Kathryn Parsons

Kathryn Parsons is Founder and co-CEO of Decoded, a technology education company founded with a mission to demystify the digital world.

Their work teaching code, data and cyber skills has reached over half a million people in 85+ cities worldwide. Today Decoded is the go-to for leaders looking to rapidly transform the digital capability and culture of their businesses. Global clients include Unilever, Nike, HSBC, Burberry, Citi and MasterCard.

Parsons founded the business in 2011 with a credit card and a mission to teach anyone Code in a Day. Driven by a personal desire to learn and to remove the fear, jargon and cliches which made technology impenetrable. Parsons’ passion for languages started at a young age, learning French, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese and ultimately Latin and Ancient Greek at Downing College, Cambridge. For her code is just another language, the language of the future, and one she believes anyone can learn.

Parsons is a regular columnist for the Sunday Times, sharing her expertise and outlook on the rapidly evolving technology world, covering issues like Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. She campaigned for coding to be mandatory on the UK National Curriculum. It was successfully introduced in 2014, making the UK one of the first countries in the world to do so and in 2015 she received an MBE in the Queen’s Honors for Services to Education.

In addition to growing and scaling her business, Parsons is a regular Keynote and Business Speaker on “Digital Transformation” and Artificial Intelligence, sharing her experience of how leaders, governments and individuals can embrace technology and a digital economy.

Parsons is also a Motivational and Inspirational Speaker. Fueled by her passion for education and technology, she teaches how to embrace lifelong learning, by giving ourselves permission to learn and grow.