Katherine is a versatile, accomplished and dynamic executive, entrepreneur, investor and board member who has led disruptive technology companies from start-up through IPO. As the co-founder and COO of Brio Technology, she is considered one of the creators of the Business Intelligence/Data Analytics category and was, incidentally, one of the first women to take her enterprise software company public.

She has applied her multidisciplinary background, intellect and instinct for growth to opportunities as diverse as green-tech scientific instrumentation (AuroraSFC Systems), e-learning software technology, an advanced imaging medical device, cloud-based revenue cycle management for hospitals, and even a leadership role in the software division of Hewlett Packard.

Serving now as an individual investor in more than a dozen portfolio companies, and through her role as a committed mentor/consultant to select founding teams, Katherine effectively bridges “both sides of the table” with compassion and candour. Katherine is energised by the promise of applying appropriate technology to the grand global challenges of our time.

Benny joined Standard Life in 1983 as an actuarial student, later becoming a member of the Standard Life Group Executive Committee in 1996. Between 1997-2005, he was the Chief Executive of Retail Banking at RBS, during which time he oversaw the successful integration of NatWest Retail Banking, one of the largest hostile takeovers ever undertaken in banking. He became Chief Executive, Retail, HBOS in 2006 before joining Tesco Bank as Chief Executive in 2008, a position he held until February 2018.

In September 2017, the Scottish Government approached Benny to develop an implementation plan for the creation of a Scottish National Investment Bank, subsequently appointed as Strategic Adviser to the First Minister on the building of the Scottish National Investment Bank and Chairman of Scottish Government’s Advisory Group on Economic Recovery post COVID19.

Benny holds various Executive/Chairman positions, including Executive Chairman of the Buccleuch Group; Chairman of the National Galleries of Scotland; Chairman of Sistema Scotland and Chairman of Forster Chase Advisory Limited, Non-Executive Chairman, Markerstudy, Non-ExecutiveChairman, AAB Wealth (Anderson Anderson & Brown Wealth), Chairman, The Fine Art Society (London & Edinburgh), Chairman, Edinburgh Fringe Society, Trustee of Burrell Renaissance, Non Executive Director of Arabian Centres and Chairman of Kyckr.

Benny is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He holds various Honorary positions, including Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University and Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University.

David is an active leader in organisational and supply chain resilience. He plays a key role in driving the global agenda helping and ensuring global brands and retailers build resilient supply chains ensuring products are safe, sustainable and socially responsible. His experience has helped shape best practice standards to enable an organisation with the discipline and mechanisms for compliance and continuous improvement.

David is a Managing Director and VP with 30 years of senior executive experience working across 30 countries in the Testing, Inspection & Certification sector supporting the consumer products, agri-food, built environment, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. David is currently the Managing Director of Global Food and Retail Supply Chain at the British Standards Institution. He previously served in senior roles with Intertek, Beta Nutrition, Bureau Veritas, SGS, Elders Agribusiness and Smith Kline.

General Charles C. Krulak served for thirty-five years in the U.S. Marine Corps. His last position was as Commandant of the Marine Corps and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He commanded a platoon and two rifle companies during two tours of duty in Vietnam and then held a variety of command and staff positions. These positions included Deputy Director of the White House Military Office; Commanding General, 6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Commanding General Force Service Support Group during Desert Storm; Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; and Commanding General, Marine Forces Pacific.

General Krulak joined MBNA America Bank as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MBNA Europe Bank, Ltd. After four years in this position, he returned to the United States and served as Vice Chairman, MBNA America Bank as Head of Corporate Development, Mergers and Acquisitions. He serves on the board of ConocoPhillips, Aston Villa and Union Pacific Corporation, as well as many educational and non-profit institutions.

Srin is the former CEO and Co-Founder of Accomable (acquired by Airbnb in 2017), a technology start-up based in London which was the ‘Airbnb / Expedia of Accessible Travel’. Accomable was born from Srin’s own experiences as a wheelchair user and the need to revolutionise this space. After the acquisition, Srin served as Head of Product for the accessibility team for three years. Srin speaks to the many facets of the 8DV ecosystem, from “Day One idea generation” to international exits.

