Sharon Richardson is Director for AI at Hoare Lea, where she leads the firm’s AI strategy, foresight and governance, helping shape how AI is adopted across design, engineering and the wider organisation. Previously Lead Data + AI Strategist for Central and Southern Europe at Databricks, she advised global organisations on large-scale AI adoption, architecture and aligning technical innovation with business outcomes. Sharon holds a PhD from UCL focused on context-aware decision-making and has a broader career spanning AI, data strategy, research and business transformation.