Francine Bennett

Francine Bennett is a data and AI expert, with a background in building new products and services with data and using AI/ML. Her experiences include being an early Google employee, founding and growing a machine learning startup, advising government entities on how to use data better, and running data and AI teams at a drug discovery scale-up.

Most recently, she was interim Director and is a current Board member of the Ada Lovelace Institute, a Nuffield Foundation funded organisation which seeks to make AI and data work for people and society. In that role, she has been a central part of the UK and international AI governance conversation, including joining the Bletchley Summit and appearing in media including R4 Today and BBC TV. She is a standing member of the Gambling Commission’s Data Advisory Panel. She was also a founding trustee of DataKind UK, which provides pro bono data science support to UK charities, and a board member of Bethnal Green Ventures.

She has been an invited speaker and advisor on data and AI topics for organisations including the Royal Society, the Economist, and the UN.

Chair of the Digital Portfolio Committee.

Appointed on 1 October 2025. First 4-year term expires on 30 September 2029.