Senior leadership team

Clare Barclay

Clare is Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft UK where she is responsible for all of Microsoft's product and service offerings in the UK and for supporting the success of our commercial customers and partners. With nearly three decades in the IT industry, Clare has a deep passion for diversity and inclusion and for helping young people succeed in tech careers across the sector.

Prior to October 2020, Clare was Microsoft UK's Chief Operating Officer for four years where she orchestrated the direction and success of the sales, marketing and services resources in each of Microsoft UK's business groups. In this role she also led strategy and planning for the UK subsidiary, while overseeing the central marketing function for the subsidiary.

With nearly three decades in the IT industry, most of them in diverse roles across Microsoft, Clare was previously General Manager of the Small, Medium Enterprise & Partner Group at Microsoft UK. In this role she led a team driving sales and marketing efforts, and providing comprehensive solutions for small to medium-sized businesses and Microsoft's partner community.

Before joining Microsoft, Clare held many business development and marketing related roles within the IT and distribution channel.

In 2019, Clare was appointed to the Advisory Council of the British Heart Foundation. She is also a member of the CBI's President's Committee and Prime Minister's Business Council. Clare lives in London with her husband and two young sons.

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Alan Lewis

A leader who consistently delivers business growth through ambitious strategies, creating talented teams, being personally curious and motivated to do the right thing.

Alan establishes clear strategies and plans to focus on business performance using his experience of 10 years in manufacturing operations alongside his 15 years consulting experience to work on solving the sector's biggest strategic challenges.

Alan has invested in developing senior relationships across Government and is well known for his ability to bring constructive challenge to solve complex problems. Customers seek him out for support as he can draw on a combination of deep sector knowledge, navigating commercial and procurement considerations and an ability to shape client requirements.

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Chris Perkins

Chris leads the Enterprise Commercial business at Microsoft, supporting the UK's largest companies to achieve more with cloud technology, data and AI. Chris was appointed General Manager of Enterprise Commercial on October 1st 2021, drawing on 25 years of experience in customer facing leadership roles at Microsoft and IBM. Chris was previously the General Manager for Microsoft's UK Public Sector business, engaging with a deep sense of purpose to transform public services, in particular supporting the government's response to the pandemic across government, healthcare and education.

As a member of the UK SLT, Chris is the Executive Sponsor for Microsoft's UK Digital Skills programme, with a commitment to ensure that everyone, no matter their background or circumstance has access to inclusive technology, skills and the opportunity to succeed. Chris is an empathetic leader and has a passion for supporting others. He is the Executive Sponsor for both the Disability and Military Employee Resource Groups at Microsoft, fostering an environment where people can truly come as they are and do what they love.

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Claire Logan

As HR Director, Claire helps drive the outstanding business impact, cultural transformation, and growth of Microsoft in the UK. She partners very closely with colleagues to develop and drive the people strategy across the UK GEO. She spends time with senior leaders to shape their thinking, provide coaching and drive even greater ambition into Microsoft's people agenda.

Previously, Claire was Partner at PA Consulting where she advised public and private sector senior leaders on how to respond to the new demands of the changing world of work. She specialises in pragmatic people solutions to transform the way organisations work and grow. She is passionate about building diverse teams where all colleagues can authentically bring themselves to work and thrive!

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Daniel Langton

Daniel is currently Chief of Staff and Strategy Lead to Microsoft UK CEO Clare Barclay. His remit includes leading the executive office and growth strategy for the UK, along with Microsoft's National Transformation Plan which has skills and societal impact at its heart. Over his 15-year Microsoft career Daniel has undertaken a variety of strategy, development and customer roles most recently leading Customer Experience for the organisation, with a strong passion for digital technologies and customer value.

Daniel holds a BA Hons in Marketing, is CIM qualified and sits as a Trustee for the Workforce Development Trust, whose charitable mission includes driving skills to transform public sector jobs and lives. He is also an advisor to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and sits on the Business and Economic Growth Council providing insight into the technology industry. Outside of work Daniel has a passion for travel and culture having visited over 100 countries of the world and is writing a book on business culture.

