Simon Thompson is a seasoned AI and machine learning leader with 25 years of experience developing intelligent systems across research and industry. For much of that time he worked at BT Labs in the UK, one of the country’s most established industrial research labs, where he led the AI research program. There he helped introduce and pioneer Big Data technology across the company and managed an applied research practice for nearly a decade, turning emerging techniques into capabilities that real business teams could use.

Today, Simon is the Head of Data Science at GFT Technologies, delivering machine learning systems for financial services companies in the City of London. His work covers the full lifecycle of enterprise ML: framing the business problem, building and evaluating models, and shepherding them through ethics, security, and privacy reviews on the path to production.

Simon is also the author of Managing Machine Learning Projects, where he distills hard-won lessons on estimating, staffing, and de-risking ML work. He is a frequent voice in the data community, sharing practical guidance on what makes machine learning projects succeed, and he remains an advocate for technically led project leadership and honest, transparent communication with stakeholders.