The Future of AI in Entrepreneurship

Join us as we bring together Oxford’s innovation and entrepreneurship community for a University-wide mixer with representatives from entrepreneurial, start-up, innovation, and incubator groups across Oxford. With a focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in AI, the event will feature a panel discussion of keynote speakers, followed by a networking reception where you will have an opportunity to connect with Oxford’s innovation ecosystem and our corporate partners.

The panel will address topics such as Hype vs. Reality in AI and Emerging Tech, Launching and Growing an AI-Based Venture, and the economic shifts and practical challenges businesses face when adopting emerging technologies. A moderated Q&A session will follow, allowing attendees to ask questions and explore deeper insights into the Future of AI and Entrepreneurship.

PANEL OF SPEAKERS

Mo Tanweer

With a career spanning investment banking, academia, and consulting, Mo Tanweer helps businesses navigate the challenges of integrating AI into their models. Teaching at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and the Rotterdam School of Management, Mo specialises in how AI and other global megatrends, from demographic transitions to climate change reshape economies, labour markets, and geopolitics. His research dives into the profound economic shifts AI brings and the practical hurdles businesses face when adopting emerging technologies. He also advises the United Nations on in-country policies and strategic advice on a range of sectors, from demography to digital transformations.

Umbar Shakir

With over 25 years of consulting experience turning big ideas into ground-breaking realities, Umbar is redefining what technology can do for people. As a Managing Partner at Gartner Consulting, and former Chief AI Strategy Officer at Havas, she has worked with major names like Virgin, British Airways, GSK, and Central Government on their tech, data and AI strategies. From helping businesses separate AI hype from reality to showing how emerging tech can truly improve lives, her perspective is fresh, thought-provoking, and inspiring.

Toby Velte, PhD

AI entrepreneur and founder of Probility AI and Budscout AI, Toby’s prior career experience also includes scaling teams from 1 to over 1,000 people at corporate giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. He has helped Global 1000 companies reinvent their business strategies and create cutting-edge products using AI and cloud computing. An accomplished author, Toby has published extensively on business technology, including articles for Harvard Business Review and over a dozen best-selling books with McGraw-Hill. With a PhD in Computational Neuroscience, an MBA from Kellogg, and a diploma in AI for Business from Oxford, Toby brings a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen on the AI revolution and how to harness its potential for organisational transformation.