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Jo Wimble-Groves is a tech entrepreneur author and keynote speaker with decades of experience at the forefront of technology, business leadership and digital transformation.
A self-confessed ‘accidental entrepreneur’, Jo put her hand up and took an opportunity to run a business, Active Digital with her brother at just sixteen years old, dropping out of sixth form college at the same time.
Active Digital is an award-winning mobile and connectivity company, and in 2025 co-founded Active Digital AI, helping UK organisations navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence with confidence, strategy and ethical insight.
Jo has won numerous awards including voted ’35 under 35’ in Management Today as featured in The Times (2010). Jo is an ambassador for STEM subjects and in 2020 she won the Everywoman in Tech, ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award. Jo aims to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs and in March 2019, was one of 100 women to be invited to 10 Downing Street to have tea with the Prime Minister.
Jo is widely recognised for her expertise in leadership, innovation, and the future of work, with a particular focus on how organisations can adapt to AI, robotics, and automation while fostering human potential. Her corporate talks are engaging, practical, and tailored to executive, management, and employee audiences, helping businesses understand the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies.
She has delivered keynotes and workshops for leading organisations including Barclays Bank, Funding Circle, Tesco Bank, Arrow Global and the Ministry of Defence, as well as numerous industry conferences across the UK. Jo also advocates for diversity, confidence and leadership development, particularly encouraging women in tech and leadership roles. Research from the OECD highlights that self-confidence, not ability is often the biggest barrier to women pursuing leadership and STEM careers, and Jo’s talks provide practical strategies to address this challenge at every level of an organisation.
In addition to her corporate work, Jo is a published author. Her 2021 book with DK, Rise of the Girl: Seven Empowering Conversations to Have with Your Daughter, continues to trend in the Top 100 parenting audiobooks, reflecting her ability to combine insight, storytelling, and actionable advice.
The Future of AI & Robotics
Jo also brings a future-focused perspective, exploring AI, robotics and the jobs of 2050. Following a visit to The National Robotarium in Edinburgh, she shares firsthand insights into how robotics and intelligent systems are shaping industries, helping organisations anticipate change and build workforce strategies for the next decade.
Jo explores how AI, robotics, and intelligent systems are reshaping industries and the workplace. Drawing on her experience and insights from The National Robotarium, audiences gain practical strategies for adopting AI responsibly and fostering innovation. Combining expert insight with real-world examples, Jo’s keynote equips leaders and teams to embrace technology, unlock human potential, and future-proof their organisations in an AI-driven world.
Jo’s corporate keynotes and workshops are inspiring, leaving audiences with clarity, motivation, and practical tools to navigate the rapidly changing digital landscape.
Jo speaks about the importance of raising your hand, which is really about taking risks. Living in a society where you constantly feel pressure to be perfect, taking a risk which might result in a failure can be scary. For this reason, girls might not raise their hand in class, unless they are 100% confident of their answer.
This issue then translates into the working world, with female employees being less likely to go for a promotion if they do not meet all of the criteria compared to their male colleagues. One quote from the book I loved is “raising a hand today is about being braver today than you were yesterday”. It is indeed true that it is important to teach young girls to seize opportunities and lead the life they want to, and that that can start with something as small, or big depending on the perspective, as raising their hand.
The Briefcase Story is an inspiring talk about how Jo using her natural skills self-belief and confidence to become a successful tech entrepreneur. Using her best skills and taking an opportunity without being afraid has enabled her to prove that you don’t always need to be a natural academic high achiever to succeed.
As a woman in tech, Jo really enjoys sharing her twenty years’ experience in her sector with the next generation of students. With 85% of jobs in 2030 not even created yet, the world of technology is an exciting space to explore and work. The Briefcase Story is an inspiring story about Jo used my skills in the areas of leadership and she hopes that her story will encourage more women and girls to put their hand up for that next promotion or an opportunity without being afraid of failure. She believes that encouraging women to do this will help them to thrive in current roles or to progress to more senior management levels and help us find our next generation of female tech leaders.
In our modern world, we want to raise girls to feel they can go out into the world with their best foot forward. To do that, we need to raise our girls to believe in themselves. It may sound cheesy, but self-belief and self-esteem are crucial to raising girls to go out into the world feeling confident and resilient for what lies ahead of them. And while raising girls with high self-esteem despite their being surrounded by digitally altered images is no easy task, it is possible. In this talk, Jo shares her tips and advice on how we can take small steps to make a big difference.
Girls have an interest in STEM. However, data from Microsoft in the US showed that interest in STEM drops off when they high senior school. Could the importance of a “growth mindset” play a valuable part on whether girls will keep their interest and motivation in STEM or go for more “feminine” careers instead. Fewer girls keep their interest and motivation in science subjects, and this can translate to fewer female graduates in science, technology, and engineering fields. Could a lack of role models and gender stereotypes impact how likely girls and women are to retain their interest in STEM subjects? Could this be affecting their potential to pursue their passion for STEM in their adult life?
For instance, in 2015, a software company OneLogic launched its recruitment marketing campaign that featured an attractive female engineer. It received a massive backlash from the public. People, especially males, were complaining that this is not what an engineer would look like.
In this talk, we discuss the importance of role models and why, if they want to, everyone should have the ability to look like an engineer. Now is the time to show our students why we need more gender diversity in STEM. This is an ideal talk for National STEM Day on 8th November.
Sometimes in life you meet someone who motivates and inspires you. Jo is one of those people. She is passionate about everything she’s involved with whether that’s the needs of her team and customers at Active Digital, or one of her many speaking engagements. I’d happily work with Jo again in the future; I hope the opportunity arises
Jo is a hugely successful entrepreneur and a business leader of note. She is a driven individual who leads and mentors Active Digital staff. Through her extensive networking and as a keynote speaker she inspires the next generation to aspire to do great things for their business to enable them to achieve real growth.
