Workshops and Roundtables

Hosted by Cambridge Management Consulting

Join us for an exclusive event tailored for senior technology leaders in large corporations. The Technology Adoption For Leaders offers a unique peer-to-peer platform to explore the planning, strategy, and practical application of deep tech in the corporate world.

• What is the impact of AI on enterprise technology, and how can it improve efficiency?
• How do you discover, and adopt, the technology solutions that will transform your organisation?
• What is the best way to sustainably future proof your business and its supply chain?
• How do you look at intrapreneurship within your organisation?

This is your chance to build valuable relationships, exchange groundbreaking ideas, and gain insights from experts who excel at transforming deep tech into world-first organisations.

Interested in being part of this transformative experience? Email us at [email protected] with your expression of interest by 15 August 2025. Please note that places are limited to leadership-level corporate users, and spots will be assigned by 31 August 2025.

Hosted by Venner Shipley

Intellectual property (IP) is often one of a start-up’s most powerful yet underutilised assets. In deeptech, where breakthrough innovation is central to success, understanding how to strategically protect, manage and leverage IP can make the difference between stalling and scaling. 

Join us for a high-impact workshop designed for founders, innovators, and investors.

In this interactive session, we will explore how a well-crafted IP strategy can unlock commercial value, attract investment and protect your competitive edge. Hear from founders who have done it, investors who look for it and experts who live and breathe it, as we dive into practical ways to build effective IP strategies that create long term business value.

Hosted by LP

The LP roundtable will define what are considered frontier technologies and how to approach investing in them. Why frontier technologies cannot be viewed in isolation and the different layers one can invest (enablers, abstractors and applications). We will consider why timing matters and the need for a deep understanding and network when it comes to access.

Hosted by Black Talent & Leadership in STEM

Overview:

Technology continues to drive innovation-led growth in the UK’s science and technology sectors. However, every wave of advancement also brings new challenges—deepening inequalities, demanding new skillsets, and concentrating opportunities in specific regions and demographics.

Research from the Institute for the Future of Work (2025) and the Pissarides Review shows that unchecked automation is compounding existing disparities across age, geography, and income. This Roundtable will explore how we can bridge the gap between innovation and inclusion—ensuring that technological progress supports everyone, not just a select few and how organisations can create an environment that nurtures inclusive leaders.

Key Discussion Themes:

• Workforce Disruption & Automation
  Automation is disproportionately affecting low-paying roles such as admin, sales, and transportation—placing 7.4% of jobs at high risk (Shepheard, 2021). At the same time, over 21 million working-age adults in the UK lack basic digital skills.
• Diversity Fuels Innovation—But Gaps Persist
  While diversity of thought is widely acknowledged as a catalyst for innovation, only 24% of tech roles in the UK are held by women—despite women comprising 50% of the workforce (Beckett, 2024). Ethnic minorities and immigrant talent remain underrepresented in STEM (GOV.UK, 2023).
• Inequitable Access to Training and Technology
  Without inclusive upskilling policies, AI and automation risk worsening the digital divide. Barriers persist across socioeconomic status, geography, and age (IFOW, 2025).
• The Rise of Skill Polarisation

• The UK is experiencing growing skill polarisation, where demand is rising for high-skilled roles while mid- and low-skilled jobs—especially those involving routine physical or cognitive tasks—are increasingly at risk of automation. This shift is creating a widening skills gap and makes extensive retraining essential. Future employability will depend on developing creativity, adaptability, digital fluency, and core computer and AI skills (Sharps et al., 2024).

• Shifting Workforce Demographics

• Despite a strong labour market—with unemployment at 3.7% and over one million vacancies—the UK faces growing strain on workforce composition due to an ageing population, rising economic inactivity, and tighter migration policies. Employment rates are particularly low among older adults, people with disabilities, and those with lower skill levels, many of whom face barriers such as outdated qualifications, limited digital skills, and inflexible work arrangements. To meet future demand, the UK must invest in inclusive reskilling initiatives, promote flexible work models, and remove systemic barriers that prevent underutilised groups from fully participating in the workforce (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, 2023).

• Urgent Need for Future Skills

• Technology continues to drive innovation-led growth across the UK’s science and tech sectors, but each wave of advancement brings new demands for skills. To remain competitive, businesses must invest in continuous upskilling—particularly in digital, STEM, and “T-shaped” skills that blend technical knowledge with creativity, communication, and adaptability.

  According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, analytical thinking, self-management, and computer literacy will be core competencies by 2025. However, significant gaps remain: Government data reveals that 23% of 18–24-year-olds cannot complete basic digital tasks (Pennycook & Phillipson, 2024), and 40% of IT employers identify general digital literacy and AI/ML as the most in-demand skills (Beckett, 2024).

  In this context, the UK’s Industrial Strategy—aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation—must be supported by coordinated efforts across education, industry, and policy to equip the workforce with future-ready skills and ensure inclusive, sustainable progress.

Why This Roundtable Matters

As the UK government’s Industrial Strategy prioritises economic growth, technological advancement, and job creation, this Roundtable presents a timely opportunity to align these goals with broader societal needs. By bringing together leaders from industry, policy, and academia, the discussion will explore how innovation can be leveraged not just for productivity and competitiveness, but also for inclusive growth and equitable access to opportunity, by adapting and putting in place strategies that nurture and grow inclusive leadership.

Harnessing technology with intentionality, blended with inclusive leadership can enable both the public and private sector to unlock new talent pools, strengthen workplace diversity, and address regional and social disparities—ultimately driving long-term value for both society and the economy.

This Roundtable is by invite only