Priya Lakhani OBE – Founder, Century TECH

Ambitious and creative entrepreneur
Founder CENTURY Tech (2013-present)
Awarded “Business Entrepreneur of the Year” (2009)

After giving up a career in law to pursue a dream of running her own business, Priya built and sold a successful food brand.

She then established a social enterprise before starting a tech company that brings together AI and education in order to understand how students learn and provide educators with an insight into how to create personalised education.

She tackles themes including what innovation means and how to embed it into a culture, how leaders need to be adaptable especially in times of crisis, and why keeping values at the core of what you do is the best strategy for success.

In presentations, Priya looks at the cutting-edge work her company is carrying out, and the lessons for training and education, as well as companies seeking to innovate and emulate the startup ethos. She speaks about her entrepreneurial experiences, especially as a non-technical person running a tech business, and looks at what innovation is and how to embed it into a culture.

She also tackles leadership, diversity, talent and culture within organisations, looking at how companies need to be adaptable in times of crisis and always keep their values central to everything they do.
Priya serves as a non-Exec DCMS board member and regularly contributes to BBC News.

She also founded a charity alongside her business, iamSOCO (I am socially conscious). By combining her love of good food with her passion for social change and her entrepreneurial spirit, Priya has ensured that for every hot pot of Masala Masala that’s sold, an underprivileged person in India is given a hot meal.

Using her drive and acumen, she moved on in 2012 and to launch her second business, Century Tech, in April 2013. CENTURY, backed by Telefonica and the Cabinet Office, is a learning platform in the UK that utilises data mining techniques to provide a personalised learning experience to students.

A member of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Priya is passionate about using her skills to educate the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs, and advises Vince Cable on enterprise.

She’s also an Advisory Board Member to the Education Foundation, the UK’s leading education think-tank. She received her OBE in 2014 for services to business, community and voluntary initiatives.

She is a regular contributor to BBC News’ and BBC World News’ review of global headlines.

She has also advised a number of education and skills organisations, was named as an Entrepreneur of the Year and in Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35 list, and is the author of Inadequate: The System Failing our Teachers and Your Children.

Priya received the “Asian Achievers Award – Woman of the Year” in 2014, was awarded “Business Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2009, and was named on the “Growing Business Young Guns” list 2009; Management Today’s “35 Women Under 35” and shortlisted for “Young Achiever of the Year” in the Asian Women Awards.

Her enthusiasm and passion is a testament to her determination to succeed and help others to do the best they can.

VINCE CABLE MP Secretary of State for Business