Our authors

Paul spent 22 years in the British Army, much of his career with the regular element of the British Army’s Surveillance and Target Acquisition, 4/73 (Sphinx) Special OP Battery. Whilst serving with STA Patrols, Paul deployed in a wide range of roles from Forward Air Controller, Patrol Commander and Operations Warrant Officer before finishing his military career as the Deputy Commander and Capability Development lead for the STA Patrol capability.

John Dyson is on a mission - to solve semiconductor diminished supply and obsolescence! John’s varied career began as a PCB Designer for Farnell Instruments in the early 1980’s. His Engineering Design experience started with work on RF instrumentation and power supplies, before moving on to mining equipment, industrial telecoms, marine instrumentation, and pneumatics. Fast forward to today and John is now part of the team at obsolescence specialists Winslow Adaptics, whose sustainable adapter technology enables those faced with semiconductor obsolescence or diminished supply in the Aerospace and Defence sectors to keep manufacturing and support functions running, using alternative but available semiconductors.

Oliver is an accomplished geopolitical and open-source intelligence expert with a decade of industry experience spanning the Royal Marines, private sector, and UK Cabinet Office. He now runs his own geopolitics and open-source intelligence agency, OSINT Ltd, and produces the OSINTSUM; a highly regarded geopolitical risk intelligence summary. To subscribe to the OSINTSUM for free, or for more information about OSINT Ltd’s services, head to osintltd.com

Dr. Rupert Small is a specialist in complex systems and the founder of Egregious, an AI start-up dedicated to understanding online narratives. Previously, he worked with the UK semiconductor optimisation company, Flexciton, after which he served as Chief Data Scientist for a global maritime fleet management platform. Prior to founding Egregious, Rupert managed the Applied Science function at Improbable Defence, delivering Operational Decision Support capabilities to the MOD and the UK’s national security community.

Stephen is a strategic communications and information operations specialist with experience working across projects spanning Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Stephen holds a Maters in Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy and is currently part of the integration of CMM – a multi-national AI-powered mission management tool – into the British Army on behalf of Research Innovations Inc.

Lee is an IT Consultant based in the City of London specialising in Application Security Risk Assessments. Lee spent 23 years in the Royal Artillery specialising in Long Range and Satellite Communications. As a Bowman Systems Manager, he wrote complex Secure Data Networks for deployments in the UK, US, and Asia. Lee is currently serving in the HAC as the Regimental Signals Warrant Officer.

Craig is an aviation professional with 36 years’ experience in the Air Traffic Management & Drone Technology sectors, in both defence and commercial domains. Specialising in the delivery of drone operations, safety case generation and training has equipped Craig with a deep understanding of autonomy and AI application in emerging drone sector pathways, including how they will change the way we live, work and conduct future military operations.

Dr. Joe Spencer is a quantum sensing expert supporting activity in the defence space by developing UK MoD understanding of the impact of quantum technology. His background in clocks and cold atom systems, as well as involvement with large scale systems integration projects such as UK Dragonfire HEL capability, has given him a unique perspective on the systems engineering requirements for deploying quantum technologies into the battlefield.

Leading a range of multi-million pound procurement activities from a client public-sector perspective, including in the fields of transportation, BPO and a wide range of new technology implementations. Extensive experience in navigating a range of public sector procurements to achieve desired objectives, from framework optimisation to bespoke tender development. Done from a position of service having led a range of public sector procurement project teams.

Richard Sharp is the CEO of Frontier Operations, a Security and Operations company that has been based in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. A former Royal Marines Commando, he has spent the last 10 years working in international crisis response, supporting governments and development agencies to respond to rapid onset disasters and sudden shocks.

Richard Cashmore is Commercial Manager (Cyber Security Services) at Simpson Associates. His experience is grounded in military service, having spent seven years as a Royal Marine Commando and participating in many major international exercises and on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan. Richard moved into the cybersecurity industry in 2016, applying the defensive and risk management mindset developed in the military to assist companies in understanding and reducing their cybersecurity risk levels.

Revolutionising the private sector approach to government contracting with a team of experienced market directors providing cutting-edge insights.

Karl Eze is CEO of Point Zenith, a national security and defence company supporting disruptive startups, defence primes and government agencies to develop and deliver game-changing future sensor, uncrewed system and AI capabilities. Karl has a Human Genetics Degree and studied Battlespace Technology at the Defence Academy of the UK. Having previously served in 29 Commando Royal Artillery, Karl is now a Lieutenant Colonel with the Honourable Artillery Company, and founded British Military Drone Racing.

