Ada’s Business Leaders’ Council

We are grateful to have the support of a group of champions from within businesses who work to champion Ada and our cause, advocating for the development of young talent in the tech pipeline and the need for more businesses to commit to providing financial support, work placements and apprenticeships.  Thank you to our Council:

 

Chair - Kevin Walsh, Managing Partner, Deloitte

Kevin has been with Deloitte for more than 25 years and was a member of Ada’s Board of Governors for 8 years, helping to get the initial idea of the college off the ground. A technologist by background, his primary experience is the delivery of business transformation through complex technology programs in both the public and private sectors.

 

David Henderson, Chief Technology & Product Officer, Global

David is a Computer Science graduate, a Fellow of the British Computing Society (BCS), and holds two software engineering patents. He has more than 20 years as a CTO in the media and entertainment industry but, more importantly, helped launch both Global Academy and the Tech Talent Charter to improve diversity and inclusion across the technology industry, a subject that remains close to his heart.

 

Jiten Kachhela, Global Head of Consulting, PA Consulting

Jiten has worked across Management Consultant, CTO & CDO and CxO advisor roles, across multiple industry sectors, building and running large-scale teams and embedding innovation, digital and data at the core of organisations.  He is the lead sponsor for the Women in Tech initiative at PA.

 

Tosca Colangeli, General Manager Solutions, Microsoft UK

Tosca is General Manager for Solutions at Microsoft, before which she was the first female President of Kyndryl UK and Ireland.  A veteran technology leader with more than three decades in the Industry working at IBM for 28 years, Tosca was also the first female to lead IBM’s Systems and Technology Group and has a depth of leadership and solutions capability.

Tosca is a passionate champion of Diversity and Inclusion engaging the next generation in technology and has been an active supporter of Graduate, Future Leaders and Apprenticeship schemes. Tosca is Executive Sponsor of Microsoft's Disabilities Employee Resource Group in the UK and is also part of the Technology Leadership Group for The King's Trust (formerly Prince's Trust).

 

Vikki Leach, Senior Director, DE&I, King

Vikki is the author of the FT Guide to Inclusion & Diversity. She has extensive experience leading organisations and engaging business leaders to build a culturally sensitive and inclusive culture and delivering change programmes in inclusion and behavioural change.   Vikki leads Ada’s 10 year + partnership with King which was recently shortlisted as a finalist for the Social Mobility Initiative of the Year Award at The British Diversity Awards.

 

Andrew Gray, Founder and CEO, Eg1

In 2003, Andrew founded and now leads eg.1 Global, a Business Advisory and Executive Search firm focused on the Professional Services & Technology Industries.  Andrew works closely with senior leadership of clients who wish to scale at pace, make a strategic step change or simply disrupt the status quo.   Andrew’s assignments have been global and covered a wide range of service lines, functional areas and industry sectors.

 

Kiran Mahil,  Chief Information Officer-Retail Products, Nationwide

Kiran's career has spanned the consulting, telecoms and banking industries. She has held senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Metro Bank with a strong focus on driving a step-change in SME banking. She is now leading transformation within the retail banking space and embedding new ways of working at Nationwide Building Society.  Kiran is passionate about supporting diversity, inclusion and belonging.