & Innovation Expert
Enterprise architecture and corporate innovation expert. Broad sector experience (banking, FMCG, construction). Empathetic leader. Exceptional communicator.
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Dianna Pieper
CEO, Fractional CIO/CTO, & Executive Advisor
Executive leader with over 30 years’ experience in IT, from developer to director and now CEO, mainly focused on transforming leadership, people, processes, and technologies. She is not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions and explore new approaches. Continuous improvement has defined her career and inspired the company name, Innovus Techne, meaning “new ways” and “novel techniques.”
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Lindsey Davis
Cybersecurity & Education Specialist
Compliance practitioner and global director with deep insight and knowledge around areas of Training, Education, D&I and Culture.
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Marco Wagener
Chief Technology Officer
A technologist with broad industry experience, an IT degree, and leadership roles spanning startups and major enterprises like the Sanlam Group.
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Geoff Woods
#1 Bestselling Author of The AI-Driven Leader
#1 bestselling author of The AI-Driven Leader and founder of AI Leadership. Helps leaders harness AI to grow their business, move faster than competitors, and get more done in less time.
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Maurice Woolf
CEDR Accredited Mediator
A business leader with 25+ years of building high-performing legal teams and driving growth through M&A, transformation, compliance, risk management, and commercial expertise.
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Sara Sutcliffe
CEO at Royal Yachting Association
Sara is an MBE-awarded sports leader with 25 years’ experience across the British Olympic Association, RYA, and Table Tennis England. She excels in complex stakeholder environments and champions inclusive, accessible sport for all.
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Charles Clark
IP Strategy Advisor
Works with tech startups, investors, and SMEs to uncover the hidden value of intellectual property. Brings 25 years of experience, including 15 years leading corporate IP strategy.
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Martin Méchali
CTO, Vice President
Deep experience in project and line management in the offshore wind energy sector, spanning engineering, construction, project development, partnerships, and wind farm technology development.
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Tim Cook
AI Leadership Coach, Keynote Speaker
Helps leaders, teams, and organizations build confidence in navigating AI-driven change. Brings experience in AI, leadership coaching, and public sector innovation, including time at the UK Government’s Office for AI.
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Sarah Greasley
Non-Executive Director, Advisory Board Member, Board Trustee
Non-Executive Director | Advisory Board Member | Board Trustee
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David Kavanagh
CTO & Product leader CPTO
CTO & Product leader CPTO | Board advisor | Due Diligence | NED
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Eleni Kelly
Fractional CIO
The Velocity Framework · Fractional CIO for PE-backed carve-outs · AI Forensic Discovery · Board Advisor
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Umbar Shakir
CPO
Chief Purpose Officer @ Amp Rebellion | MSN Top 10 AI Leader 2026 | Humanising Tech & AI to Improve Experiences | ex Gartner IBM PwC PA | ex Chief AI Strat Officer Havas
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Michael Spiteri
Transformation Leader, Advisor and Technology Expert
Transformation Leader, Advisor and Technology Expert. Focused on the application and adoption of AI & Machine Learning. Delivering sustainable business change by applying technology and data in a human context.
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Tom Aspinall
CIO
Chief Impact Officer @ Amp Rebellion | Delivering impact with empathy | ex Gartner Baringa EY | ex Divisional Head of Transformation @ LSEG