Sanjeeta Patel is a Marketing Director at LexisNexis, part of RELX, and a member of the UK Senior Leadership Team. She has a track record of driving growth and engagement across digital and information-led businesses, with deep expertise in marketing, customer insight, and audience behaviour. Having spent over a decade in consumer publishing and subscriptions, she has spent the past 15 years at LexisNexis leading marketing transformation. Her current focus is driving the shift to AI and go-to-market strategy — from the launch of one of the first legal AI products in 2023 to the rapid evolution and adoption of agentic, workflow-driven capabilities — and what this means for how organisations find, use, and trust information.

Georgie Holt is the CEO and Co-Founder of FlightStory, a media and investment company building the future of media for the creator age with entrepreneur Steven Bartlett. FlightStory builds and scales creator-led media brands, partnering with creators to develop global IP, grow audiences and expand their platforms across content, products and communities.

The company is home to The Diary of a CEO, reaching over 40 million people each month and more than 15 million YouTube subscribers.

Previously Holt served as Managing Director at Acast across the UK and US, helping lead the business through its IPO. She was recognised by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the most important figures in podcasting.

Julian Payne is the UK CEO of Edelman, the world’s largest communications agency. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing business growth, creative excellence, and strategic client counsel across the UK. Prior to joining Edelman, Julian spent five years with the British Royal Family as Communications Secretary to Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall—now King Charles III and Queen Camilla—and as a strategic advisor to the wider Institution.

Julian has held senior global roles specialising in corporate, brand, and digital communications for organisations including the BBC, where he was Director of Communications, and Burberry, where he served as VP Global PR and Corporate Affairs. He also serves as Chair of Corporate Affairs for Edelman EMEA and as Global Chair of Crisis and Risk, advising multinational clients on complex issues at the intersection of reputation, leadership, and trust.

Kenya Hunt is the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK. Hunt’s career spans working for some of the world's most influential women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Essence, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Refinery29, The Evening Standard and other publications. And she has made a number of appearances on BBC Woman’s Hour, Sky News and more. As the founder of R.O.O.M. Mentoring, she advocates for greater diversity within the fashion industry by providing a supportive network for some of the many talented aspiring designers, journalists and image makers of colour London has to offer. In 2021, she was recognised by The British Fashion Council for her work and awarded a Global Leader Of Change Award.

Claire Sanderson is the multi award-winning editor-in-chief of Women’s Health UK and Men’s Health UK. She is responsible for the content strategy and direction of both market-leading brands across all platforms. Claire is a regular contributor to TV, radio and co-hosts the number one health and fitness podcast Just As Well.

With over 27 years’ editorial experience, she has held several senior roles at high-profile media brands including Look and Grazia. She began her career as a news journalist for The Mirror and worked for national newspapers for eight years before moving to magazines. Claire joined Hearst UK in January 2017 and has led the Women’s Health brand for 9 years. In 2023, she was also appointed Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health UK - the first woman globally to lead the brand.

Lea is a multi-award-winning behavioural scientist and founder of Mindscope, the first behavioural science labs specialising in the new era of influence; shaping behaviour in new dynamic landscapes across tech, entertainment, culture and commerce. Named a “pioneer in the field of Behavioural Science” by Campaign Magazine, she developed a reputation as one of the most sought-after and disruptive experts, speakers and thought leaders in consumer behaviour today, and has made her mission to turn complex human behaviours into accessible interventions that translate behavioural insight into meaningful commercial and human impact.

Her impact had her recognised by leading industry accolades such as Campaign Media Week 30 Under 30 (2022), Management Today 35 Women Under 35 (2023), and The Media Leader Future 100 (2024), with Lea also featured by Inside Behavioural Economics as one of the world’s top behavioural experts. As the Behavioural Advisor and Executive Member of The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences – alongside figures like Tim Berners-Lee and Alexis Ohanian – Lea has been instrumental in pioneering the integration of behavioural science into media and marketing practices Helping clients understand hidden viewer habits, decode the science behind brand experiences, and anticipate trends across content, marketing, AI, e-commerce, and digital media, Lea is redefining how communities and human connections evolve in today’s cultural landscape. Her client range spans across BBC, Canon, Amex, TikTok, Snapchat, Google and many more.

Mike Soutar is an entrepreneur, advisor and non-executive director, known for his ability to build and transform businesses. He has held leadership roles at iconic media brands like FHM, Kiss FM and the Evening Standard. Mike was Founder and CEO of Shortlist Media and, for the last 14 years, he has been a meticulous interviewer on BBC One's The Apprentice. He writes and speaks on entrepreneurship, resilience and leadership. His debut book, Next Gen CEO, will be published by Pan Macmillan in June this year.

Katrina Broster is the Marketing Performance & Technology Director at the Financial Times, on a mission to make marketing smarter, sharper and more effective. A performance marketer through and through, Katrina develops future-proof marketing strategies rooted in data, technology and measurement excellence. She’s a media subscription growth expert with a track record spanning The Telegraph, The Independent and Future PLC, and a passion for audience-first acquisition that delivers tangible results.

At the FT, Katrina leads performance marketing, measurement and tech innovation to strengthen the connection between commercial strategy and ROI, navigating digital transformation and helping the organisation adapt to an ever-changing landscape. She loves digging into numbers, advancing how marketers think about performance, and championing the role of subscriptions in sustainable business growth. There’s still so much left to do — and she’s just getting started.

