David is Chairman of SparkBeyond, an innovative AI based research engine and is also the University Entrepreneur in Residence at Arizona State University (ranked by US News & World Report as No 1 on its Most Innovative Schools index) – where he also launched the REMOTE conferences for connected faculty and connected teachers. David has spent the last 20 years as the CEO of four companies - leading them through cycles of innovation, business -model evolution, geographic reorientation and cultural renewal. He has had a wide leadership experience across tech and media sectors - running two public and two private companies; two media and two technology companies. David has run businesses with significant footprints in, among others, the USA, the UK, France, China, India and the Gulf. As CEO of McGraw-Hill Education (2014-17) he led the development of digital offerings and built an engineering product/services team combining psychology and AI. As CEO of UBM plc (2005-14) he built its global events and exhibitions business, launching in India, across ASEAN and building in China and the USA. As CEO of Symbian Ltd (2002-05) he led the development of the first smartphone OS in a company co-owned by the major handset manufacturers, supporting the first 100 million handsets. As CEO of Psion plc (1998-2002) he led through the tech bubble, repositioning the firm around the ‘mobile internet’. Before his years as a CEO, David spent 4 years as the CFO and COO of the international Publisher Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, 4 years with the Private Equity group Apax and 5 years with Bain & Company. David was educated at Oxford University (BA – PPE) and Stanford University (MBA). ​