Discover the agenda for MD Future Live 25, taking place on 18th September at Sister, Manchester.
This full-day programme will guide you through the real-world impact and future direction of AI, while also opening up conversations on the wider landscape of emerging technologies.
MD Future Live 25 is sponsored by Kao Data and Sister.
Click here to view speaker profiles.
09:15 - Arrival and Registration
10:00 - Welcome address with Katie Gallagher OBE, Manchester Digital
10:10 - The UK’s Role in the AI Race: Arm’s Global Platform, Manchester’s Local Strength
Geraint North
Fellow, AI & Developer Platforms
Arm
10:40 - AI Advantage: What the UK’s Sectors Can Lead the World In
With £1bn pledged to boost the UK’s AI capability, where can we genuinely lead on the global stage? This panel looks at the verticals and strengths where UK and Greater Manchester companies can outcompete, from life sciences to manufacturing, climate tech to the creative industries. What unique assets, skills, and partnerships will it take to turn opportunity into market leadership?
Chair
Dr. Vikas Shah MBE DL
Panellists
Katharina Reusch
Senior Manager
Capgemini
Ben Davies
Marketing Director
Praetura Ventures
Rob Wilson
CEO
Imperagen
11:25 - Are we the last programmers? AI and the future of code
Matt Squire
Co-Founder & CTO
Fuzzy Labs
11:45 - Networking Break & Refreshments
12:15 - Powering the Future
How do we build infrastructure that can support the next wave of technologies? This session explores what comes after AI workloads, from immersive tech to decentralised systems, and asks how the UK can prepare for future demand across compute, energy and connectivity.
Chair
Lynsey Buckingham
Head of Marketing
London Internet Exchange(LINX)
Panellists
Lee Stretton
CTO
UrbanChain
Nadica Delova-Biali
Principal Architect
BT Group
Shaun Fensom
Co-Founder
Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI)
John Duncan
Connected Places Lead
GMCA
13:00 - From Smartphone to Spaceship: BodyMirror and the Future of Brain Health
Dr. Zied Tayeb
Founder & CEO
MyelinZ®
13:20 - Lunch
14:15 - The Future of AI Agents and Agentic AI
AI agents are moving beyond simple task automation towards systems that can plan, adapt, and act independently. This session explores how agentic AI is being deployed in real-world applications, the tools making it possible, and the challenges of keeping these systems safe, useful, and aligned with intent. What’s real, what’s still experimental - and where are the real breakthroughs happening?
Chair
Morgan Lewis
Legal Director
Brabners
Panellists
Rebecca Fox
Founder
Relentica
Alan Reed
Head of Platform Innovation
bet365
Lee Noble
Head of Digital
Peak.ai
Phil Birchenall
Founder
Diagonal Thinking
15:00 - Break & Networking
15:15 - Who’s Hiring, Who’s Rewiring?
As automation, low-code platforms and new tooling change how software is built, the skills and structures of tech teams are shifting fast. This session looks at how job roles are being rewritten, from software engineering to product and ops, and what it means for hiring, reskilling and the future shape of digital teams. How do we build capability when the tools are doing more of the work? What does “technical” even mean now?
Chair
Jack Stockport
Co-Founder & Technology Business Manager
SF Technology
Panellists
Sara Simeone
CEO
NoCodeLab.ai
Richard Whittle
Research Fellow
University of Salford
Elaine Higgins
Chief People Officer
Robiquity
Paul Cartwright
Head of Service Management
MONY Group
16:00 - Applying AI to the world’s most comprehensive health dataset: UK Biobank
Mark Conway
CTO
UK Biobank