Speaking at Eastbourne DigiFest 2026

Meet some of the inspiring speakers and innovators at this year’s Eastbourne DigiFest covering topics including AI, digital strategy, marketing, product, customer success…and more.

Check back here as we release details of more confirmed speakers!

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Paul Hetherington

Five Examples of AI Generating Real Income in Businesses Like Yours

Forget the hype - this session is about money. Paul Hetherington is a Vistage Chair, executive coach to 20+ UK business owners, and Chairman of several company boards. He's not watching from the sidelines - he's in the thick of it, helping businesses scale and sitting in the rooms where decisions get made.

Paul shares five real-world examples of non-tech companies using AI to generate actual revenue and cut real costs - right now, not "one day." From a high-street retailer to a professional services firm, these aren't Silicon Valley unicorns. They're businesses like yours.

Expect to leave with:

• Proof that AI isn't just for big tech

• Practical ideas you can act on this quarter

• The confidence to start - or the clarity to stop wasting time on the wrong things

No jargon. No theory. Just results.

  • Paul Hetherington is a Vistage Chair, executive coach, and Chairman of several UK company boards. He works with 20+ business owners helping them clarify vision, craft strategy, and execute with accountability - turning ambitious SMEs into scaled, high-performing businesses.

    With over 30 years of board-level experience, Paul has led turnarounds, integrated acquisitions, and built teams across manufacturing, construction, and professional services. As CEO of Marshall-Tufflex he delivered 25% compound annual profit growth. He served on the UK Government's Investment Decisions Advisory Board, advising ministers on deals up to £8 billion.

    Paul holds an MBA, is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and has been a digital transformation advocate since pioneering eBusiness in the 1990s. He now champions practical AI adoption for non-tech businesses.

    He is based here in East Sussex.

Lucy Butt

Learning AI on the Job: Real Lessons From a Charity CEO

An honest, practical account of how Bramber Bakehouse - a small Sussex-based charity - is adapting to AI in real time without a complex digital strategy or a big budget. Lucy’ll share where Bramber Bakehouse were losing time, how they began experimenting with AI in everyday workflows (from funding bids to policy drafting and communications), what has genuinely worked and what hasn’t.

You’ll leave with practical examples you can apply immediately, a clearer understanding of where AI can support leadership rather than replace it and the confidence to start small, experiment safely and build capability within your own organisation.

  • Lucy Butt is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bramber Bakehouse, a charity supporting women who have experienced abuse, exploitation and displacement. With over a decade of experience in the Violence Against Women and Girls sector, she is passionate about developing practical, sustainable solutions to complex social challenges.

    With a background in project management and events across the L&D and sports sectors, Lucy brings a strategic and operational lens to her leadership, always looking for ways to work more efficiently, increase impact and adapt to changing demands.

James Leigh

The Future of Digital Product Delivery in the Age of AI

The future of digital product delivery is being reshaped by AI-driven personalization, automation, and predictive intelligence. From dynamic pricing and real-time content adaptation to autonomous customer support and hyper-targeted distribution, AI enables products to evolve continuously after launch. Cloud-native infrastructure, edge computing, and generative AI tools are accelerating development cycles while reducing costs.

As data becomes the core asset, ethical AI, privacy safeguards, and human-centered design will define competitive advantage in an increasingly intelligent, automated digital economy.

  • James is a delivery focused digital strategist, with over 10 years of programme implementation across private, public and third sectors. Adept at growing client relationships in start up/scale up spaces, as well as enterprise environments, he brings a passion for connecting talented people with solutions always top of mind.

    He has set up and run successful delivery and consultancy offerings at different organisations, and now wants to bring that experience and drive to fractional networks.

    His experience with forming and running global and UK teams speaks to his desire to rethink the future of the workplace to ensure that the mantra of 'right people, right place, right time' is core to any company's ethos - and its success!

Andy Williams

The Shopfront Never Closes: Building a Small Business Brand in the Age of Social Media

A dirty window or a peeling sign would send customers elsewhere yet many small businesses neglect their digital presence entirely. This talk reframes social media and content as the modern extension of your physical space: always open, always forming an impression. We'll explore how retail giants have mastered blending bricks-and-mortar with digital storytelling, and argue that the same strategy is now available to anyone with a physical shop or restaurant that is also willing to show up consistently online.

Anchored by personal experience in podcasting - and the remarkable moment at a convention when listeners reach out to tell you the work genuinely mattered - this is a practical and inspiring case for putting marketing at the heart of your business.

  • Andy Williams, a creative producer, writer, and Podcast host with over two decades of experience in family entertainment, has developed and produced acclaimed programs for leading networks like BBC, Disney, and Nickelodeon. He won a BAFTA for Best Animated Series for the Disney show, Brush Head, and a Writers Guild Award in 2010 for his work on Shaun the Sheep for Aardman. His recent produced an animated series for a major global streaming platform and is in production on an animated Feature Film starring Rita Ora, Ella Purnell, and Alan Carr.

Dr Nick Harvey

WTF is digital health?

Digital health is often overhyped. At its core, it is not about apps or AI, but using technology to solve real healthcare problems - improving access, outcomes, and experience.

Many initiatives fail because they prioritise technology over need and ignore how care actually works. What works is simple: start with real problems, fit into real lives, deliver measurable value, and build trust.

What has changed is power.

For the first time, individuals have tools to understand and influence their own health. Health is no longer confined to clinics - it happens in daily life.

That means everyone in this room has a role:

* To take more control of their own health

* To design, lead, and invest in ways that empower others

Digital health is not just a technology shift. It is a human empowerment shift, enabled by technology.

