Speaker Biographies
Dan Rodenhurst FREng
Samuel Burrell
Dr Andrii Davydiuk
Claire Fry
Jamie Grive
Captain Bryan McCavour MBE RN
Wing Commander Jason Murray
Barney Gray
James Russell
Noah Sylvia
Joseph Jarnecki
Prerana Joshi
Matthew Savill
Dan Rodenhurst is a senior technology leader with over 25 years’ experience across the security and defence sector. He has led large-scale technology, cloud and digital transformation programmes and organisations in both the public and private sectors.
His teams have delivered technical operations, classified cloud and multi-agency shared services capabilities that support mission-critical, operational and corporate environments.
Dan and his wife have two sons one at and one graduating university. Dexter the dog gets the most attention and you can find them all by and in the sea at any opportunity.
Samuel Burrell is a Partner at Expeditions and Investment Lead for the UK / AUKUS. Samuel is a former officer in the Royal Marines, and still serves as a reservist. He was previously a Senior Investment Partner at the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), a UK government fund focused on investing in national security and defence technologies. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a decade of venture investing experience gained at Octopus Ventures, NKB Group and NSSIF.
Expeditions is investing in the future of security in Europe. We are mission-driven early stage specialists, investing from pre-seed through to Series A. We invest in technologies for national security and defence.
Dr. Andrii Davydiuk is an international policy and cybersecurity professional specializing in cyber diplomacy, governance, and digital resilience. Holding a Ph.D. in Cybersecurity, he bridges technical defense, cognitive warfare, and strategic security governance.
During his tenure at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (2023–2026), Dr. Davydiuk served as Technical Researcher, Head of the Plans & Coordination Branch, and Visiting Scholar. Now he is NATO CCDCOE Ambassador. He shaped strategic initiatives, led projects on cyber counterintelligence and conflict escalation, and co-authored landmark works such as the Cyber Commander’s Handbook 2.0 and Ontological Foundations of Cognitive Warfare.
His career encompasses key leadership roles in Ukraine, including Deputy Branch Head at the State Cyber Protection Centre of SSSCIP and Senior Scientific Researcher at the G.E. Pukhov Institute for Modelling in Energy Engineering National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Recognized among Ukraine’s Top 10 CISOs, he has contributed to NATO Cyber Coalition exercises, CyCon, and lectured at institutions like Tallinn University of Technology and the Baltic Defence College.
With over 100 scientific publications, Dr. Davydiuk’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the Presidential Medal "For Military Service to Ukraine", the Verkhovna Rada Prize for Young Scientists, and the NAS of Ukraine "Talent, Inspiration, Work" medal.
Claire Fry is Director Functional Integration for Defence's Digital & Data Function and served as Interim Chief Defence Information Officer. With more than 25 years' experience in Defence, she has led digital transformation, professional development, governance, and major portfolio delivery, helping drive the integration of digital, data, cyber and AI capabilities across Defence
Jamie is the CTO at IBM SiXworks and CTO for IBM Defence (UK), bringing extensive experience delivering complex technology solutions across multiple government and defence organisations. With nearly two decades of experience designing and implementing secure, mission-critical infrastructure, Jamie has supported some of the UK's most demanding national security, intelligence, and defence environments, helping organisations adopt and exploit technology at scale.
Jamie's approach is grounded in deep engineering expertise and a passion for solving complex technical challenges through innovation. With specialist knowledge spanning cloud technologies, cybersecurity, networking, and enterprise infrastructure, he has led the design and delivery of resilient, secure-by-design platforms that enable organisations to respond rapidly to evolving operational and security requirements.
A recognised technical authority, Jamie combines strategic thinking with hands-on engineering credibility. His expertise covers public, private, and hybrid cloud architectures, advanced networking technologies as a dual Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), and offensive security disciplines through his Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) accreditation. He is passionate about harnessing emerging technologies, modern engineering practices, and innovative architectures to deliver secure, scalable, and transformative capabilities across Defence and National Security.
Captain Bryan McCavour MBE RN is the Royal Navy's Deputy Head of the Information Warfare specialisation and serves as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Information Warfare within Navy Digital. In this role, he leads activity spanning support to operational Information Warfare, digital transformation and development of the Information Warfare profession – with responsibilities across Assured Command and Control, Battlespace Awareness, Integrated Fires and the integration of digital warfighting capabilities into maritime operations.
Commissioned as a Warfare Officer in 2003, Bryan has served at sea in HMS OCEAN, HMS NORTHUMBERLAND and HMS BULWARK, deploying on tasks ranging from maritime security and counter-piracy to high-readiness expeditionary operations. Having specialised as a Naval Intelligence Officer, he has held a series of intelligence, operational and leadership appointments across the Maritime, Joint and Defence environments.
His career has included joint intelligence roles during the Arab Spring and Syrian conflict, service as DACOS N2 in the UK Maritime Battlestaff, mentoring the Ukrainian Navy's intelligence branch, and coordinating Defence CI activity. He later served as ACOS Understand (N2) to the Royal Navy's Commander Strike Force (CSF) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and NATO's maritime response. From 2023, he contributed to the Ministry of Defence's force development and capability strategy work within FinMilCap (FMC).
