John Whelan is a Director at Corporate Research Forum. Formerly UK HR Director of BAE Systems, the FTSE 100 defence, security, and aerospace company, John’s experience and strengths lie in business and HR Transformation, Organisation Development and Employee Relations. Prior to joining BAE, he held a variety of HR roles in engineering, technology and manufacturing businesses across the telecommunications and semi-conductor industries including Matra-Marconi Space where he was HR Director for the UK and, latterly, Group HRD.

A global HR leader with a strong track record in directing people strategy and driving companywide transformational change. Tony spent over thirty years as a leading HR Executive at Shell ($28 bln adjusted earnings in 2023, 103k employees) leading organic growth, integrations, turnarounds, and globalising businesses. In his last job at Shell, he led HR for Global Functions, India, The Netherlands, and the Business Service Centres in total covering about 30k staff.

Tony is results-driven, pragmatic and is known for his depth of HR and business experience, his ability to build high performance teams and his wise judgment. He has lived and worked internationally for 18 years – in the UK, the Caribbean, South Africa, Thailand and the USA.

Since graduating from Shell, Tony has set up his own boutique consultancy, Flowchangers Pte. Ltd., working with organisations to enhance their human capital capability and create a path to performance uplift. He is advising start-ups and acts as faculty for Senior Leadership Development programs. He is serving as a sought-after mentor to other CHROs and senior executives.

Catalina Schveninger is an HR leader turned consultant, investor, and educator, helping organisations grow through upskilling, reskilling, and building future-ready people strategies. With over 25 years of experience across the full spectrum of HR – recruiter, generalist, Head of Employer Brand, Chief Learning Officer (Vodafone), and Chief People Officer (FutureLearn, DataCamp) – Catalina brings a uniquely practical perspective to transformation.

Her work spans SaaS, e-commerce, telco, and education technology, with a global footprint that includes both iconic brands (GE, T-Mobile) and VC-backed scale-ups. Today, she advises clients on how to operationalise skills-based models and integrate AI-enabled tools and agentic technologies into the people function.

Catalina is also a venture partner and angel investor in start ups reimagining the future of work, and teaches People Analytics and HR Tech at Porto Business School.

Clare is the Founder and Managing Partner of Conscious Consulting: Creating value for organisations through People, Culture, and Leadership. She works with organisations who want to function more effectively, create, or transform culture, and develop leaders.
Previously, Clare was the Global Head of Human Capital for Mubadala Capital. Clare worked as a member of the Leadership team and built a thriving Global organisation with offices in 6 countries and an AUM of $22BN. The Mubadala Capital HR strategy and EVP was founded on Culture, which was fundamental to the success of the organisation. Clare created and led executive retreats for several divisions within Mubadala, developed their Executive Coaching programme and was internal faculty for the Mubadala LAB.

Clare’s Qualifications include a Masters in Leading and Facilitating Transformative Change: Organisation Development (Metanoia Institute), and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), and a Member of the ICF (International Coaching Federation). Clare is a certified Facilitator of Transformation (Gita Bellin & Associates), a certified Systems Coach, an accredited Meditation teacher, and a Barrett Analytics Practitioner.

Dr Rob Collins is a visiting fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford and regularly teaches courses at the University. Dr Collins has taught on the MSc in Software Engineering through Oxford University’s Computing Laboratory for over 20 years. He currently teaches modules on Classical Machine Learning, Software Testing and Safety Critical Systems.

Dr Collins also teaches courses in Artificial Intelligence, Systems Thinking, Agile, Machine Learning, Design Thinking and Business Process Improvement. He regularly provides consultancy to industry in the area of Business Process Excellence, Artificial Intelligence and Systems Engineering. He gained his Black Belt Certification in Lean Six Sigma from Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest Systems Engineering company and a world-leader in advanced technology.

As well as his undergraduate degree in Physics and Computing, Dr Collins holds a PhD focussed on training, psychology and processes for introducing complex technology into learning environments. He completed an MBA in 2012 at Henley Business School, and so has a strategic business view as well as deep understanding and practical experience of hands-on process improvement in technology and service.

Previously Executive Director, Human Capital, Mubadala Investment Company.

Shaikha is Senior Consultant in Conscious Consulting with significant experience as a C-suite HR and Operations leader. Shaikha has worked in multiple high profile interim and turnaround assignments and is able to adapt to different client contexts. Her diverse sector experience, coupled with breadth of capability across HR, Finance, and Operations enables Shaikha to understand the business and its priorities, and connect with the people.

Shaikha was previously an Executive Director in Mubadala and was the first CHRO for Mubadala Healthcare, the first CHRO for Solutions plus, where she built the HR function, lead diverse teams of professionals and trained successors. Previously she headed Talent Acquisition for Mubadala and created the People Services Centre as well as working as an HR Business Partner for the Finance and Legal teams in Mubadala.

Shaikha’s qualifications include a BSc in Mathematics (Al Ain University), an MBA from Majan College Oman / Bedford University UK. She completed the Talent Acquisition Executives program in Brussels, Belgium in 2015, and CEB Reimagine HR in London in 2016.

Nick Holley as Director of CRF Learning has responsibility to provide development for HR teams and senior professionals. Prior to joining CRF, Nick spent 10 years at Henley Business School where he was a visiting professor and Director of the Centre for HR Excellence. He has developed and delivered HR capability programmes for organisations across the UK and Europe, and internationally.