Jen Thomson has more than 20 years’ experience advising IT Vendors, senior IT, and business execs on their digital business optimization and transformation strategies. She leads European Research for Accelerated App Delivery, Cloud, and Services. Her core goal is to drive synergies and growth across these research areas, with a central focus on thought leadership.

She specializes in providing insights on the investment strategies and decisions of European enterprises as they transition to modern application architectures. Her research explores app dev and delivery capabilities required to operate in a digital economy, and how this impacts enterprise organizational structures, culture, processes, tools, and skill sets. She leads the Future of Digital Innovation research for IDC Europe, exploring software innovation strategies and what this means in terms of end-user strategies, investment priorities, software sourcing, and KPIs. Thomson’s core research also explores enterprise maturity and strategies towards enterprise scale and empowered DevOps.

She is responsible for the execution of a broad range of consulting and advisory projects. As IDC’s European expert on application development and delivery strategies, Thomson is an experienced public speaker and regularly presents at conferences and IDC partner and end-user events.

She started her career at Compaq Computer EMEA as a senior research analyst. She has a bachelor’s degree in international business with German from Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom) and Pforzheim Fachhochschule (Germany).

Archana Venkatraman is a Senior Director for IDC’s European Datacenter Research. She covers datacenter technologies including software-defined infrastructures, storage and data management, virtualization, containers, hyperconverged infrastructure, infrastructure performance monitoring, systems management, application development, and cloud services.

Archana also leads IDC’s European thought leadership program on open source technologies. She also contributes to European Digital Transformation, DevOps, Blockchain and IoT research practices.

Before joining IDC, Venkatraman was the datacenter editor at Computer Weekly, the digital magazine and website for IT professionals based in London, where she focused on datacenters, server virtualization, storage, open source technologies, software-defined infrastructures, and cloud computing, liaising with enterprise CIOs and technology vendors to develop deeper insight into the enterprise IT industry. Venkatraman has a master’s degree in journalism from Mumbai University.

George Mironescu is a Research Manager based in Milan, Italy, running IDC’s European Infrastructure & Private Cloud Services subscription service. In his role, George leads IDC’s research program around the European private/hybrid cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) services, including both professional services and cloud provisioning. He also advises clients on various strategic and tactic projects such as go-to-market design and localisation in Europe, competitive positioning, identification of prospects and opportunity mapping.

George joined IDC from Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), where he spend 12 years in a number of roles analyzing IT services and application software markets, including covering the cloud and platform services space in the UK and across Europe. George has led research in areas including packaged application services (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Salesforce), the UK IT services market, the European manufacturing IT landscape and the Iberian IT services market. He has led consulting projects in areas such as cloud orchestration, DevOps, cloud-based application delivery ecosystems and cloud vendor mapping & positioning. George has a BA from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest in Marketing.

CEO of two AI companies, shortlisted for European PICASSO award based on an AI Safety collaboration with the UK ICO. She is recognised as the #15 Most Influential Woman in UK Technology and one of the 21 most Inspiring Women in Cyber, a Top Ten Global IIoT innovator, and one of the Top 100 European Angel Funders.

She is Chair of the Bridge AI Standards Working Group harnessing the power of AI through support and funding, bridging the AI divide. She is the Vice-Chair of CEN TC 465 and UK Head of Delegation for Smart Cities and Sustainable Communities and member of the EU’s COG – Environment which oversees the entire European environmental standardisation agenda. In CEN/CENELEC JTC 21 she is the Editor of the Sustainable AI technical report.

Her company FlyingBinary is one of the 50 European companies that provided the evidence base for the development of the EU AI Act. Her company FlyingBinary is one of the 200 companies appointed to deliver secured and accredited AI services to the UK Government. Her AI expertise has been used to develop AI procurement guidelines with the UK ICO, Office for AI and the World Economic Forum. She is Chair of the AI TAC at UKAS who oversee the UK’s TIC sector provision as part of the UK National Quality infrastructure.

Lauren is a forward-thinking strategist with a deep passion for cultivating client-centric IT capabilities and launching innovative digital products. With a proven track record spanning over a decade, she has consistently achieved strategic objectives by leading cross-functional teams in diverse sectors, including finance, insurance, healthcare, and corporate wellness.

Lauren thrives in fast-paced, complex environments and excel in senior and executive-level managerial roles, specializing in key IT-related functions such as Product Management, IT Delivery, Programme Management, and Project Management. She has a successful history of implementing Agile methodologies, including SAFe and ‘Tribe’ models, within various organizations, earning recognition as an Agile Champion.

Her leadership experience extends to managing teams of varying sizes, from small groups to large teams of 250 members, to effectively deliver products and projects across the entire IT development lifecycle. She is passionate about driving positive change, optimizing processes, and achieving excellence in client-centric solutions.

Her commitment to excellence has earned several notable awards and recognitions, including the esteemed Next CIO 2023 Award.

Jyotveer is the Associate Director of Education Technology and Web Development at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where he oversees three business-critical technology areas to deliver Oxford’s world-class services. He has over 17 years of experience in the health and education sector, as well as the tech start-up space. He is also a Trustee at the University College of Estate Management. In recognition of his contributions to the UK digital sector, Jyotveer was listed as one of the top 100 Asian Stars in UK Technology in 2024, by Diversity UK. He also received the Next CIO 2024 Award from CIO Online, highlighting him as one of the next generation of top technology leaders in the UK. Jyotveer is a mentor, advisor, and social entrepreneur with a deep passion for leveraging technology for social good. He is committed to improving access to education and addressing the digital divide, actively incorporating social justice principles into product development to better serve both people and the planet.