AI in 2026 - LEO Computer Society online event

Anyone who follows the news and the media will be aware that AI, or Artificial Intelligence is being reported daily.

But what is it, and is it benign , or potentially dangerous. And what has it got to do with LEO.

Well it is LEO I's 75th birthday this year and while it would be a gross exaggeration to say that Lyons were using AI in 1951 we, at the LEO Computer Society believe that the LEO processes implemented from 1951 to 1955 were the first examples of business using digital computers to enhance the capability of people to make informed decisions and in some cases have the computer processes make the decisions, that is the first green shoots of AI.

Be that as it may, we think many of you may want to understand more about AI and we have the privilege to introduce two practitioners who are deeply involved and knowledgeable.

Richard Conway is Founder of Elastacloud and Group CTO for Acora with over 30-years experience in commercial software engineering. Current Microsoft Regional Director and AI MVP.

Darshna Shah, Chief AI Officer at Elastacloud with a PhD in Neuroscience and over 10 years of experience delivering enterprise AI solutions across Finance, Legal, Energy, and Sustainability. Current Microsoft AI Most Valuable Professional.

Richard says AI has already had a huge impact on people’s day to day. What does it mean in 2026 though? As we wade through the increasingly complex world of AI, agents how do we know what things are important and will bring true value to our economies.

What does it mean to the future of work? What does it mean to the future of innovation? In this talk Richard Conway and Darshna Shah will look beyond the headlines and speak about how emergent ideas, patterns and practices and technical advances are setting us up for a strong and exciting year ahead.

Find out more about - https://www.elastacloud.com/

Make contact: https://www.elastacloud.com/contact/

https://www.elastacloud.com/acora-and-elastacloud-join-forces/

Join the LEO Computers Society.

The LEO Computers Society started life as a group of ex LEO people who wanted to communicate and meet up to talk about the early development of the Lyons Electronic Office. It has evolved into a society that is dedicated to discovering and recording for posterity the remarkable development of the world’s first business computer.
Membership is open to anyone who shares an interest in this development and we encourage you to provide information about your interest in LEO and your career. This information is shared with other members, but personal and communications details such as addresses and numbers are not.

We stress that all are welcome if they have an interest, especially educators.

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