Hi, I'm Steph Locke
About me
Hi, I’m Steph Locke, a creator of great teams, meaningful products, and impactful services through inclusive leadership and expertise in the fundamentals and the cutting-edge of technology.
With a career spanning over a decade, I have consistently made a difference through the teams I build and the products and services we create. My journey began with startups and evolved through significant roles at Microsoft, where I honed my inclusive leadership skills and deep technical acumen. I am passionate about driving digital transformation and leveraging AI to create innovative solutions that align with core priorities.
Currently, I serve as the Chair at Nightingale HQ, where I oversee governance and compliance, and advise on AI products that assist manufacturers in achieving Net Zero emissions. Prior to this, I led a team of pre-sales engineers at Microsoft, developing AI applications and modernisation solutions for the UK’s largest organisations. My leadership expanded the team from 7 to 15 members in just eight months, ensuring high performance and diversity.
As the CEO of Nightingale HQ, I created and grew a startup focused on digital transformation programmes and no-code AI-driven process products for the manufacturing space. My efforts led to the development of a SaaS platform and AI-powered tools used by over 100 organisations. I also served as the CEO of Locke Data, where I supported organisations in delivering data science programmes and contributed to open-source initiatives.
Throughout my career, I have been a trusted advisor and thought leader, providing training and services to prestigious institutions like Microsoft, Cambridge University, and Cancer Research UK. My contributions to the field have been recognized with awards such as CEO of the Year from Welsh SME Business Awards and Most Innovative Woman in AI - UK from AI Influential Businesswoman Awards.
I am committed to fostering an inclusive culture and driving impactful change through technology. Let’s connect and explore how we can create meaningful products and services together.
- Leadership
- Strategy
- Product design
- AI
- Data
- Software Engineering
- Cloud
Key roles
Leader of technical teams for UK Enterprise Digital & App Innovation customers
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Microsoft
March 2022 - April 2025
Leader, Pre-sales engineering for UK Enterprise
Led a team of 15 pre-sales engineers in developing AI applications and modernisation solutions using the Microsoft technology stack for the UK’s largest organisations. Collaborated cross-functionally and across geographies with various levels of leadership to design and implement strategic sales initiatives and optimise internal processes. Served as a technical expert on AI and application topics for my team, key customers, and the broader technical community.
Manager, Customer Success for UK Industrials
Led a team of 18 cloud solution architects in designing and implementing intelligent applications and software projects. Collaborated with the UK Digital & App Innovation leadership team to transition enterprise projects to delivery, optimising customer use of their teams, partners, and Microsoft tech stack.
Chair
Acting in a governance and oversight role for Nightingale HQ, helping it transition to a primarily services business supporting manufacturers in their digital transformation and data journeys.
CEO
Created and grew a startup building digital transformation programmes and no-code AI-driven process products for the manufacturing space. Led the team and drove the technology strategy and implementation, as well as collaborating with customers, VCs, etc. to communicate our vision and deliver impact.
Grew a boutique, international consultancy, supporting organisations in delivering data science programmes. Assisting with everything from defining strategy and governance, through to productionising and scaling machine learning models.
Support governance and compliance for the cofnrence brand SQL Saturday
Lead Data Scientist / Principal Consultant / BI & Risk Analytics Developer / Sr. BI Analyst / BI Analyst / BI Developer / Product Analyst
Censornet / Mango Solutions / Optimum Credit / Nemo Personal Finance / Confused.com
Building and scaling data and data science capabilities for a variety of organisations directly, or as customers.
Key learning experiences
BA in Philosophy
Cardiff UniversityMicrosoft certifications
MicrosoftMicrosoft Certified Trainer, Azure Solutions Architecture Expert, Data Analyst Associate, Azure Data Engineer Associate, Azure Data Scientist Associate, Azure AI Engineer Associate, Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer
Ways I've given back
R
Data
Fundamentals of R
Written books to help people get started with R
R
Data Science
Data Engineering
DataOps
Blogging
Over the years I've blogged extensively on technical topics
R
Data Science
Data Engineering
DataOps
Conferences
Created and supported tech community run conference brands like SatRdays, SQL Saturday, SQL Relay, and DataOpticon
R
Python
Bicep
Open source code
I'm proud of my open source work over the years and try to incoporate it into every role
How to get in touch
Please feel free to reach out to me via email or connect with me on LinkedIn. I am always open to discussing new opportunities, collaborations, or just having a chat about technology and leadership.