Professor Joanna Batstone, PhD, DEng, FTSE is a leading global expert on AI. She has more than 20 years’ experience in top executive roles in the USA, Europe and Australia, helping universities, companies and government use technology to meet their goals.

Joanna is a Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University and previously the founding Director of the Monash Data Futures Institute, supporting collaborative research with governments, companies and organisations in using AI, data science and analytics to deliver AI solutions for social good.

Joanna joined Monash after a range of technical and business leadership roles in IBM’s Research and development laboratories, including work with IBM Watson.

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Steven Connor is Director of Research of the Digital Futures Institute, King’s College, London. He is Grace 2 Professor of English Emeritus in the University of Cambridge, and an Emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

His most recent books are The Madness of Knowledge: On Wisdom, Ignorance and Fantasies of Knowing (London: Reaktion/Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2019), Giving Way: Thoughts on Unappreciated Dispositions (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019), A History of Asking (London: Open Humanities Press, 2023), Dreamwork: Why All Work is Imaginary (London: Reaktion/Chicago University Press, 2023) and Styles of Seriousness (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023).

His Gaston Bachelard: An Intellectual Biography is forthcoming from Reaktion in July 2025. He is developing a project about technological life-times and writing a book trading under the name Always Assuming: A Radiology of the Implicit.

Steven Connor (KCL)
stevenconnor.com

Dr Sara de Freitas is a Company Director and Visiting Professor, specialising in the innovative use of digital and online education. Over the last twenty-five years following from a PhD in information science, and first role at Birkbeck College, University of London, Sara has become recognised as an expert in digital education, holding Professorships in immersive environments, digital education, and digital technologies (in 8 universities), authoring Education in Computer Generated Environments, producing over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers and 40 book projects, in her research institutes, she has led teams, developing 20 software applications and 3 platforms. Building on this work, Sara has held Directorial and Executive roles in Higher Education, including Director of Research and Pro/Deputy Vice Chancellor in 4 universities in the UK and Australia, as well as being Director of Education/Head of 2 online schools with 4,000 children. Weypoint is Sara’s third company, the first Innovatech LLP was a consultancy company, Sara’s second, an AIM-listed PLC company, was sold for over £70M. Weypoint, is a start-up delivering co-designed immersive media productions. As a consultant, Sara has worked with a wide range of governments, universities, and businesses, to help shape their institutional and sectoral research, strategy, policy, and business practices, including the design and procurement of digital online services, completing over 100 Technical, Policy & Strategy reports. She is a University Governor at Sunderland University, with special responsibility for London Campus, and holds visiting Professorships at the Open University and South Wales, and is an Honorary Research Fellow, at the University of London. Her awards include: Fellowships of the Royal Society of Arts, Business Excellence Institute and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Email: sara@weypointuk.com

Book: Education in Computer Generated Environments

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.