Lauren Thorpe

Co-Founder, Open Education AI

Lauren co-founded OEAI with Matthew Woodruff in 2023. She is the Chief Transformation Officer at United Learning Trust, the largest schools trust in England, where she leads work on digital strategy and AI, data and insights, curriculum and assessment, and organisational transformation projects. Prior to this, Lauren was director of standards and performance, and director of strategy, at Ark. She has previously been a teacher, a research director for a Westminster thinktank, an Ofsted inspector and a school principal. Since September 2024, Lauren has been Chair of the CST Data and digital transformation professional community, and has served on a DfE EdTech Advisory Board and Workload Review Panel. She holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a master’s degree in ICT in Education.

Hall 7b

1 Series four

Implementing innovation: Leading AI and edtech strategy for positive futures

AI and edtech are reshaping education, and strategic leadership is critical to ensure innovation delivers real impact. This session explores how school and trust leaders can drive positive futures through ethical, scalable use of digital technologies. We’ll examine key decisions around investment, assessment, curriculum, and workforce readiness in an AI-driven world. Drawing on Pearson’s national and global insights, the session offers practical guidance to align innovation with trust-wide goals to support excellence, equity, and integrity.

09:20

1 Main programme

Welcome remarks

Welcome remarks from Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Trust and Chair of CST Data and digital transformation professional community.

09:35

1 Main programme

Keynote: Leading through uncertainty: AI, judgement and decision-making in education

As AI and data rapidly reshape education, the challenge for leaders is not just what to adopt, but how to think and decide in uncertain conditions. In this keynote, Madiha helps leaders make sense of the current moment, drawing on her work across the edtech sector in the UK and internationally. Shaping bold, ambitious ideas into grounded sense-making and practical action, she explores how the market is evolving, where evidence remains limited, and how to make proportionate, well-judged decisions. Focusing on leadership judgement over tools, she offers practical ways to evaluate choices, set boundaries, and communicate decisions clearly.

16:15

1 15 October

Keynote: What should our children do in the age of AI?

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly rewriting the rules of classrooms, the workplace and the jobs market, raising huge questions about how to prepare our children for what lies ahead. In response to these urgent and evolving questions, Professor Susskind will take an evidence-based view of how we can help young people to flourish in the age of AI. Following his keynote, Professor Susskind will be joined by Lauren Thorpe, Co-Founder of Open Education AI, for a Q&A exploring the questions raised by his address and those submitted by delegates through the conference app.