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Zöe Webster

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Zöe Webster
EducationUniversity of York University of Sussex
Employer(s)Cambridge Management Consultants, BT Group, Innovate UK for 13 years,QinetiQ
Known forexpertise in artificial intelligence and diversity in strategy for computing development
AwardsAI Magazine Top Ten Women in AI in UK and Europe (2024)

Zöe Webster is a British specialist in artificial intelligence, one of AI Magazine's Top Ten Women in AI in the UK and Europe (2024).[1]

Webster is currently leading Cambridge Management Solutions AI initiatives and driving digital innovation within this international technical and management consultancy.[2] Previously she was the Artificial Intelligence Director, Group Data and AI Solutions at multinational BT Group,[3][4] and was Director of Artificial intelligence and data economy at Innovate UK, a non-governmental agency reporting to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).[5] Webster had worked there for thirteen years as it established to strategies to help industry to allow innovators to connect and showcase their work and access markets. The overall aim was to ensure that the UK achieves its strategy for innovation in computing and related spheres across public and private domains.[6][7] She provided advice to the UK House of Lords’ Communications and Digital Committee on Large language models, assessing opportunities and risks.[2] And in 2019 she became a board member of the Scottish government's innovation strategy partner, Data Lab.[8]

Education and career

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Webster was the first in her family to attend university, although her father was an electrician with an interest in reading about technology, including Isaac Asimov,[4] and she initially studied sixth form A-levels in politics, maths and economics, but changed from politics to computing, because of the example of a two-woman computing department, although there were only three female students in the class.[9] Her first degree was in computer science at York University and she then took an MSc at Sussex, including psychology and philosophy. She worked at QinetiQ, a technical defence company and completed her PhD, whilst working full-time.[9] Webster began with the UK research innovation development organisation (which has changed its name and reporting line, now Innovate UK), back in 2007, and was developing and implementing the UK national strategy for ICT and then in charge of Enabling technology, High-Value manufacturing and Strategy.[9] By 2022, she had become Artificial Intelligence Director, Group Data and AI Solutions at multinational BT Group.[3][10]

In 2024, she was working as a consultant for the international Cambridge Management Consultants and recognised for her contribution to AI (no2) in Top Ten Women in AI in the Uk and Europe (2024).[1]

Interest in diversity in computing and the role of AI

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Webster has supported diversity throughout her career and said 'We need more women in technology because they have something to add to the field, not because they’re simply making up the numbers'.[9][11] She takes the wider need for diverse engagement in AI seriously to enable the strategy for emerging and developing technology to provide useful support across the widest spectrum of society.[12][13] Her opinion was that “Young people need to be taught that technology can create change, and that an awful lot of it is actually fun, too.”[9][14]

Webster believes that the use of robots will grow and "hopefully assist us in really helpful ways".[3][15] She has studied the interface of human and machine intelligence, developing policy and strategy as well as R&D in two of the major commercial companies developing intelligent machines, using methods that take account of women and non-binary people in the development stages, so that AI is able to fully operate without inherent discrimination, and to seen to be unbiased in its handling of both people and data.[4] Her role included working with CodeFirstGirls, who support diverse training to offer work experience in technical companies, with 15 places offered in BT.[4]

Now (2024) with Cambridge Management Consulting, Webster continues to state that

“Ensuring the quality and quantity of data is paramount. To develop robust AI models, you need sufficient, high-quality data. Different AI techniques have varying data appetites, with deep learning and large language models being particularly data-hungry.”[1]

Webster recognises that large language models that use, for example the world wide web sources may end up with an in-built bias from historical material it collects unintentionally. And she said that

"Ultimately, humans should be accountable for AI. “While some people talk about giving AI systems legal rights, accountability must rest with those who make decisions about AI use and deployment. It's the responsibility of humans to ensure that AI systems are governed correctly, that biases are addressed, and that ethical considerations are upheld. Having strong data and AI governance practices in place helps uphold accountability by guiding the responsible use of AI.”[16]

External sources

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Presentation about the role of innovation in technology (Port of Tyne) at AI Magazine event.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jackson, Amber (2024-03-27). "Top 10: Women in AI in the UK & Europe". aimagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  2. ^ a b "Cambridge Management Consulting > Zoë Webster". www.cambridgemc.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  3. ^ a b c King, Katie (2022). AI strategy for sales and marketing: connecting marketing, sales and customer experience. London; New York, NY: Kogan Page Inc. pp. 166, 256. ISBN 978-1-3986-0201-4.
  4. ^ a b c d "Zoë Webster, on why Data and AI at BT is full opportunities". www.bt.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  5. ^ "How we're governed". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  6. ^ "Who Innovate UK is". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  7. ^ "UK: a force to be reckoned with in terms of process innovation". The Manufacturer. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  8. ^ O'Sullivan, Kevin (2019-12-10). "Five data science and AI industry figures join The Data Lab board". FutureScot. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  9. ^ a b c d e "The director championing diversity". nesta. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  10. ^ "BT Group unveils AI Accelerator". Comms Business. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  11. ^ Johar, Amiya (2022-06-16). "Blog: Are careers in AI misunderstood?". Mobile World Live. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  12. ^ "Zoe Webster, Director of AI and Data Economy, Innovate UK - DataIQ". Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  13. ^ "Programme - World Summit AI Amsterdam". World Summit AI Amsterdam - The only AI summit in the world that matters. 2023-05-14. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  14. ^ "NCCE Digital Skills Forum - How can education cast light on the 'magic' of AI? - Teach Computing". Teach Computing. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  15. ^ "Demystifying AI myths and responsible tech". Yahoo Finance. 2024-03-10. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  16. ^ Law, Marcus (2023-12-01). "Navigating the complexity of data governance and AI models". technologymagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  17. ^ Port of Tyne (2023-11-28). Zoe Webster: The Power of AI in Maritime. Retrieved 2024-10-08 – via YouTube.
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