Rachel Smith has a long history with the UK’s green hydrogen sector, having spent 23 years at ITM Power, including 8 years as a board member. As one of the founding scientists, she played a central role in transforming the company from a research-led startup into a publicly listed leader in electrolyser technology. Her work helped lay the foundations for ITM’s global reputation in sustainable energy innovation.

Today, Rachel brings that same vision and depth of experience to her work as a founder of Big Sky People, where she coaches leaders to navigate complexity with courage, clarity, and purpose. Her approach blends strategic insight with psychological safety, empowering individuals and organisations to lead with authenticity and impact.

Raja leads the Government’s work on Batteries, Finance and Innovative Technologies (BFIT), where he is responsible for shaping battery policy, delivering the Battery Innovation Programme, and Made Smarter Innovation. He also leads policy to improve access to finance for manufacturing scale-ups, working closely with the British Business Bank to deliver the Capital Growth Programme. Raja is highly experienced in enterprise and growth policy, having previously led the Investment Environment team, working closely with No.10 to establish a concierge service for high-value investors.

He previously led the Strategy Unit in DWP, driving forward welfare reforms at the 2023 Autumn Statement. Prior to this, he led Fiscal and Legislation Strategy at BEIS, negotiating funding for several Energy and Innovation programmes at the 2021 Spending Review. During the pandemic, he led delivery of the Coronavirus Act. He has also held policy roles across government, including developing and delivering the Clean Heat Grant, a programme to increase deployment of low carbon heating, alongside roles in Regulation, Brexit and International Trade. Prior to government, he was a consultant in the private sector on property policy and regulation. He read International Relations at the University of St Andrews.

Rakhi Jain spearheads the future of mobility at Motability Operations (MO), with a dedicated focus on making sure that emerging automotive technologies are inclusive for MO customers. As a member of the Innovation Team, she ensures that customer needs are prioritized in the transition to autonomous vehicles. Rakhi collaborates with key industry players on new modes of transport to keep accessibility at the forefront of MO’s innovations.

She holds a master’s degree in business administration, specializing in finance and international relations, and has previously held roles in risk management, strategy, and pricing at Motability Operations.

About Motability Operations

We are the commercial company that delivers the Motability Scheme to over 815,000 disabled people and their families, helping them access independent mobility.

Since we began running the Motability Scheme 45 years ago, we have helped more than 5 million people get moving. People who receive higher or enhanced mobility allowance can join the scheme. They decide to use their allowance to choose from a wide range of cars, wheelchair accessible vehicles, powered wheelchairs or scooters.

Customers lease their vehicle for 3-5 years in a worry-free package that includes insurance, servicing, tyres and breakdown cover. At the end of the lease, they can choose a brand-new vehicle and we remarket their old vehicle at the best possible price. We are the largest supplier of used cars in the UK.

We pride ourselves on knowing and understanding our customers and have exceptional customer service at the heart of everything we do.

Rebecca is a Chartered Systems Engineer with over 15 years of experience in sustainable mobility. She has led projects focused on decarbonising road, aviation, and maritime transport and played a pivotal role in delivering the analysis and business case for the UK’s £200m Zero Emission HGV & Infrastructure Demonstrator programme. Currently, Rebecca serves as the Connected Places Catapult’s technical lead within the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative, where she has led technical industrial engagement and identified innovation opportunities for the UK.

Becky is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at EV8 Technologies and hold a doctorate in systems engineering from Loughborough University. With expertise in eMobility, EV charging infrastructure and battery technology, she has significant knowledge in shaping low carbon transport systems and infrastructure.

Becky is an authority on smart charging and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies, driving innovation in the industry. Her proficiency extends to infrastructure technology specification, procurement strategy, R&D, start-up strategy, operations and digital energy solutions. Becky is dedicated to advancing sustainable transportation and energy solutions, making her a prominent figure in the field.

Richard is Chief Operating Officer at Oxa, responsible for the commercialisation of Oxa’s Universal Autonomy™ software platform. Heading up the Commercial, Solutions and Customer Support teams, Richard’s focus is delivering for Oxa’s customers today, while scaling for the future. Richard joined Oxa in 2019 to set up its commercial function, after a 30-year career building and leading global teams and partnerships at large corporates. Since joining Oxa, Richard has developed relationships and contracted with all of Oxa’s major customers, including Beep, bp, and Ocado. He was also an integral part of the Oxa team during Series B and C fund raising.

Richard Oxland is the Director of Secure Connected Vehicle at Beam Connectivity. He is responsible for the product strategy and partnership ecosystem that will ensure vehicle manufacturers benefit from increased connectivity without sacrificing cyber resilience. His previous role was at Siemens Digital Industries Software where he led the Product Management team for the Embedded Analytics product line, a portfolio of silicon IP and software originating from the acquisition of UltraSoC in July 2020. He was Head of Product at UltraSoC prior to its acquisition by Siemens. He worked for TSMC R&D based at IMEC in Belgium, and he has also worked in digital marketing and e-commerce. Richard holds a PhD in Electronics Engineering and a Master in Physics from the University of Glasgow, and an MBA from IESE. Richard is an inventor on more than 20 patents issued by the USPTO.

Richard has a career spanning 30 years in high technology engineering for the transport and chemical industries, has delivered numerous research led projects from concept through to mass production and has expert knowledge of decarbonisation, value creation and skills delivery programs.

The owner and director of an engineering, training and business improvement consultancy, Richard has hands-on experience of working with SME’s and large organisations from both the private and public sector.

