Speakers

Darren Hardman is Corporate Vice President and CEO of Microsoft UK. Darren is responsible for all of Microsoft's product and service offerings in the UK, and for enabling Microsoft's commercial and public sector customers and partners to lead in the era of AI. In a career spanning more than 25 years, Darren has led teams in sales, consultancy, and digital transformation, collaborating with some of Europe's largest organisations.

Before joining Microsoft in 2023, Darren was the Vice President and General Manager for the UK & Ireland at Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he guided the company's direction and vision across the area, working with organisations of all sizes to support their move to digital technology in the cloud. He also collaborated with partners to build transformational programmes for joint customers.

Darren started his career at Accenture where he held a number of leadership roles in his 22- year tenure including Global Head of Sales, Chief Operating Officer (based in Seattle for three years), and UK&I Managing Director. He ran the European arm of Avanade, the Accenture/Microsoft joint venture leading 19k professionals focused on driving digital transformation and organisational change in some of Europe's largest organisations.

Outside of work, Darren has been actively involved in both grassroots and professional football for many years. He has proudly served as a Non-Executive Director of the Professional Football Association. Darren holds an MBA with Distinction from Imperial College London and a BA in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Nottingham.