Aalok Y. Shukla

CEO and Co-founder, Implement AI

Dr. Aalok Y. Shukla is the CEO and Co-founder of Implement AI, a pioneering company transforming businesses with AI-powered digital workers—from everyday SMEs to FTSE 100 enterprises.

Through its AI Operating System (AIOS)—a managed AI Agent Platform built around AI Agent Teams, an Agentic CRM, and an Agentic Task Engine—Implement AI enables organisations to start with a single digital worker and scale to 50+ across departments for sales, support, operations, analytics, computer use, and beyond. With more than 600 integrations and fully managed deployment, businesses save time, boost productivity, and scale faster—growing their workforce, not their payroll.
Dr. Shukla co-leads Implement AI with Piers Linney (former investor on BBC’s Dragons’ Den), partnering with SMEs, FTSE 100 companies, and private equity portfolio groups to unlock measurable ROI from AI. Their clients span healthcare, financial services, professional services, retail, education, hospitality, real estate, legal, and e-commerce, delivering enterprise-grade AI workforce solutions at every scale.

A dynamic speaker and thought leader, Dr. Shukla has delivered talks across the UK, Ireland, and Portugal, sharing actionable strategies for building AI-first organisations. His insights on AI agent workforces, AI voice agents, and intelligent automation empower leaders to build lasting competitive advantage in the AI-driven economy.

Gabbi Loedolff

Director of Buying, LUSH

Gabbi Loedolff brings over a decade of experience in global supply chain management. As Director of Buying at Lush, the fresh, handmade cosmetics company, she oversees direct sourcing of ingredients and items from more than 100 countries, leading a team of 40 across five Lush manufacturing countries.

Lush’s approach challenges conventional supply chain thinking, moving beyond extraction to actively “leave the world Lusher than we found it.” Gabbi’s work spans commercial buying operations alongside initiatives focused on environmental and social regeneration through direct sourcing relationships, smallholder agricultural systems, and building resilient supply webs that look to withstand climate volatility.

Currently pursuing an MSc in Sustainable Development, Gabbi bridges practical supply chain innovation with rigorous sustainability frameworks, positioning supply chains not as linear transactions but as interconnected systems capable of driving meaningful change across landscapes and communities

Scott Livingstone

International Advisor, NatWest

Scott advises NatWest Group on geopolitical and global security issues. Scott recently retired from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office after 24 years’ service. Prior to that, he was a Royal Marines officer. His service was shaped by global security issues, especially post 9/11, including terrorism, cyber and hostile state actors.

Between multiple postings to South Asia, Scott served in Madrid and held senior leadership appointments in London, and on secondment to GCHQ. Scott’s contribution was recognised by the award of an MBE for gallantry in Northern Ireland in 1995, followed by an OBE in 2001 and CMG in 2021 for services to British diplomacy.

Scott joined the bank in November 2021.

Steph McGovern

Journalist & Broadcaster

Steph McGovern co-hosts the The Rest Is Money with Robert Peston, where they explore the economic issues that affect our everyday lives, decode business jargon, and revisit some of the biggest financial events of the last half century. A frequent host and contestant on Have I Got News For You, Steph is also a regular guest on TV and radio panel shows. She also presented Steph’s Packed Lunch, Channel 4’s live daily lunchtime magazine show. Working in financial journalism for over twenty years, with eight years on BBC Breakfast, Steph travelled all over the UK covering economic news and broadcasting live from over five hundred businesses. Whether speaking to factory workers or FTSE 100 CEOs, Steph’s mission was to uncover and explain the real economy. She continued that work on her Channel 4 show, with regular features such as her Small Business Market and Job Clinic.

Dr Nicola Millard

Principal Innovation Partner, BT Business CTO

Once described as “human caffeine” on social media, Dr Nicola Millard injects a people-centred expresso shot to innovation and future strategy. Half social scientist, half technologist, all academic, she uses techniques from disciplines such as design thinking, psychology, anthropology, computing, and business consulting to generate data, provocations, and stories to engage and create conversations from the board room, to the front line. No frothy coffee; just solid research.

In her long and varied career Nicola has done many jobs, including futurology, research, usability, customer service, marketing, and business consulting. She was involved with some BT firsts, including the application of artificial intelligence into BT’s call centres, BT’s experiments with home working, and helping to develop BT’s “net easy” customer score.

Nicola got her PhD on motivation & technology acceptance from Lancaster University in 2005, has authored over 50 publications – including 1 book and numerous book chapters – and is a mentor at Cambridge Judge Business School.

She is an award-winning presenter, with 2 TEDx talks and hundreds of conference panel, chair, and keynote sessions under her belt. She occasionally pops up on radio and TV around the world, including appearances on ‘Woman’s Hour’, ‘Tech Tent’, ‘The Media Show’, ‘The Genius of Invention’ and ‘Back in Time for the Weekend’ for the BBC.

Theo Paphitis

Retail Entrepreneur, TV Dragon and #SBS Small Business Sunday Creator
Chairman and Owner – Ryman, Robert Dyas, Boux Avenue and London Graphic Centre

Cypriot born Theo Paphitis has a business empire that spans retail, property and finance. He left school at 16 with no qualifications due to his dyslexia, but soon discovered his passion for retail working for Watches of Switzerland – and the rest is history.

He has been in retail for over 40 years and in that time bought and revived the fortunes of many brands including Ryman and Robert Dyas, and launched global lingerie brand Boux Avenue in 2011. In 2016 he added The London Graphic Centre to his portfolio.

Theo is also known for his 8 years as Millwall Chairman, as well as many TV appearances, including most notably as a long-standing Dragon on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den. He supports several charities, through his Theo Paphitis Charitable Trust Theo is also a known and respected voice on current affairs and championing the big issues in business and retail across the media. In 2025 Theo was also announced as the University of Derby’s Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship, supporting the future generation of business innovators.

Theo launched his small business initiative #SBS Small Business Sunday network in 2010, which now has an annual event and almost 4,500 small businesses in the community.

#SBS marked its 15th anniversary of supporting small businesses in 2025.

In 2023 Theo became the British Dyslexia Association’s first Dyslexia Empowerment Patron, and also joined forces with the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity to launch the Theo Paphitis Dyslexia Bursary. This helps to fund specialist courses for teachers and teaching assistants, helping them to identify and appropriately support young people with dyslexia.

Matthew Pack

Group Chief Executive Officer, Holiday Extras

Matthew Pack is Group CEO of Holiday Extras, the UK’s leading travel-extras business helping millions of travellers each year make the most of their trips through smarter technology, seamless service and innovation.

Since joining the company in 2003, Matthew has led Holiday Extras through significant transformation—expanding internationally, investing in new technology, and driving forward an ambitious sustainability agenda. He has championed the use of AI and automation to enhance both customer experience and operational efficiency, while keeping people and purpose at the heart of growth. Under his leadership, Holiday Extras has evolved its supply chains to prioritise trusted partnerships, data-driven decisions and sustainable operations. He believes that innovation in travel must balance digital progress with environmental responsibility and that nurturing talent is key to achieving both.

At Future Fit 2026, Matthew will explore how technology, culture and collaboration can help businesses build resilience into their operations and stay ahead in a rapidly changing world.