Srin worked as both a geneticist and corporate lawyer at Herbert Smith, completed an MBA at The University of Oxford Said Business School, and taught himself to code (being the lead developer at Accomable for the first year); he understands the entrepreneurial journey first-hand.

Srin serves on the advisory board of Included VC, and is a mentor at The Oxford Foundry and Creative Destruction Lab. As an active angel investor in over a dozen portfolio companies, and part of the Atomico Angel Programme, Srin’s particularly passionate about helping entrepreneurs position themselves from launch to acquisition by maximising their pure potential without sacrificing their core values. He holds a deep love of building solutions to make people’s lives better.

Dr Judith Mohring is a doctor, psychiatrist, coach, therapist and educator with a 25 year career in diverse healthcare settings. She has experience of service development and leadership within the prison service, primary care and private practice mental health. Her particular areas of interest include pandemic mental health, women's mental health, lifestyle medicine and positive psychology. She developed a service for women who self-harm in Holloway Prison between 2006-2010, was lead consultant for primary care liaison services in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 2009-2012 and worked with Priory Group between 2012 and 2021 first as a complex care rehabilitation consultant and later as lead clinician at Priory Wellbeing Centre Fenchurch Street. She was appointed to the Ministry of Justice 2013-2021 serving as a medical member of the mental health tribunal.

She set up her own private practice in 2015 whilst raising a young family. She is an expert in the emerging field of lifestyle psychiatry and evidence-based wellbeing having pioneered this approach in her City and Harley Street practice. She is a skilled facilitator and consults within organisations raising mental health awareness. Recent clients include Goldman Sachs, M&G investments, Northern Trust, Barclays, The Home Office, Latham and Watkins, Hill Dickinson, Teach First and the University of Greenwich. She has delivered over 100 hours of training in pandemic mental health since March 2020. In 2021 she was appointed to the national training committee of the UK Adult ADHD network and as an associate to Cognacity, organisational psychiatry consulting. She graduated from the Universities of London and Cambridge as a Gold Medal finalist (MBBS, MA Cantab, MRCPsych) and is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, American Psychiatric Association and the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Mark Thomson is a seasoned executive with over thirty years of experience across multiple industries including aerospace and defence, technology, and transportation. Mark was appointed in October 2014 as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the transportation solutions group, a $9 billion segment of TE Connectivity, following TE’s acquisition of Measurement Specialties, Inc. 

Prior to his appointment, Mark served as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Measurement Specialties, Inc. Mark held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Allied Aerospace Industries, Inc., a provider of complex engineering solutions for aerospace and defence contractors and government agencies. Mark’s deep experience in mergers and acquisitions has translated into an exceptional record of creating value for public and private-equity organizations, including outperforming in high-growth sectors and turning around underperforming business portfolios.

Baroness Verma is a highly influential global business leader with significant experience in chairing committees both in the private and public sectors. Since entering the House of Lords in 2006, she has held several key Ministerial appointments both in Government and opposition. Highly adept at leading from the front and well versed in strategy development and transformational change Baroness Verma is self-assured, confident, wise in decision making and an expert at team building.

A strong and committed global advocate of diversity and inclusion, Baroness Verma is involved in a wealth of influential initiatives to create a more inclusive society and working environments. She has led from the front specifically on tackling gender and race discriminations, both in her political position and in her many roles on committees. Baroness Verma was the Prime Minister’s Ministerial global champion for tackling violence against women and girls and co-founded Powerful Women, as an energy minister and is Chair of UN Women UK, the national committee of UN Women the only UN organisation that focuses specifically on women and girls.

Baroness Verma has received numerous accolades over the years, as a business leader supportive of tech start-ups, a politician and global champion of rights and access to opportunities. She doesn’t shy away from being forthright and honest but has always embraced the art of cooperative support as the most successful way to achieve results.

Michael was a cherished member of the 8DV team and a cornerstone in our professional and personal lives. He will be remembered for his keen intellect and his unique ability to bring out the very best in others. Generous with his time and entertaining stories, Michael’s legacy will be one of unlimited humanity and optimism. In his time he touched so many lives, hearts and souls ensuring that his voice will be lasting and eternal. He will be sorely missed but remembered with joy by everyone at 8DV and all those who were lucky enough to be touched by his grace.