Rachel Richardson is a youth culture expert who reports on Gen A and Z trends for the highly flammable newsletter. She was the head of editorial at Snapchat where over 90 per cent of American Zoomers watched content curated by her team. Rachel was twice honoured by the British Society of Magazine Editors as their Editor of the Year during her time at Fabulous magazine.

Dave Musgrove has worked on the BBC History Magazine and HistoryExtra brand for over 20 years. He leads the content team across its print, social, web, app, podcast, video and live event channels. 

Magda Woods is a consultant, entrepreneur, and AI strategist with over a decade of experience at the intersection of data, AI, and publishing. She founded AndTheRobots, advising media and publishing businesses on how to build commercial value from AI, including leading GOV.UK's first generative AI initiative and supporting organisations from the BBC to The Economist.

Before founding AndTheRobots, Magda built and commercialised AI products from the ground up, co-founding two AI startups, leading data science teams at Future plc and The Telegraph, and translating complex technical capabilities into products.

She has a track record in commercializing technical propositions. At the PPA Festival, Magda is presenting original research commissioned by the PPA into how publishers can protect and monetise their content in the age of LLMs, covering licensing deals, copyright strategy, collective action, and the emerging economics of AI-driven traffic loss.

Ali Warwick is Group Head of Client Development at Strata, where she leads the team responsible for building senior relationships and identifying opportunities to secure high‑value brand experience programmes. She partners with organisations delivering flagship events, leadership experiences and large‑scale audience moments, helping them design experiences and content that strengthen engagement and deliver measurable impact.

Mariana Valle is the CEO of Insurance Insider, a private equity‑backed market‑intelligence and news business serving the global specialty insurance sector.

Mariana has built her career at the intersection of high‑value information and strategic market coverage, bringing 18 years of experience in B2B news and data, through senior roles at Acuris (now ION Analytics) and later at Euromoney/Delinian.

Clare Bolton is Chief Content Officer at Law Business Research (LBR), a specialist B2B information services provider in the legal sector. The 140-strong team produces news, analysis, research tools and datasets across eight specialist platforms, all for global audiences. LBR’s products are known for their high quality and exceptional client loyalty, delivering consistent double-digit growth across revenue streams and specialisms.

Clare started her journalism career at LBR focused on Latin American coverage, and has since held most positions in the team before taking the helm in 2020.

She also leads sustainability initiatives for the broader business and is passionate about growing the business while reducing its impact on the environment.

Joe Friend is the Director and Co-Founder of Pepper, an award-winning, creator-first social media agency that partners with global publishing brands including the Financial Times, The Guardian and Future PLC. With 10 years experience in commercial radio, Joe has successfully transitioned from traditional media into influencer marketing, treating it as a media space where brands can buy the right audiences through content that feels editorial, not advertorial.  

John Burke is the Co-founder of Craft Gin Club, which he has built into one of the world’s largest spirits subscription offerings. Since launching in 2015, John has scaled the business from a bootstrapped start-up into a multi-million-pound success, shipping curated craft spirits to over half a million UK households. He also launched the company’s monthly magazine and is a staunch proponent of content and community-driven commerce.

 Lian Brooks is Senior Audience Development Manager at Glamour UK, being responsible for overseeing the brand's distribution strategies to expand readership and build engagement with readers via SEO, social, newsletter, partnerships and other traffic referral sources.

A 2024 PPA Next Gen Award Winner and PPA Next Gen Board 2025/26 member, Lian was previously Deputy SEO Editor at The Times and The Sunday Times, with her also working across titles such as ELLE and Women’s Health during her time as Hearst UK’s SEO Manager.

As the longest serving member of Good Food, skills and shows editor Barney has written and tested thousands of recipes, worked with practically every British celebrity chef, as well as making countless videos and hosting live events. Barney draws on his years of experience and brings expertise to the more specialist sides of food with his knowledge for things like sourdough baking, foraging, seasonal ingredients and open fire cooking.

Andrew Craissati is the Founder and CEO of Auddy, a leading provider of B2B audio solutions for internal communications, investor relations, fan engagement, and advertisers. He previously served as the Chairman and CEO of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group across the Australasia region. During this time, he oversaw numerous industries, held several directorships, and launched Virgin Radio International. While at Virgin, he also developed and managed a China-focused telecom investment joint venture with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and led over $1.5 billion of transactions for the Group. Throughout his career, Craissati has held senior roles at Universal Studios and the National Geographic Society. He also ran the investment banking firm The Magna Group and co-ran Integritas, the David de Rothschild family office. In his early corporate finance career, he worked extensively in Technology, Media, and Telecoms, focusing on IPOs, funds, private placement, and M&A advisory work. He has served on the International Advisory Board of the Singapore Government’s Media Development Authority and as a board member for the UK’s Open University Business School, whose MBA is ranked by CEO Magazine as number one in the UK and joint 12th in the world.

https://www.instagram.com/dr.veekativhu/

Dr. Varaidzo (Vee) Kativhu is a Girls’ Education Activist and Young Leader at the United Nations. She is also the Founder and Director of Empowered By Vee. An Oxford and Harvard alumna, she mobilises 500k+ followers to champion equitable access to education for girls and empower underrepresented young people worldwide.