Rimali is a highly skilled Geospatial Data Scientist with over nine years of experience in geospatial analysis, spatial modelling, and data visualisation. She works within the Highways and Integrated Transport Directorate under the Transport Business Unit at Connected Places Catapult, applying her expertise to support transport, infrastructure, environmental, and urban development projects.

She holds a PhD in AI-driven modelling, with a focus on deep learning techniques, and has contributed to both commercial and R&D initiatives spanning transportation, infrastructure, and water management. Rimali also supports SMEs by helping them integrate advanced geospatial solutions into their operations. She excels at delivering innovative, cross-disciplinary insights that drive smarter and more sustainable mobility and infrastructure systems.

Project Lead for the CCAV program - evolvAD

Robert Evans is CEO of Cenex (www.cenex.co.uk), a not-for-profit research and consultancy organisation with a strategic focus on supporting supply chain and market development for Net Zero transport and Connected Automated Mobility.   

During his 15+ years as CEO, Robert has overseen the development and delivery of a range of pathfinder low carbon vehicle and energy infrastructure R&D projects for hydrogen, electric and gas vehicles, as well as shared mobility projects.  He has also established the Cenex Expo event (www.cenex-expo.com) as the UK’s leading technology showcasing and networking event for the innovation community actively progressing low carbon vehicles and connected automated mobility.  

Having supported research and consultancy projects to advance electric and hydrogen use in passenger cars and light commercial vehicle, the Cenex team are now focusing on hard to decarbonise applications including trucks, off-road equipment and small-scale marine.  Cenex’ consultancy includes programme delivery for Government, techno-market research and strategy development for clients.

Prior to joining Cenex, Robert developed international markets for energy, environmental and automotive technologies, including fuel cells and vehicle emissions control.

Senior Executive with a successful history of introducing technical innovation and novel solutions to meet global challenges in the Automotive, Defence & Security, Aerospace & Manufacturing sectors. Technical engineering background with international business development experience from the University of Life.

Sara Sloman is dedicated to revolutionising the electric vehicle (EV) experience and advancing sustainable mobility. As Chief Strategy Officer at Paythru, an innovative EV payments company, she provides strategic leadership to drive the development of seamless payment solutions for the EV industry. With 20 years of experience in the sustainable transport sector, Sara has led both public and private transport infrastructure projects, managing the full lifecycle of funding and ensuring effective implementation.

In addition to her strategic work, she is a passionate presenter and podcaster, sharing insights on EV adoption and sustainable transport through platforms like The EV Cafe and The EV Rally. Her role in these forums allows her to engage with a wider audience, driving conversations and education around the future of mobility.

Having worked across every facet of the infrastructure debate—from developers and landlords to local authority partnerships and consultancy services—Sara understands the complexities of building a sustainable future. She is a strong advocate for supporting all modes of transport, with a particular passion for clean energy and zero-emission mobility.

In recognition of her contribution, Sara has received a number of awards and accolades. Sara was named an EV Champion in 2018 and has been featured annually on the GREENFLEET “GF100 Most Influential” list, rising to #6 in 2025. She is deeply motivated to help fleets transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to cleaner alternatives. In 2023, Sara was honoured with the Cox Automotive Woman of the Year Award, celebrating her commitment to sustainability, leadership, and driving positive change.

Scott Thompson is the Programme Director for the Niche Vehicle Network (NVN), responsible for the strategic direction, liaison with funders as well as the planning, running and delivery of their grant-funded R&D competitions.

Prior to his role with NVN, Scott worked as an independent consultant supporting the development and marketing of various vehicles, products & services for a number of niche OEMs, engineering and manufacturing companies. Scott also spent 15 years working for Lotus Engineering, Lotus Cars and Caterham Technology & Innovation, where he was responsible for the management of various client accounts and consultancy projects across the UK, Europe, Japan & North America, as well as the creation of successful collaborative R&D consortiums with other UK OEMs and technology providers.

As Business developer presenting XING Mobility’s immersion cooled battery system to European market. Successfully collaborating with the businesses partners in Norway, Netherlands, Austria, etc for long years schemes since the time working with XING from 2021. Solutions covers the industries of, BESS, marine, non-road mobile machinery, and automotive.

Shadi A. Razak, ANGOKA’s Co-Founder and CTO, is a cybersecurity and business digitisation expert and successful entrepreneur with a previous exit to Microsoft.

Shadi has consulted with security working groups and committees at techUK, Europol, ENISA, and ISO on developing cybersecurity technical standards, resilience frameworks, and regulations for safe, secure, and resilient connected and intelligent systems in smart mobility, industrial systems, finance, defence and space.

Moreover, Shadi has held advisory positions at tech startups, international blue-chip companies, government organisations, financial services, and SMEs across the UK and MENA regions. His innovative thinking has led to several security-based patents.

Shay Moradi is Head of Technology at Vital Auto, where he leads the integration of emerging technologies into next-generation mobility prototypes. Vital specialises in advanced concept development and runs full vehicle programmes for clients ranging from luxury marques to global OEMs—producing everything from micromobility demonstrators to mass transport platforms.

Shay’s work spans HMI development, ergonomic validation, intelligent control systems for low-voltage electronics, and digital interaction design and craftsmanship. He creates tools and workflows that make prototyping faster, more adaptive, and closer to production intent. With a background in creative technology, AI systems, and speculative design, he develops new capabilities that reduce time-to-decision in complex programmes.