Steve Maclaren

Chief Operating Officer at the National Robotarium

Steve Maclaren is Chief Operating Officer of The National Robotarium. Since taking up the role in April 2022, he has been responsible for the successful operation of the facility, including spearheading its digital capabilities and technologies, and managing the centre’s finances, supply chains and procurement. He also oversees the centre’s extensive portfolio of industry projects and manages the Project Management and Operations teams. 

Steve started his career in the Royal Navy as a Helicopter Engineer, before serving on a number of operational units, where he developed an interest in mathematics and computer science. This led to a number of data-oriented roles during his service and, after leaving the forces, took up a variety of aircraft service delivery roles within aeronautical company Leonardo.

He has extensive experience in managing complex multi-million pound support contracts, engineering management, digital enterprise, tools and transformation, and financial reporting.

Steve is also responsible for ensuring the successful delivery and reporting of The National Robotarium's key objectives in relation to its status as a Data-Driven Innovation hub, alongside other executive leaders from The University of Edinburgh.

Session | Opening keynote: Data and digital - how AI is helping us now

The National Robotarium as a new facility within the DDI framework based at Heriot Watt university is having to create a new lifecycle management approach due to the nature of activities that it is involved in. This has presented challenges but also opportunities to adopt from the outset new technologies and new ways of working including utilisation of the latest AI capabilities to enhance project delivery. From Business winning and automated proposal generation, through use of AI tools to manage risk, financial predictions, customer satisfaction sentiment and more, advances are accelerating and changing how we manage projects.