Cambridge Tech Week has named the first group of speakers for its 2026 programme, with a line-up spanning deep tech, energy, venture capital and public policy.
The event will centre on the theme "How Deep Tech Changes the World" and examine how frontier technologies move from research into wider use. Running across five days in Cambridge, the programme will explore the infrastructure, systems and policy needed to scale these technologies internationally.
Confirmed speakers include Alice Delahunty, President of Electricity Transmission at National Grid; Lucy Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Net Zero; Suranga Chandratillake, General Partner at Balderton Capital; and Tom Adeyoola, Executive Chair of Innovate UK.
The list also includes Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, former Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security and now President of City St George's, University of London; Karen Silverman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Cantellus Group; and Lord Kulveer Ranger, Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for AI.
Others due to appear are Sasha McMurray, Head of Programmes at Deeptech Labs; Tom Wilson, Partner at Seedcamp; Shane Mason, Founder and Director at Strategical; Teemu Turunen, Finnish Ambassador to the United Kingdom; Chengxi Taylor, Co-founder and President of General Reasoning; and Kateryna Bezsudna, Director at TEKEVER Ukraine.
Five themes
The week will be split into five themes: an introduction to the Cambridge innovation ecosystem; a day focused on deep tech infrastructure and global competition; a session on building and growing deep tech companies; specialist discussions on quantum, AI, healthtech and medtech; and a final day focused on collaboration and regional networks.
The structure reflects a broader shift in how the sector is discussed, with attention moving beyond scientific discovery to deployment and scale-up. Cambridge Tech Week's organisers present deep tech as part of the systems layer of modern economies, linking innovation to industrial strategy, investment and public policy.
Cambridge has long been one of the UK's most closely watched technology clusters, with strong ties between university research, venture capital and company formation. The city has produced a wide range of spinouts and start-ups across semiconductors, software, biotech and communications, helping build a reputation that extends well beyond Britain.
The speaker list suggests the event will lean heavily into questions facing governments and investors as AI, quantum and other emerging technologies move closer to commercial deployment. It also points to a wider effort to bring policymakers, founders, backers and infrastructure operators together in one forum.
Energy networks are one part of that discussion. Delahunty's inclusion brings an infrastructure perspective at a time when electricity systems are under growing pressure from data centre demand, industrial electrification and the wider energy transition.
Venture investors and start-up specialists will also feature prominently. Chandratillake and Wilson represent firms with long records in European technology investing, while McMurray's role at Deeptech Labs adds a company-building angle.
Policy is another clear strand. Adeyoola leads Innovate UK, the country's innovation agency, while Finkelstein and Ranger bring experience from national security, higher education and Westminster's AI policy debates.
Organisers' view
Dr Mike Short, Chair of Cambridge Tech Week, said the debate around the sector had changed.
"Cambridge has long been a global centre of scientific discovery, but the conversation has fundamentally shifted. The challenge now is international deployment - how do we invest in and scale transformative technologies responsibly, competitively and fast enough to meet major global challenges?" he said.
The event is also backed by Kadans Science Partner, which is listed as a sponsor.
Katie Nelson, Head of Leasing UK&I at Kadans Science Partner, said: "We are delighted to be supporting Cambridge Tech Week, which provides a unique platform to connect entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and industry leaders shaping the technologies that will define the coming decade. Cambridge continues to demonstrate why it is one of the world's most influential deep tech innovation hubs, and we are proud that our latest development, Merlin Place, sits at the centre of this ecosystem, providing offices, labs and collaboration spaces for innovative companies."
Cambridge Wireless, the not-for-profit membership organisation behind the programme, positions the week as a meeting point for industry, academia and government. The latest speaker announcement underlines that effort, bringing together figures from energy transmission, AI governance, venture investment, diplomacy and applied research.