About Innovation DB

Gerald Law, Chief Executive

Dr Gerald Law, Chief Executive, studied at London Business School, following a PhD (D.Phil) from Oxford University, where he also held a research post and where he still sits on his old faculty’s external advisory board. Gerald has worked in banking for a Paribas subsidiary, management consulting with a global US strategy house, and has been involved in several start-up businesses, including successfully raising funds, acquiring assets and exiting via trade sale.

Gerald was also invited to help the STFC commercialise its science and founded the UK Innovation Forum in 2009, launching in 2010, which grew and developed and finally was renamed as Innovation DB, following the international expansion of the company’s activities.

Gerald is a recognised speaker in a variety of emerging technology, academic-industrial liaison conferences across Europe, including BioFIT, the Advanced Engineering Show, Pharma Integrates, Lab Innovations, GSTIC and others. He also sits on the investment committee of a London-based Venture Capital fund.

Kajsa Law, CTO

Dr Kajsa Law has a Master’s in Physics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and a PhD in statistical physics from Imperial College London. She spent 12 years at Morgan Stanley, finishing as VP in their Global Core Data team. At Morgan Stanley she provided business analysis and solutions for architecture flow and control visualisation and the representation of control meta-data for the bank worldwide, before joining Innovation DB as its CTO.

Kajsa has designed the existing Innovation DB database and managed the team of developers, as well developing aspects directly herself. With her extensive and senior experience at Morgan Stanley, she brings best in class processes, as well as personal skills in coding and data management, to the company.

Ahmed Eshwihdi, Chief Data Scientist

With a Ph.D. from University College London (UCL), Ahmed boasts over 15 years of experience in the realm of data analytics, encompassing Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Enterprise Data Warehousing, Forecasting and Visualisation. This experience spans multiple sectors, such as finance, e-commerce, retail, real estate, and energy. As a data-centric product owner, Ahmed's core objective for Innovation DB is delivering a holistic solution that combines the complex set of techniques required to deliver the product needed by our clients, within the framework created by our CTO, Kajsa.

Paul Liptrot, Commercial Director

Paul Liptrot has an Degree in Business Information Systems from the University of Hull, with masters studies also at the Babson Business School in Harvard and the Thunderbird International Leadership School in Arizona. He started his career in the technology industry over 30 years ago with ICL/Fujitsu before moving on to spend 20 years with EDS and HP and more recently IBM, holding roles in the United States, across Europe and the Middle East.

A passionate advocate of Open Innovation, Paul’s focus has been on developing and negotiating innovative and complex commercial agreements, helping organisations to harness technology, improve performance and create shareholder value. An early investor in Innovation DB, Paul helps shape our commercial relationships with partners and offerings to our customers.

Neil Sexton, Global Head, Defence

Major General Neil Sexton, CB, retired from the British Army in 2022, having been the professional head of Army aviation and, in his last role, the Army’s Director of Engagement and Communications. A military helicopter pilot since 1991, he has a Master’s degree in Defence Technology from Cranfield University, is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Alongside numerous overseas operational tours, Neil has 7 years' experience working in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2021.

Since leaving the Army Neil has been providing aviation and communications consultancy within the defence industry, with the National Police Chiefs Council and for the UK Armed Forces. He remains on the MOD’s Defence Opinion Leaders list and is ideally placed to develop business relationships between Innovation DB and defence sector customers worldwide.

Kiran Rana Khunti, CEO India

Entrepreneur and Innovation thought leader Kiran heads Innovation DB in India. Born in Gujarat in India, he came to the UK as a child. In an impressive careeer, he has amassed over 25 years’ experience in business growth and development, from start ups to FMCG companies.

In conjunction with the Indian Government, his goal is to create programmes that will help participating companies across all sectors with research and development needs, by combining IDB's database and platform with forums and community inclusion, fully supported by Dr Gerald Law (CEO) and IDB's international team.

With his team, Kiran also hopes to involve both SMEs and Universities and Research Institutes in India to play a larger role in the global innovation ecosystem.

Chris Shipley, Legal Counsel

Chris is a seasoned solicitor specialising in corporate and commercial law, transacting more than 300 trade sales and take overs during his career. For 12 years he was the Senior Partner running a major regional legal practice, with customers for whom he acted across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. As our Company Secretary, his focus is on corporate administration and settling contracts for the Company, and all other legal matters affecting the business. He lived in the USA in the early part of his career and added an MBA from Boston University to his law degree from the UK.