Dr Daniel Hulme

Daniel Hulme is the CEO of award-winning AI solutions company Satalia, Chief AI Officer for WPP, and Director of University College London’s Business Analytics Masters degree. He looks at how AI and emerging technologies, such as the metaverse, can solve the most challenging problems and deals with its business, ethical and social implications, as well as wider technological and economic developments. Passionate about creating a positive technological future, Daniel sees his mission as making AI accessible and understandable whilst also providing a framework for avoiding the potential pitfalls. He works at the intersection of technology, innovation, organisation and ethics.

After studying computer and cognitive science, as well as management and computational complexity, and gaining a doctorate in AI, Daniel has since balanced work in both academia, public and private sectors. He's worked as a consultant for a range of technology companies in the UK and US. He’s served on and founded advisory bodies and steering groups largely focused on the economic, employment and ethical implications of technology, data and AI. He’s advised the UK Government on data use and worked with groups to foster entrepreneurship, learning and innovation in the private sector. He's also contributed to numerous books, articles and podcasts on AI and the future of work.

Daniel also founded and now leads Satalia. Seen by many as a peer of Google’s DeepMind, they apply AI to solving difficult business and social problems. They seek out practical applications of AI, often in unexpected ways, dealing with areas beyond customer and market data or automation. Following Satalia's acquisition by WPP, Dan is now also Chief AI Officer across the WPP Group, looking at the safe and ethical use of AI across WPP, its clients, and wider society.

Daniel reveals a future that holds radical changes to how companies operate and how global economies work. AI has the potential to affect everything from training to marketing, salary negotiations to customer service – anything that requires a decision to be made. Central banks and stock exchanges will have to deal with companies issuing their own currencies rather than shares. Personal and company reputations will be irrevocably recorded on the blockchain. These developments all have the potential to completely alter things we take for granted. We need to be prepared and to steer them appropriately.

Exploring what AI is, and importantly what it is not, Daniel considers how true artificial intelligence won’t mirror the human brain, and won’t just be case of something that learns and calculates faster than we can. He dispels the myths whilst also alerting audiences to the potential problems. He suggest strategies to combat the demands for organisational change and the necessity for a new type of company and workplace that is not just open, ‘flatter’ and collaborative, but also inclusive. He looks at how these organisations can thrive, how they will innovate faster and more naturally, but also how the ethics and values of consumers and employees have to be incorporated. He also challenges people to reflect on how they use technology, and to understand why they may feel addicted to the sites such as Facebook and a world of likes and follows.