Ather Abbas

Director of Strategy & Transformation, E-ACT

Ather is Director of Strategy and Transformation at E-ACT, where he leads Thrive, the trust’s organisation-wide strategy, and the cross-functional transformation programmes within it. He drives E-ACT’s approach to data and AI, making insights accessible to leaders at every level and using AI to reduce staff workload and improve outcomes for pupils. Ather brings academic grounding in strategy and executive education in AI to his transformation work.

Laying strong foundations

1 Workshop series one

Leading transformation within constraints: Building foundations for sustainable change

Room: Connect

This panel discussion explores the perspectives of two trust leaders. Tricia shares lessons from prioritising digital investment and delivering change within the constraints of limited capacity and resources. Ather shares practical examples from leading organisation-wide transformation at scale, including how to sequence change, involve the right stakeholders, strengthen governance, connect systems and support AI adoption. Drawing on real case studies and lessons learned, we explore the decisions, trade-offs and approaches that have shaped digital investment, transformation sequencing, digital foundations and AI adoption in practice.