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Derrick McCourt

As General Manager of Microsoft UK's Customer Success Unit (CSU), Derrick leads the organisation responsible for enabling Microsoft's largest Enterprise Customers on their journey to embrace Digital Transformation. Core to the CSU mission is to deliver a differentiated, connected customer experience that spans the entire customer lifecycle as we look to delight our customers and exceed expectations across every touchpoint.

Over the last three years, the Customer Success Unit has grown into a 600 people strong organisation, representing a diverse mix of technical, change management and support delivery skills and experiences. Together, these teams are working with some of the world's best-known brands and the UK's largest Public Sector organisations to modernise and transform their organisation.

Since joining Microsoft in 2001, Derrick has held multiple leadership roles in the UK as well as internationally.

He is the executive sponsor of Microsoft UK's Diversity and Inclusion agenda. Driven by his passion to empower people of all ages, skills and abilities in a technology-driven world, Derrick has played a leading role in Microsoft's strategic digital skills initiatives such as the strategic partnership with the South Central Institute of Technology based at Bletchley Park, and the academic startup project, University Academy 92 in Manchester, where he established Microsoft's new Greater Manchester campus. In addition, he is the executive sponsor of the strategic partnership between the England and Wales Cricket Board and Microsoft.

Outside of Microsoft, Derrick is a board member at SICCAR and a member of the Fitzroy Board of Trustees, a charity with the mission to transform lives by supporting people with learning disabilities to lead the lives they choose. He is a keen marathon runner and after completing the likes of Barcelona, Berlin, Edinburgh, London and New York, he is aiming to complete the Abbot 6 Majors.

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Hugh Milward

Hugh Milward leads Corporate, External and Legal for Microsoft in the UK, with a seat on the UK leadership team. His focus includes work to help organisations overcome legal and regulatory hurdles to their technology adoption and transformation, managing some of the complex geo-political issues relating to tech, and working to ensure no one is left behind from the onward march of technology. Hugh's background is in politics, corporate affairs and reputation management, working for some of the world's most high-profile brands including Starbucks and McDonald's. He is passionate about the interrelationship of society and technology. Hugh is a Board Director of the New West End Company, Chairing its Public Affairs committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of BritishAmerican Business. Hugh sits on the SE Council of the CBI and on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Coding.

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Jas Brar

Jas has 20 years' professional experience, including a 15-year tenure with Microsoft that has spanned 6 roles and 3 geographies. Before his current position of UK CFO, Jas became familiar with the UK market through his role as Commercial Finance Director. He has previously held the role of CFO at Microsoft Belgium and Luxembourg, also working in the Netherlands as FP&A Group Controller. The early phase of his Microsoft Finance career was spent within the Consumer business, supporting Xbox and Surface. Before that, Jas worked for UBS in the financial services industry amidst the credit crunch, then followed his passion and entered the technology sector. He is a qualified CIMA accountant and holds a degree in Accounting & Finance from Liverpool University.

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Olaf Akkerman

As a member of the Microsoft UK Senior Leadership Team, Olaf leads Microsoft's retail and consumer goods organisation. His team's mission is to enable retail and consumer goods customers to harness the power of technology to accelerate transformation and create a lasting and sustainable impact on their customers and stakeholders.

As the driving force of our economy, the impact of this industry on our daily lives is apparent. The effect of technology on the way we shop, operate and produce goods in a sustainable manner has never been more profound than it is today. Olaf's team is committed to supporting their customers on this dynamic transformation journey.

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Olaf has held various senior leadership roles across several market-leading organisations, including Insight and Rackspace Technology. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons and holds a deep passion for the county of Cornwall.

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Orla McGrath

Orla joined Microsoft in March 2021 to lead the commercial partner organisation. Joining us from our close partner Accenture where, over the past decade, she has been at the forefront of building their software as a service business through her leadership roles of the Cloud First Applications business and most recently, leading the Salesforce Business for the UK and Ireland.

Orla has spent over 25 years in the technology consulting sector and is a passionate believer in ecosystem partnerships and believes those companies that will thrive in our tech sector will be those that partner most effectively, shaping unique and differentiated propositions for the benefit of their clients.

