Meike Escherich is an associate research director with IDC’s European Future of Work research service, based in the UK. In this role, she provides coverage of key technology trends across the Future of Work, specializing in how to drive and monitor productivity in a flexible work environment. This includes research into workforce management, agile performance measures, employee engagement/innovation programs and AI driven wellness solutions.

Prior to joining IDC, Meike was a Principal Analyst at Gartner (20 years) – covering Personal Computing, IT Services and Consumer Technologies – and a freelance consultant working with several UK analyst firms and international technology providers (3 years). An expert at identifying and solving strategic pain points Meike has worked with C-level executives across a multitude of industries such as IT, Education, Government, Health, Media, and Finance.

Having studied in Germany (University of Konstanz), Switzerland (University of Geneva, ERASMUS) and the UK (University of Exeter, ERASMUS) Meike holds a bachelor’s degree in Law as well as a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.

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.

Rob O’Connor is Insight’s EMEA CISO and is a business technology innovator focused on advancing cybersecurity across diverse industries. He leads regional security strategy, resilience planning, and risk alignment, helping organisations strengthen their security posture while enabling digital transformation. With expertise spanning cloud security, threat management, and modern security operations, Rob is known for translating complex risks into clear, actionable strategy and driving pragmatic innovation that accelerates business outcomes.

Technical Design Authority with 25+ years’ experience in IT architecture and solution design, specialising in Microsoft technologies. Stefan works across public and private sectors to define business requirements and translates them into secure, scalable solutions. He designs and implements complex on‑premises and cloud services, aligning technology with organisational risk and goals. With deep technical expertise and experience leading major digital transformation programmes, Stefan brings a collaborative, pragmatic approach focused on delivering clear business outcomes.

A Change & Adoption specialist with over 20 years of experience supporting organisations through complex digital transformations. Combining strategic insight, digital expertise, and a people-centred approach to facilitate the implementation of sustainable change across all facets of organisational development.

With extensive experience guiding people through digital change initiatives and fostering successful cloud transformation projects, I focus on empowering individuals within organisations to embrace innovation and adapt to new ways of working. My approach centres on supporting teams as they navigate change, ensuring that their growth and engagement drive lasting transformation and foster a culture of innovation.

In this current era of AI, I am supporting clients and their teams through practical enablement initiatives, providing clear strategic direction, and clarifying AI concepts to make them accessible and impactful. By developing readiness strategies, unlocking value, and fostering sustained momentum, I help drive meaningful organisational change.

Neil Priestley-Wall serves as CTO at Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), where technology and creativity meet to champion the value of recorded music.  PPL pay hundreds of thousands of members for the use of their recorded music through licensing in the UK and collecting royalties from around the world. Ensuring their members’ talent and investment is fairly rewarded.  Technology and the intelligent use of data sit at the heart of this mission, powering the systems that help protect, represent and reward their members.

With nearly two decades at PPL, Neil brings deep experience across development and operations. Today, he leads a specialist team of developers, engineers, product managers and operations experts to deliver & maintain a blend of bespoke and package solutions. Together, they are navigating the shift from legacy systems and project-based delivery to a product and outcomes driven approach, working closely with business partners and exploring the emerging role of AI in shaping the future of PPL’s technology landscape

Rob has over 25 years of experience in the IT Industry. He spent a decade as a technical individual contributor, starting as a network security engineer, and progressing through solutions architecture roles before stepping into technical leadership 16 years ago. For the majority of this time Rob worked in the highly dynamic field of Cyber Security.

Rob has worked across multiple vertical markets and has experience of leading consulting, managed services, and presales organisations in varying sizes of business, from small resellers, through to very large systems integrators, before joining Cisco in 2021 to lead the Cyber Security presales organisation for UK&I where he led the team through some significant product developments across the security portfolio.

Today at Cisco Rob leads the UK&I technical go to market organisation across our Enterprise, Public Sector, Commercial and Partner organisations where our teams help our customers understand the value they can derive from the broad portfolio of products Cisco delivers.

Phil Hawkshaw. EMEA CTO. An engineer, innovator and strategist. Helping organisations deliver technology transformation and adopt emerging technologies with confidence. Responsible for Insight’s strategic portfolio, AI  innovation across EMEA and the UK Public Sector.

Peter Rising is a Senior Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft, specialising in Security, Compliance, and Identity across Microsoft’s UK partner ecosystem. In his role, Peter works closely with strategic partners to develop scalable security and AI governance solutions that help organisations adopt technologies such as Microsoft 365 Copilot in a secure, compliant, and responsible way.

With a strong focus on Zero Trust architecture, data security, and AI risk management, Peter supports partners in translating Microsoft Security capabilities – including Microsoft Purview and integrated threat protection – into real-world services that accelerate customer AI adoption while maintaining robust security and governance controls.

Nigel Horsell is the Private Cloud AI Leader for Hewlett Packard
Enterprise UK, Ireland, Middle East & Africa. He is responsible for the
Private Cloud AI & Data Fabric business in the region, leading 10 sales
and technical specialists.
Starting his journey with HPE as Storage Specialist in 2017 Nigel has
progressed through the business holding a variety of customer-focused
sales roles across the end-to-end Solution and Services portfolio at HPE,
focusing on Strategic Enterprise and Global accounts. Most recently he
led a number of publicly referenceable engagements across Financial
Services and Automotive with a phenomenal track record of success in
supporting customers and partners with their digital transformations.
Nigel an inclusive leadership style, focusing on nurturing future people
talent within the business and actively supports both coaching and
mentorship programmes across the organisation.
Outside of his professional life is a father of two, is an active runner and
cyclist and enjoys spending time with his family.