Sian Thomas

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Chief Data Officer Department for Business and Trade

Sian is the Chief Data Officer at the Department for Business and Trade. She joined the Department for International Trade (precursor department) while the UK was preparing to leave the EU. She leads Data Services at the Department in addition to Employee Experience. In 2020 Sian led work to create the UK tariff while the UK was negotiating its exit. This, and other voluntary work, resulted in Sian being awarded and MBE for Public Service. Prior to working in Trade, Sian led the Data, Information Governance and Security teams at the Food Standards Agency. Working on the Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme and using Social Media to predict outbreaks of Norovirus - a system that is still in use. Prior to joining government Sian worked in the food industry and has a PhD (Manchester) and a BSc (Cardiff). In her spare time Sian enjoys managing athletics and other types of volunteering.

Bio from: Big Data LDN 2025

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From Tools to Collaborators: Shaping a Successful Team Culture for Agentic AI

2025-09-24 · Big Data LDN 2025

Face To Face

with Sian Thomas (Department for Business and Trade) , Elisa Sai (Capgemini) , Morgan Rees (Capgemini) , Emily Ball (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) , Aimee Reed (Metropolitan Police Service)

AI/ML

Agentic AI is developing fast. Agents are not just a tool; they are learning, adapting, and making decisions alongside us. Integrating Agents into teams is not just a technical challenge, it’s a cultural one. Teams need the space to experiment, the confidence to trust AI where it helps, and the right conditions to learn together. When adoption is thoughtful and inclusive, agentic AI can become a powerful extension of how teams think, decide, and deliver.