PIMFA AI Summit 2026: Proving, Scaling and Governing AI in Wealth Management

Liz joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) as Chief Executive in 2014.

She has 30 years financial services experience, 20 of which as a Chief Executive. She successfully transformed and advised several businesses through redefining strategy, re-branding, change management and inspirational leadership, creating profitable businesses.

She has substantive experience of people and corporate culture risk, regulatory knowhow across the industry – banking, insurance and wealth management and providing good practice guidelines for the industry to adopt.
She is an accredited coach and industry leader encouraging collaborative participation of diverse groups of industry experts to address sector challenges and to leverage industry resources for collective benefit.

Liz holds a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck.

EMEA & APAC Financial Services Lead, Publicis Sapient, where he oversees key client relationships with global financial institutions and helps firms use digital technologies to drive competitive advantage.

With more than 25 years at Publicis Sapient, David has advised banks and insurers on complex business and technology transformation, with a particular focus on digital operating models, open banking and AI-enabled decision-making.

Richard leads the AI practice for Asset & Wealth Management at Publicis Sapient, a leading consultancy across financial services and digital business transformation.

With Over 20years of experience in technology and financial services, he helps firms navigate the complexities of aligning technology with business strategy, and delivering enterprise change that unlocks business value through driving revenue, saving costs and managing risk.

Richard's experience lies in advising leaders how to build future ready operating models, that leverage technology to drive innovation.

He specialises in delivering large scale technology & system implementation front to back, data overhauls, and technology focused change.

Richard works closely with both business and technology stakeholders to foster alignment that enables pace to market and sustainable transformation.

Having led learning teams at the Institute of Risk Management, The British Bankers Association and most recently at UK Finance where he developed learning academies on Vulnerability, Financial Crime and Conduct & Culture, Philip is considered a leading authority in L&D within financial services.

At PIMFA, Philip’s responsibility is to design and deliver a suite of innovative learning solutions that not only support members to meet their regulatory obligations but help them develop the skills and talents their staff need to take advantage of digital transformation.

A qualified trainer, Philip was awarded Fellowship of The Learning Performance Institute in 2018.

Aditi is responsible for improving customer and adviser journeys, strengthening operational performance and resilience, and driving transformation across the organisation.

With more than 25 years’ experience across financial services, telecommunications and utilities, Aditi brings together customer, people, process and technology to deliver better customer outcomes and create a simpler, more scalable and digitally enabled business.

Global Head of AI and Innovation, Schroders, where she is globally responsible for the company’s strategic approach to innovation and startup engagement. This includes assessing the impact of emerging technologies on the investment industry and working with leaders across the firm to adopt and leverage new technology.

John O’Dwyer is Founder and CEO of Ruleguard and has spent more than 25 years working at the intersection of technology and financial services. He studied Computer Science with Cognitive Science at UCL, specialising in areas including genetic algorithms and machine learning, before building a career as a systems architect and technology leader across the FinTech sector.

John’s experience spans KYC and onboarding automation, financial modelling, post-trade analytics, predictive analytics and, more recently, the application of agentic AI to regulatory compliance.

He has led Ruleguard since 2013, growing the business from a team of four to around 40 people and supporting more than 50 clients globally, including leading banks, asset managers and wealth managers.

Steve leads commercial strategy and works with advice firms, networks and partners to scale AI adoption across the industry. Steve previously spent more than 20 years at FE Fundinfo, helping grow the business from around 50 to more than 1,500 employees and building adviser technology used by thousands of firms across the UK.

Nick Thacker is Co-founder of Wealth DCI and has spent his career working across the financial services industry in operational, analytical, sales and consultancy roles spanning wealth management, stockbroking, insurance, fund management and financial technology.

Having seen the industry from multiple perspectives, Nick is passionate about challenging established ways of working and finding better, more effective approaches to some of the sector’s most persistent problems. That experience and belief ultimately led to the creation of Wealth DCI.

William is Executive Director of Regulatory Risk & Innovation at the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

He leads the ICO's teams focused on regulatory supervision of AI, technology and innovation across UK business, including technology policy, regulatory sandboxes, industry engagement, and strategic collaboration with the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum. William also provides Executive level leadership of the ICO's regulatory cyber, audit and assurance teams.

Prior to joining the ICO William spent 15 years as a global legal and regulatory leader with a major US tech company as an advisor to senior product and leadership teams on compliance design and data strategy.

William is Executive Director of Regulatory Risk & Innovation at the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

He leads the ICO's teams focused on regulatory supervision of AI, technology and innovation across UK business, including technology policy, regulatory sandboxes, industry engagement, and strategic collaboration with the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum. William also provides Executive level leadership of the ICO's regulatory cyber, audit and assurance teams.