A graduate of both the Intermediate and Advanced Command and Staff Courses, Bryan was awarded top student and top academic honours, respectively. He was appointed MBE in 2021 for operational and transformation work in Defence Intelligence CI and subsequently received a Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for his contributions to force development and military capability.
His professional interests include geopolitics, military history, military intelligence, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, modern command and control, force design and maritime warfighting.
Barney Gray is Director for UK Government at Viasat, leading engagement across UK Government and Defence customers. He is responsible for developing strategic mission partnerships and supporting the delivery of advanced communications capabilities, including commercial SATCOM, tactical networking, and secure communications solutions.
He joined Inmarsat's Global Government business in 2022 and continued in a series of UK and NATO-focused leadership roles following Viasat's acquisition of Inmarsat in 2023.
Prior to joining Viasat, Barney worked within the UK satellite communications sector delivering commercial connectivity solutions across the media, energy, NGO and private client markets. He is also a former solider with 16 years of service in the Royal Corps of Signals, where he gained extensive operational experience in military communications and satellite-enabled networks.
James Russell is a senior technology leader with more than 20 years’ experience helping complex organisations navigate digital transformation. As Lead Technical Architect for Cloud within the UK Ministry of Defence, he shapes the architecture and governance of hybrid and multi-cloud platforms supporting Defence personnel, from strategic headquarters to deployed and austere environments.
James is particularly interested in how secure, resilient cloud services can be extended beyond traditional data centres and into operational settings. His work focuses on sovereignty, interoperability and the integration of cloud, edge and tactical technologies, enabling commanders and personnel to access trusted information and make informed decisions in challenging and contested environments.
Before joining Defence, James was an IT Director in the education sector, where he led major programmes to modernise legacy technology, strengthen cyber security and introduce identity, access and platform services across organisations in the Southwest. This experience gives him a practical understanding of what it takes to deliver secure technology transformation at scale.
Outside work, James volunteers with the Sea Cadets, supporting young people through training, teamwork, and maritime activities.
He brings a practitioner’s perspective to the conference, combining strategic architecture expertise with a clear focus on delivering cloud capabilities that work where they are needed most.
Joseph is a Research Fellow in cyber threats and cyber security. His research focuses on cyber security capacity building and how advanced technologies pose opportunities and risks to economic security.
Prior to joining RUSI, he worked as a research assistant at King’s College London on projects focusing on practices of democratic oversight and control over intelligence services, as well as on risk and responsibility in cyber security.
Joseph holds an MA in International Conflict Studies from Kings College London’s Department of War Studies, where he studied innovative methodological approaches to analysing cyber security, national cyber security strategies and cybers growing importance to international and data security. His dissertation examined how responsibility for counter-terrorism would be redistributed through the proposed Protect Duty. Joseph also holds a BA in International Relations from King’s College London.
His research interests include UK cyber policy, both foreign and domestic, as well as transnational data security, ransomware, the development of smart cities and the place of the internet in developing democratic and economic participation.
Prerana is a Research Fellow in the Cyber and Tech team. Her research interests include emerging operational technologies straddling national security and defence, the shifting geopolitics of state-sponsored cyber threat actors, and the role of the private sector in cyber and digital diplomacy.
Prior to joining RUSI, Prerana was an Account Manager at two leading UK national security and defence companies (BAE Systems Digital Intelligence and Ultra Intelligence and Communications), responsible for government relationship management and portfolio growth of core accounts. She has experience in engaging a broad range of UK and international stakeholders at varying seniority levels in joint government administrations and private corporation environments across defensive cyber, secure communications in high-threat environments, cyber and electromagnetic activities, and international cyber capacity building. Prior work includes business analyst and cyber threat intelligence analyst roles.
She holds a BA in Geography from Durham University where she focussed on political geography and international security architectures in the Middle East.
Matthew Savill is the Director of Military Sciences at RUSI, focussing on developments and trends in modern conflict, and the use of force in the 21st Century.
Before joining RUSI he spent over 20 years as a civil servant working on defence and security, predominantly in the Ministry of Defence. He joined the MOD in 2003, starting his career in Defence Intelligence as an Iraq analyst before moving to intelligence coordination and support to operations, and later roles in private office, approvals and scrutiny of major procurement projects, before a return to analysis and a secondment to the Cabinet Office.
He has also specialised in strategy and policy, with roles in: Defence Strategy and Priorities, working on the Integrated Review; the MOD’s Operations Directorate, where he was responsible for operational policy for the Middle East and overseas counter-terrorism; the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat, to cover intelligence oversight and then Middle East policy; the MOD team responsible for the deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group in 2021; and operations and crisis team responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His final role in the MOD was responsibility for Special Operations policy, covering oversight of UK Special Forces and intelligence operations.
He attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy Shrivenham in 2010-11, and the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2020, and has a Masters in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He has had articles published in Defence Studies and on The Wavell Room website.
He has deployed on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East for the military campaign against Daesh.
Matthew was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2008.