A professional body in development |Help shape BPAI
BPAI - British Practitioners of Artificial Intelligence

ABOUT BPAI / PEOPLE, PURPOSE & PRACTICE

Built by practitioners.
Focused on
real-world results.

A professional home for the people putting AI to work — and a clearer basis for trust for the businesses they serve.

Meet our founding team

01 / WHY WE’RE HERE

Less hype.
More confidence.

The promise of AI is everywhere. Reliable, responsible delivery takes more than a promise.

Practitioners need a community where they can share what works, challenge weak practice and develop their skills. Clients need a clearer way to recognise people with relevant experience, sound judgement and the ability to deliver.

BPAI is being built to bridge that gap: championing practical AI across the UK, supporting the people doing the work and helping businesses make better-informed choices.

02 / THE PEOPLE BEHIND BPAI

Our founding team

Three complementary perspectives.
One shared ambition for a stronger, more trusted profession.

Mark WinsburyFOUNDING TEAM / 01

Mark Winsbury

Business transformation & value creation

Mark brings two decades of transformation and turnaround experience, including CTO, COO, CEO and Chair roles. His work spans operational improvement, post-merger integration and strategic change. He holds an MBA and a degree in Mathematics & Computing, and is an accredited member of the Institute for Turnaround.

What Mark brings to BPAI

A commercial perspective on BPAI’s direction: connecting professional practice with measurable business outcomes.

Joe WrightFOUNDING TEAM / 02

Joe Wright

AI, data & business intelligence

Joe leads AI and data strategy at Acorn Transformation Partners. With a background in IT and commercial analysis, he works across data management, analytics and systems integration. His experience spans manufacturing, logistics, retail and healthcare, connecting technical capability with business needs.

What Joe brings to BPAI

Practical AI and data expertise to inform shared learning and the proposed evidence-led assessment framework.

James PlesterFOUNDING TEAM / 03

James Plester

Digital operations & e-commerce

James specialises in e-commerce and digital operations at Acorn Transformation Partners. He brings 15 years of experience across management, marketing, social media strategy and technical engineering. His work combines data-informed decision-making with hands-on problem solving for commercial and operational challenges.

What James brings to BPAI

A delivery-focused perspective on member resources and the realities of putting AI into everyday business workflows.

Founding team and founding members are different. The team above is building BPAI. Founding members will be the first people to join when membership opens; an expression of interest does not confer membership.

Professional backgrounds & photographs: ATP

03 / WHAT WE STAND FOR

Trust, made practical.

Principles that guide what we are building — and the professional practice we want to encourage.

Practical results

Start with the business problem. Define useful outcomes, measure what changes and be honest about limitations.

Evidence of competence

Build trust through relevant experience, delivery evidence and professional judgement. Membership alone is not proof of capability.

Responsible data handling

Respect permissions and confidentiality. Use proportionate data, appropriate security and meaningful human oversight.

Independence from suppliers

Choose tools for the task. Keep commercial relationships transparent and separate sponsorship from assessment decisions.

04 / WHAT WE’RE BUILDING

A clear starting point.
An ambitious next step.

We are in the founding phase. Here is what exists today and what still needs to be developed.

TODAY

A team and an open invitation

Our founding team is bringing BPAI’s purpose and proposed offer together. Expressions of interest are open for practitioners, businesses and potential partners to help shape the next steps.

Join the founding conversation
IN DEVELOPMENT

Membership & shared learning

A practitioner community, peer discussions, practical resources and continuing development. Benefits, eligibility and fees are still to be agreed; formal membership is not yet open.

PROPOSED

An evidence-led assessment

A separate pathway reviewing delivery experience, client evidence and professional judgement. Criteria, assessors, governance and appeals must be tested before launch. There is no live assessed directory.

Explore the proposed framework

Membership would not confer assessed status. BPAI does not claim chartered, statutory or externally accredited status.

05 / WHERE WE’RE GOING

The road to launch.

Progress will follow readiness, not a promised date. Each stage builds the foundations for the next.

  1. 01 / CURRENT FOCUS

    Listen & shape

    Gather interest from practitioners and clients. Refine the member offer and the needs it should meet.

  2. 02 / PLANNED

    Establish foundations

    Confirm legal structure, governance, the code of practice and a sustainable membership model.

  3. 03 / PLANNED

    Test the standard

    Pilot assessment criteria, assessor training, conflict controls and an independent appeal route.

  4. 04 / SUBJECT TO READINESS

    Launch & improve

    Open membership and shared learning when ready. Introduce assessed status and a directory only once the framework is established.

BE PART OF WHAT COMES NEXT

Help shape BPAI.

Interested in becoming a founding member? Tell us what a trustworthy professional community should deliver for you.

Express founding-member interest

Free to register. No commitment to join.