Ann Brook, Director of Knowledge & Learning, Chartered IIA

Ann has been working in the internal audit and related professions for over 25 years and became a Head of Internal Audit in a large Building Society in 2009. Since then, she worked in Risk Management and various governance roles, and held multiple appointments as Board, Council and Audit Committee member across a range of sectors and industries.

Ann moved into Higher Education in 2013 with the aim to giving more back to the internal audit profession. She was course leader for the only Internal Audit focused degree in the UK and helped develop both the level 4 and level 7 Apprenticeships with the trailblazer group of employees. She subsequently implemented and delivered the level 7 apprenticeship which she grew over 5 years by 700% with great success. 

Ann has been an active volunteer of the Chartered IIA since 2007 and is now Head of Technical Content and Research. She aims to bring her practical and higher education experiences to drive practical support for the internal audit profession.

Abdul Ikbal, Head of Cyber Presales at Zensec

Abdul Ikbal is Head of Cyber Presales at Zensec and a Senior Ethical Hacker specialising in offensive security and real world attack techniques. Abdul helps organisations understand how modern cyber attacks actually happen, not through theory or vendor slides, but by demonstrating the same methods used in real incidents. Across ethical hacking engagements, his work consistently shows that most breaches begin with people, phone calls and trusted interactions rather than complex technical exploits.

At Zenzero, Abdul leads cyber presales and advisory engagements, working closely with clients and leadership teams to turn technical risk into clear, practical decisions. He is best known for his live hacking demonstrations, where real world attacks are safely recreated to show how social engineering, phishing and AI driven vishing exploit trust, and what is recommended to prevent attacks in the first place.

Sam Haslam, Practice Leader – Risk & Resilience Advisory, Willis Towers Watson

Sam is leader of WTW’s Risk and Resilience Advisory practice, specialising in AI and Technology Risk as well as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). He is a chartered accountant, certified AI governance professional and holds the IRM’s digital risk management certification. He has 12 years’ practical experience across risk, audit and governance, both in professional services and as a Head of Enterprise Risk and Head of Internal Audit in a UK listed business. 

At WTW Sam helps organisations in sectors including aviation, manufacturing, retail and logistics to understand, analyse and mitigate risks, particularly those relating to AI and technology.

James Patterson, Founder, Risk & Assurance Insights (RiskAI)

James was Chief Audit Executive at AstraZeneca from 2002 to 2009, having previously held senior corporate and commercial finance roles, including Head of Group Financial Reporting.

In 2010, he founded a consulting business focused on internal audit consulting, training, and coaching, with particular expertise in Lean and Agile Auditing, Root Cause Analysis, Risk Assurance Mapping, preparing for EQAs, auditing culture and behavioural risk, and influencing and political savvy.
He has spoken at IIA International Conferences in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2023, and regularly presents and chairs sessions at other IIA events.

James is the author of Lean Auditing (Wiley, 2015) and Beyond the Five Whys (Wiley, 2024), which explores root cause analysis and systems thinking.

Richard Willshire, Managing Director at Canterfield Risk Management Ltd

Richard is a highly successful and experienced Senior Business Leader, with over 12 years of experience within UK FCA-regulated insurance intermediary firms. 

Richard embeds a deep knowledge of all areas of Governance, Independent Assurance and Control Frameworks with extensive commercial, accounting and financial management.

An expert in delivering internal audit reviews across insurance intermediaries and presenting concise written reports with value and impact. Acute auditing skills homing in on the key risks and control weakness areas driving value through services and market insight to clients.

Richard leads the South and East regional IIA committee and has a passion for the internal audit profession and cultivating successful auditors.

Adrian Jenkins, Founder and Director, Financial Progression

In 2009, Adrian set up Financial Progression as the first boutique marketing contract compliance specialist to be regulated by a professional accountancy body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. What began as a pioneering move is now the expected standard across the industry.

Under Adrian’s leadership, the firm has delivered financial audits in 40 countries, covering every major marketing services discipline. If a supplier relationship sits within a marketing director’s budget, Adrian and his team have almost certainly audited it.

Financial Progression’s approach reflects Adrian’s core values: work that is thorough, fair and designed to strengthen client–agency relationships by bringing clarity to the financials and contractual terms that matter. His attention to detail has made him a trusted voice for national, regional and global advertisers seeking guidance on transparency and agency financial practices.

Adrian also served as a contract compliance audit lead on ISBAs 2021 Media Services Framework and its 2025 Creative Services counterpart. 

Robert Wegenek, International Legal Consultant, Quarterback Services Ltd

Robert Wegenek is a legal consultant specialising in the advertising and marketing sector. He advises some of the world’s leading advertisers and industry bodies representing their interests on a global basis to ensure that their advertising and media budgets are correctly applied by their service providers.

His background, for many years, was as adviser to the major advertising holding companies (such as WPP, Publicis and Omnicom), specialising in their services agreements with advertisers and related matters of governance.

These days, he works with ISBA (the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers), for whom he has authored their recommended contract templates governing the appointment of media agencies. He has authored ISBA’s recommended contract regulating the use of generative AI by agencies when providing services to advertisers. He also advises the World Federation of Advertisers, for whom he has authored a set of recommended guidelines on the global appointment of marketing agencies.