Speakers

Samira joined ADS in January 2024 as the Defence Director and is a member of the ADS Group Executive Team. Samira leads on ADS’s work across the Defence sector working closely with the ADS Vice President.

Working with and on behalf of our members, Samira provides strategic leadership across a wide range of policies, programmes and capabilities and works with a matrix of stakeholders to ensure the voice of the sector is heard across the Ministry of Defence and other Government departments. Samira also continues her role as the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) Programme Lead.

More recently Samira has led on the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy submissions and been part of the SDR Review & Challenge panel. She is also the Co-Chair for Market Engagement with MOD’ Deputy Director - Industry Collaboration & Strategic Supplier Management, part of the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme, and is the UK Trade Association lead for the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.

Samira has over 20 years of service delivery experience and was previously the Chief Executive of UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC) part of the wider ADS Group, delivering on behalf of the Defence Growth Partnership, powering export led growth. Within this time, she developed, launched and published the Joint Economic Data Hub (JEDHub), measuring the prosperity of defence and delivered cross sector innovation initiatives, all of which were recognised in the 2021 Defence Security and Industrial Strategy (DSIS).