Leeds Tech Map: Can our workforce keep up?

The Leeds Tech Map continues to build a clearer picture of the scale, strength and ambition of Leeds’ technology ecosystem.

With the sector growing at an estimated 7% annually and supporting more than 150,000 jobs across the UK (data: The Data City), the opportunity is clear. But growth brings new challenges.

As AI reshapes roles, skills demands evolve, and employee expectations shift, the question is no longer just how we create jobs — it’s whether we can build, attract and retain the workforce needed to keep pace.

Can our workforce keep up?

This Leeds Digital Festival panel brings together leaders from technology, data, people, finance and legal to explore the workforce behind Leeds’ tech growth, discussing the practical steps businesses can take to develop talent, build capability and create resilient organisations for the future.

In partnership with The Data City, whose data underpins the Leeds Tech Map.

As the sector continues to grow, the organisations that thrive will be those that successfully combine technology, leadership and people to create sustainable
competitive advantage.

What to Expect

The panel will explore two connected themes:

1. The Future of Leeds Tech Talent
   Leeds’ tech sector is growing fast, but not evenly. This session looks at which parts of the sector are expanding quickest, what skills employers are struggling to find,
   and how growing businesses (including The Data City) are building capability as they scale.
2. Attracting, Rewarding and Retaining Talent
   As competition for skilled staff increases, this session covers the practical tools businesses use to keep good people. That includes share incentive schemes such as EMI (Enterprise Management Incentives, a tax-efficient way for employees to hold a stake in the company they work for), the impact of recent changes to UK employment law, flexible working, and building a culture people want to stay in.

The session closes with an open floor for audience questions.

Speakers Include

• Mitali Mookerjee is Managing Director (UK) at The Data City, with over 20 years’ experience leading international teams and driving commercial growth across the business information industry.

  Mitali has worked with organisations including Datamonitor, GlobalData and Content Catalyst, supporting their growth through proactive leadership in commercial development, partnerships and licensing, and analyst workflow innovation.

• Fletcher Adamowicz is a tax partner and head of tax at BHP, with over 25 years experience in advising on owner-managed, private equity backed and family businesses and their shareholders.

  Fletcher has worked with a range of tech businesses, supporting their growth through proactive advice around business structuring, employee incentivisation, fund raising and exit planning. 

• Marie Horner is a specialist employment solicitor at ALT Legal with more than two decades of experience advising employers through periods of growth and change. Her recent work has focused heavily on the tech sector, supporting businesses as they attract, retain and adapt talent in a fast-moving landscape shaped by AI, evolving workforce expectations and changing employment law.