Meet the experts supporting our Hackathon teams

On Friday 13 November, teams from across law, technology, business and academia will come together at Platform, Leeds, to tackle a challenge inspired by the issues and opportunities facing the legal sector.

Throughout the day, they'll have access to a pool of industry experts bringing experience from across the legal, technology and business sectors.

Our experts will be on hand to share their knowledge, offer guidance, answer questions and help teams work through challenges as they develop their ideas. From technical expertise and legal considerations to product development, user experience and commercial thinking, teams will have access to a wide range of perspectives throughout the day.

Here's who will be supporting them.

Ryan McDonough, Head of Software Engineering, Mourant

Ryan leads the development of technology solutions across Mourant's legal, consulting and governance services businesses.

With a background spanning software engineering, legal technology and artificial intelligence, Ryan previously held senior technology leadership roles at KPMG, working on the design and delivery of digital platforms and AI solutions for legal services.

His interests lie in how technology can improve the way lawyers work, particularly where AI, software engineering and legal processes meet. He's interested in moving beyond AI demonstrations to building useful, reliable tools that address genuine problems within legal practice.

Outside his day job, Ryan writes about legal technology, AI governance and the practical challenges of introducing emerging technologies into professional services. He also develops his own software projects, exploring ideas around AI, knowledge management and human oversight.

Rune Rasmussen, Independent Regulatory Compliance and Analytics Consultant

Rune has more than 20 years' experience in financial services, specialising in financial crime compliance, market abuse regulation and sanctions implementation across the UK, EU and North America. His work focuses on resolving legal and compliance issues through efficient technical solutions.

A Chartered IT Professional, Rune has edited and co-authored a book about data analysis. His academic background includes master's degrees in law and computing, alongside bachelor's degrees in mathematics, statistics and computer science.

He has also been the lead developer for multiple vocational qualifications at undergraduate and postgraduate level in data science and AI, authorised and registered by Ofqual.

Charlie Bartle, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Zygens

Charlie is a founder and transformation leader with expertise across operations, the client journey, product innovation and development, sector-focused AI developments, and talent attraction and development.

Previously CEO of software development business Decodifi, Charlie led its turnaround and transition into an AI-native development consultancy. She has hands-on experience designing and delivering people-first agentic AI systems for enterprise clients.

Earlier in her career, Charlie founded multiple recruitment and consultancy businesses, including James Wilcockson Associates and executive search firm Matthew Ericsson.

In 2025, she won the Digital Award at the Yorkshire Businesswoman Awards.

Thato Mashishi, Head of Corporate, Haddletons

Thato is Head of Corporate at Haddletons, with areas of focus including general corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, and data protection.

Thato holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), a Master of Laws (LLM) in corporate law and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Taxation.

Simon Doy, Chief Executive Officer, iThink 365

Simon is a recognised Microsoft MVP in Copilot Extensibility and Microsoft 365 Development, an award held by only 100 professionals worldwide.

He has spent more than 20 years helping organisations change the way they work and specialises in building agentic solutions with Microsoft AI technologies.

Simon is looking forward to meeting new people, seeing the ideas they want to bring to life and helping teams strengthen their thinking.

Zoltan Orban, Senior Power Platform Engineer, iThink 365

Zoltan designs and builds AI-powered business solutions across Power Platform, Copilot Studio and Microsoft Fabric, and is an active voice in the global Microsoft community.

He enjoys helping teams bridge low-code and pro-code approaches and is looking forward to seeing how teams use AI to build something impactful in a short space of time.

"Hackathons provide a unique opportunity to learn from one another, share knowledge, experiment with new ideas, and build something impactful in a short amount of time."

Jiayi Chen, Senior Product Designer

Jiayi has more than seven years' experience in digital product design, specialising in digital banking. She has led major design initiatives and delivered product experiences across multiple markets.

Her work focuses on UX strategy and evidence-led product decision-making, balancing customer needs, business priorities and technical constraints.

Beyond her professional role, Jiayi is a mentor with the Sheffield Digital Mentoring Scheme and ADPList. She also led a workshop at Leeds Digital Festival focused on designers' professional development.

Eric Mathews, AI Solutions Lead, Katchr

Eric is the AI Solutions Lead at Katchr and a former Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate.

During his KTP, he explored how forecasting and other machine learning techniques could enhance business intelligence in the legal sector. He now builds on that work to bring those ideas into Katchr's live product.

Eric has been exploring AI since 2018 and is passionate about turning AI technology into practical tools that make people's lives easier.

"What I love about hackathons is seeing people with different skills and perspectives come together to bring an idea to life. I’m looking forward to supporting teams as they explore where AI can add real value, think through their ideas and develop practical solutions to challenges in the legal sector."

Christian Newsome, Director, Digital 575

Christian has more than 20 years' experience delivering projects in the private and public sectors.

During that time, he has been the principal engagement and delivery lead at a national level, working with clients to ensure the successful delivery of projects.

Chris Murray, Founder, Chancery AI

Chris is the founder of Chancery AI and Chancery Labs, with more than 15 years' experience in technology and security across financial services, legal, and central and local government.

In 2018, he co-founded a cyber security consultancy, which was acquired by and integrated into Simpson Associates in 2021.

His work brings together his interest in the positive impact of AI, his commercial experience identifying business opportunities and his security expertise, with a focus on ensuring AI is used safely, ethically and compliantly.

He is passionate about helping businesses across the UK adopt AI, particularly through upskilling business owners and their teams so they can use emerging technologies with confidence.

Supporting teams throughout the day

One of the key elements of the Hackathon is the opportunity to learn from people with different backgrounds, skills and experiences.

Our industry experts will be available throughout the day, working with teams to explore ideas, share specialist knowledge and offer practical guidance as they develop their solutions.

Whether that's understanding the legal and regulatory implications of an idea, exploring how AI or software could support a solution, thinking through the user experience or considering how a concept might work in practice, our industry experts will help teams draw on expertise beyond their own.

A huge thank you to all ten industry experts for giving their time and bringing such a fantastic breadth of knowledge, experience and insight to share with our Hackathon teams. We're delighted to have you involved.

About the Hackathon

Our hackathon is a one-day innovation event where teams from across law and tech work together to tackle a challenge facing the legal sector, then pitch their idea to a panel of judges. It takes place on Friday 13 November 2026, 8:30am to 6:30pm, at Platform, Leeds, in partnership with Bruntwood SciTech. It is supported by sponsors Pinsent Masons and iThink 365, and collaborator Lovable.