Mallory Durran is Director of Applied Research, Methods & Technology at Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, where she leads a multidisciplinary function spanning data science, design, engineering, AI, and applied research methods across Nesta’s missions in health, sustainability and the early years. 

Mallory came to Nesta from the heart of UK government. As Interim Director of the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence inside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology she led the engineering team building AI products for the public sector. Before that, in No. 10 and the Cabinet Office, she led data science and innovation teams brining the best avaialble evidence to the most important decisions, brining high calibre innovation fellows to tough pubic sector problems, developed infrastructure like project rAPId, the cross-government open API framework, and contributed to national standard-setting on data, AI safety and digital infrastructure. Her earlier career took in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, 10DS, and a founding-team role at a Canadian behavioural-science startup.

Mallory is a persistent advocate for open, interoperable infrastructure as the foundation of a trustworthy AI-era state and is relentlessly enthusiastic about the power of data and technology to fuel positive change.