Prior to joining the ICO William spent 15 years as a global legal and regulatory leader with a major US tech company as an advisor to senior product and leadership teams on compliance design and data strategy.

Richard leads the AI practice for Asset & Wealth Management at Publicis Sapient, a leading consultancy across financial services and digital business transformation.

With Over 20years of experience in technology and financial services, he helps firms navigate the complexities of aligning technology with business strategy, and delivering enterprise change that unlocks business value through driving revenue, saving costs and managing risk.

Richard's experience lies in advising leaders how to build future ready operating models, that leverage technology to drive innovation.

He specialises in delivering large scale technology & system implementation front to back, data overhauls, and technology focused change.

Richard works closely with both business and technology stakeholders to foster alignment that enables pace to market and sustainable transformation.

Group Managing Director, Foster Denovo, where she works closely with the CEO and Board to set and deliver the firm’s strategic direction, financial performance and operational excellence.

Helen joined Foster Denovo in 2012 as Chief Operating Officer and has played a key role in strengthening its operational and risk framework, developing leadership capability and delivering strategic growth initiatives.

She also leads major transformation and integration programmes across the business

Prachi is responsible for Engineering, Data, Infrastructure, Service Delivery and Technology Risk across the UK business. Prachi has more than 20 years’ experience in technology within financial services, including senior roles at Goldman Sachs and five years as Technology Director and Partner at Ruffer.

She joined LGT Wealth Management as CTO in April 2024 and also chairs the PIMFA WealthTech Advisory Group.

Managing Director at atomos Wealth, where he brings extensive experience across digital transformation, corporate strategy, operating-model design and business turnaround within wealth management and private banking.

He joined atomos, formerly Sanlam, in 2021, having previously held senior roles across consulting and wealth management, including at Deloitte, EY, Tilney, Towry and Ashcourt Rowan. His experience spans proposition development, financial advice, discretionary fund management, digital transformation, strategy and risk.

Niral is a CFA Charterholder and holds an MBA from London Business School.

An experienced organisational agility and resilience ‘hybrid' consultant and leader. He connects business and technical leadership of digital innovation cyber resilience and data protection.

He works collaboratively, is discovery driven and adept at integrative decision-making to navigate the balance of innovation, agility and resilience. Works closely with business, customers and subject matter experts to align outcomes, manages risks and resources; enhances reputation whilst communicating with simplicity and clarity.

Gary has been building AI products since 2016. He co-founded Streem.ai, an industrial AI platform, and Codepan in Berlin, whose AI audit tool PwC Germany rolled out across PwC Global. He co-founded Re:LoA, a pension transfer automation platform for UK advice firms, which exited via merger with AiDP in 2025. None of that work began with a large language model. All of it shipped. Before the AI work, he spent nine years at Legg Mason Global Asset Management, latterly running UK Advisory Strategy and Distribution as the business grew from £1bn to £5.5bn in AUM. His view is simple: the model is almost never the constraint; the constraint sits in the data, the workflow and the human cycle around it.

Richard leads the AI practice for Asset & Wealth Management at Publicis Sapient, a leading consultancy across financial services and digital business transformation.

With Over 20years of experience in technology and financial services, he helps firms navigate the complexities of aligning technology with business strategy, and delivering enterprise change that unlocks business value through driving revenue, saving costs and managing risk.

Richard's experience lies in advising leaders how to build future ready operating models, that leverage technology to drive innovation.

He specialises in delivering large scale technology & system implementation front to back, data overhauls, and technology focused change.

Richard works closely with both business and technology stakeholders to foster alignment that enables pace to market and sustainable transformation.

John O’Dwyer is Founder and CEO of Ruleguard and has spent more than 25 years working at the intersection of technology and financial services. He studied Computer Science with Cognitive Science at UCL, specialising in areas including genetic algorithms and machine learning, before building a career as a systems architect and technology leader across the FinTech sector.

John’s experience spans KYC and onboarding automation, financial modelling, post-trade analytics, predictive analytics and, more recently, the application of agentic AI to regulatory compliance.

He has led Ruleguard since 2013, growing the business from a team of four to around 40 people and supporting more than 50 clients globally, including leading banks, asset managers and wealth managers.

Steve leads commercial strategy and works with advice firms, networks and partners to scale AI adoption across the industry. Steve previously spent more than 20 years at FE Fundinfo, helping grow the business from around 50 to more than 1,500 employees and building adviser technology used by thousands of firms across the UK.