James is a Manager of Climate Risk and Resilience in Accenture’s UKI Sustainability, supporting several organisations understanding the impacts of the climate crisis on their business. James has over 20-years of experience across a range of industries. He started his career with the UK government and development sector in Iraq and Afghanistan, before working in the mining industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

James spent 9 years in the Royal Marines working across defence in operational, training and capability development roles. On leaving in 2019 he joined training technology specialist 4GD where he is responsible for product development and business growth in both the UK and USA

Gareth Tennant is a former Royal Marines Commando who specialised in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance operations. He is now the CEO of Decision Advantage, a defence and security consultancy that supports business leaders, governments and militaries in the art of decision-making in complex environments. Gareth’s focus is on integrating emerging threats and new technologies into established institutions. He also co-hosts the ‘Battling with Business’ podcast exploring the comparisons and contrasts between business and military approaches to organisational management and strategy.

Gary "Gaz" Plowman is a Yeoman of Signals within the Royal Marines. He has a background of over 15 years in communication technology with roles in land, sea and air-based Units. He has experience planning and delivering communications and information systems management in operational environments from the Arctic to Desert.

A Chartered Engineer, Ivan Mactaggart is Head of Systems and Digital Engineering at East West Rail, a critical national infrastructure project. Highly experienced working across multiple complex systems during roles at AWE Plc, DSTL, and MBDA Missile Systems, Ivan is a Fellow of the IET and CMI. A former Commissioned Officer in the Honourable Artillery Company, Ivan is currently researching the value of functional architecture in complex system design.

Ben served a full 22-year military career of which 16 years were spent in UK Specialist Military Units, and dedicated a further 8 years to the study and practice of Covert Physical Access which he employed on worldwide operations. Ben is a Director at BLOCKPHISH, managing physical security services and safeguarding organisations against the emergence of cyber-physical attack methods, a rapidly growing and pervasive threat which is transforming the structure of the cyber-risk landscape.

Over 10 years experience of working in the NHS and Military environments. A comprehensive understanding of the importance of embracing new technologies to enhance healthcare delivery with extensive experience of delivering training programs in resource constrained settings.

Gary has been on the front lines of countering money laundering and terrorist financing for 20 years He is a Forensic Investigator, ex-Head of Asia for a Big Data company, and ex-CEO of an AI Anti-Financial Crime company. Gary served with the Royal Anglians and Honourable Artillery Company, when life was a lot simpler.

David Whetham is Professor of Ethics and the Military Profession at King’s College London, and President and Founder of Compass Ethics. Based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at the UK Defence Academy, he advises senior leaders across the military and corporate worlds on the ethical application of their organisational missions. David was a co-founder of the European Chapter of the International Society for Military Ethics.

Chris Daniels is a strategic advisor on commercialising start-ups and scale-ups, focused on aerospace, defence and DeepTech. He is CCO at Flare Bright, a tech and software machine learning assurance company for the drone and UAM industry, director of ARPAS, the UK drone industry trade body, and is on ADS Group’s Drone Platform & Counter Drone Group Executive. Chris has an MBA from IESE Business School, a Mathematics degree from Oxford University and previously served in The Parachute Regiment.

Whether you are seeking to work within the conventional military, or specialised user community, our team of vetted experts cover the full spectrum of defence and security: Air, Land, Maritime, Space & Cyber

Dean served in the British Military for 32 years, flying Lynx, Apache and MQ-9 Reaper, on multiple operational tours. As a Commissioned Executive Officer and Flight Instructor, Dean managed complex programs and introduced new equipment into service for both British Army and later the Royal Air Force. His final tour was on exchange with the USAF, where he was an MQ-9 Reaper instructor with Evaluator Status (SEFE).

Aggelos is the Founder and CEO of Future Warfare (futurewarfare.gr), the first think-tank in Greece that investigates the role of artificial intelligence in the modern and future battlefield, and geopolitics in the changing world order. Aggelos is a prestigious Geostrategy and Defense Analyst in Greece, with a background in international economics and financial risk intelligence analysis.

Having successfully delivered counterintelligence and information security support to UK and overseas formations for over 13 years, David Brayshay is now transitioning to the private sector. He holds several information security qualifications including CISM and his MA (Merit) in Intelligence and International Relations included a dissertation examining the impact of cyber warfare on the changing nature of warfare and the security policy of states.