Having been the Diversity and Inclusion Representative for Europe at the Accenture Technology business, Orla is keen to keep driving a more inclusive workplace where diversity can thrive.

Born and raised in Ireland, Orla has made London her home for the past 20 years with her family. She loves keeping fit outdoors, running, hiking and cycling and focusing on the wellbeing of family, friends and employees.

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Richard Ellis

Richard is responsible for the UK subsidiary's Small, Medium and Corporate segment, focusing on helping customers and partners of all sizes leverage Microsoft technologies to drive digital transformation across four solution areas - Modern Workplace, Business Applications, Apps & Infrastructure, and Data & AI.

Richard joined Microsoft in April 2012 with Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer. Upon joining, Richard led the Microsoft 365 Enterprise sales teams, working with the UK's largest commercial customers, and then latterly moving to lead the Microsoft business group for the entire subsidiary across commercial and consumer segments.

Richard is actively involved in the subsidiary's work on diversity and inclusion, aiming to make Microsoft UK's culture the most inclusive possible, to help foster a culture whereby everyone can thrive. He is the Executive Sponsor of Microsoft's Women@Microsoft Employee Resource Group and sits on the Board of The WIT Network.

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Soraya Scott

Soraya leads the Marketing and Operations team in the UK. She enjoys building strong, high performing and multi-disciplined teams to help our customers, partners and people achieve more. Previously, Soraya was Chief of Staff for Jean-Phillipe Courtois. Here, she led strategic initiatives to drive cloud acceleration, enabling adoption to every customer, industry and country around the world.

Prior to this Soraya was the Head of Solution Sales in Australia and held many leadership roles across our commercial, public sector and services businesses. Soraya also brings strong global experience, as well as leadership expertise through initiatives such as Cloud and AI Country Plan.

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Theo Michalopoulos

Theo leads Microsoft's work with the Financial Services Industry in the UK, helping banks, insurance, investment and capital market customers transform their businesses with technology. He partners with some of the UK's biggest businesses to help them drive sustainable growth, empower their people and unlock value. He took on this role in July 2023.

Before joining Microsoft UK, Theo was the General Manager of Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Under his leadership, the region secured investment in a data centre, rolled out an ambitious digital skills training programme and restored Ancient Olympia - digitally - in a one-of-a-kind cultural heritage programme.

An optimist by nature, Theo is a firm believer that technology can help solve some of the biggest business, and societal, challenges we all face. He is an advocate for a responsible use of emerging technologies, like generative AI, and a champion for the opportunities they are creating.

Outside of work, Theo likes to read, travel, play basketball and - even though he has relocated to the UK - he still keeps track of his favourite football team, PAOK FC.

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Tosca Maria Colangeli

Tosca was appointed by Microsoft UK in January 2023 as General Manager Solutions. Tosca's career has been founded on driving value with customers through technology and was former President of Kyndryl UK and Ireland the new publicly traded Global Technology spinout of IBM and the first female president for Kyndryl globally. A veteran technology leader with more than three decades in the Industry working at IBM for 27 years in Global, European and Country Leadership roles. Tosca was also the first female to lead IBM's Systems and Technology Group and has a depth of leadership and solutions capability.

Tosca is a passionate champion of Diversity and Inclusion engaging the next generation in tech and has been an active supporter of Graduate, Future Leaders and Apprenticeship schemes. Externally, she is an executive's supporter of the #YesSheCan movement, to inspire women in their careers and empower them to overcome their barriers. She works as part of the Technology Leadership Group for The Princes Trust supporting their digital employability skills programs - which ensures people are developing the right skills for a digital economy. Tosca supported the LGBTQI+ Community through her role as IBM's UK Executive Straight Ally and launched the Community Carers initiative at Kyndryl. For UK & Ireland, Tosca spearheaded the launch of the mental health first aiders in order to raise awareness of, and support mental health in the workplace.

Tosca has a Business and Technology Diploma sponsored by the Medical Oncology Research Council. A dual British and Italian Citizen, Tosca has two children and two golden retrievers and enjoys relaxing in Italy. Tosca's ambition and drive were evident from a young age, when she successfully represented England in the show jumping and Working Hunter Pony Team.

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