Poppy Gustafsson OBE
Poppy Gustafsson is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Darktrace plc. Poppy was part of the team of mathematicians, business people and intelligence experts who founded Darktrace in 2013 and brought its AI-powered cybersecurity solutions to market.
Under her leadership, the company has seen significant growth and global expansion, with Darktrace listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. Today Darktrace is a member of the FTSE 250 and is one of the leading technology businesses in the UK. Darktrace now protects over 9,000 customers in 110 countries from cyber disruption and employs over 2,300 colleagues across the world.
Alongside fellow co-founder, Jack Stockdale, Poppy was honoured with an OBE for services to cybersecurity in 2019. She has also won a number of accolades as CEO including Tech CEO of the Year at the UK Tech Awards 2021.
Poppy is a member of the University of Cambridge Library Advisory Board and serves on the advisory committee for the UK Government’s Great Campaign, which aims to drive economic growth by encouraging international audiences to visit, study, trade, invest, live and work in the UK.
Poppy is a chartered accountant and has a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Sheffield. In 2022, she received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Sheffield for her “outstanding achievements in the field of Cyber Security”.