  • Nick is a GP and CEO working at the intersection of frontline care and healthcare innovation. With experience both delivering care and leading organisations, he brings a pragmatic, system-level perspective on what actually works in healthcare.

    His work focuses on bridging the gap between clinical reality and ambition - helping design and scale solutions that improve outcomes, reduce friction, and genuinely support patients and clinicians.

    Nick is particularly interested in how digital health can move beyond hype to deliver meaningful impact, and how individuals and organisations can be empowered to take a more active role in health.

    He speaks regularly on healthcare, system change, and leadership, challenging audiences to think differently about the role of technology in building sustainable, human-centred healthcare.

    Alongside running her marketing business, Rhianna has been exploring how AI can be used to streamline workflows and solve everyday operational challenges. Despite having no technical background, she has built her own AI-powered hub to manage clients, organise projects and automate parts of her business, saving hours each week.

    What started as an internal system has now evolved into the early stages of a potential SaaS product. Rhianna is passionate about showing other non-technical founders how AI can empower them to build their own tools and unlock new opportunities.

Ollie Sloan and Sam Hadley

How to Adapt to Tomorrow’s Customers

Organic traffic is declining, visibility is becoming more expensive and competitors are racing to the bottom. As customer discovery behaviour continues to evolve, marketers must rethink how they reach and engage audiences.

Ollie and Sam will explore how market conditions are forcing marketers to rethink their strategies and find smarter ways to grow. They will show how both established and challenger brands can strengthen their positioning, adapt to shifting discovery behaviours and compete more effectively in crowded markets.

The duo will explore how AI powered discovery tools are influencing how people search for information and how these emerging environments may create new opportunities for brands to appear earlier in the discovery journey.

This talk focuses on how marketers can adapt their strategies to changing customer behaviour and emerging discovery platforms to stay relevant in 2027.

  • Ollie is Arke’s Head of Strategy, a commercially focused strategist who turns complex data into creative advantage and clarity.

    With 10 years of experience across brand, performance, and analytics, he works shoulder to shoulder with client strategy & delivery teams to align business goals, content/channel planning, and marketing execution. His expertise spans advanced analytics, econometric and behavioural signals, psychographic modelling, audience segmentation, and experimental design. Ollie works across delivery teams to develop data-driven strategies that highlight opportunities and deliver award-winning results for clients.

    Sam is Arke’s resident SEO Specialist, overseeing all things organic search.

    With over five years of experience and a background working with national and international brands across diverse industries, Sam brings fresh ideas and an expert understanding of content optimisation, technical SEO, and emerging AI-driven search strategies.


Tyler Mortimer-Wise

Voices of Tomorrow

This youth panel brings together young people from different jobs and organisations to talk about how we’re adapting to a world shaped by digital change. They’ll share honest stories about what’s worked for them, what’s been challenging, and what they’ve learned along the way.

The session will cover topics like building confidence with new tools, finding good support at work, and learning new skills while on the job. Attendees can ask questions and hear directly from young people about what helps us succeed. It’s a chance to understand youth perspectives on technology, work, and opportunity in a down-to-earth, practical way.

  • Tyler Mortimer-Wise is a youth engagement coordinator and digital platform developer based in Eastbourne. He has worked across several local organisations to help young people build skills and confidence through technology, creativity, and community projects. Tyler leads initiatives that connect young people with real-world digital experiences, from coding and gaming events to online learning platforms. He’s passionate about giving youth a voice in how technology shapes their futures and helping organisations understand how to better involve young people in digital innovation. Alongside his work, Tyler also supports events like gaming festivals and creative workshops that bring technology and community together.

Rhianna Stacey

From Marketing Freelancer to Tech Startup: How I used AI to build my own operations hub

Rhianna is not a developer and has no technical background, yet AI has enabled her to build her own internal tools to run and organise her marketing business, while also opening the door to turning those systems into a potential SaaS product.

In this session, she’ll share how experimenting with AI evolved from simple productivity improvements into building a customised hub that helps her manage clients, streamline workflows and save hours every week. What started as an internal system has even grown into the idea for a SaaS product, pushing her from marketing into the world of building tech.

This talk will show how today’s AI tools are empowering non-technical founders to build surprisingly powerful systems. Attendees will leave with practical ideas, useful tools to explore and a new perspective on what’s possible when you combine business problems with the right AI tools.

  • Rhianna is a media marketing specialist and founder of Roo Media Marketing, where she helps businesses generate business and sales through paid media. She is also the founder of a women’s networking community that supports and connects female entrepreneurs.

    Alongside running her marketing business, Rhianna has been exploring how AI can be used to streamline workflows and solve everyday operational challenges. Despite having no technical background, she has built her own AI-powered hub to manage clients, organise projects and automate parts of her business, saving hours each week.

    What started as an internal system has now evolved into the early stages of a potential SaaS product. Rhianna is passionate about showing other non-technical founders how AI can empower them to build their own tools and unlock new opportunities.

Glenn Chilcott

Future AI: Your Voice Matters!

In keeping with one of the goals of Eastbourne DigiFest 2026 to 'making sense of AI as it becomes part of everyday work', Glenn will facilitate a session on your attitudes and thoughts on AI and where things go from here.

After setting the scene and highlighting recent key developments and challenges, Glenn will lead an audience debate on things that matter most to you: your ideas, concerns or new thinking in the field of AI, use cases, and responsible AI. This is your chance to engage and make your voice heard.

  • Glenn's career encompasses 28 years in corporate IT and change. He has a MBA, MSc, and has just completed a Doctor of Business Administration. His thesis explored responsible AI - involving ethics, governance, and regulation.