Leeds Digital Festival 2025 has once again proven why it’s one of the UK’s most exciting and inclusive showcases of digital innovation.

Over two packed weeks, the city hosted 220+ events, brought together 370 organisations, and welcomed an incredible 500 speakers across every corner of the digital ecosystem, from AI and healthtech to fintech, creative, and beyond.

With Insider Media estimating over 15,000 attendees, this year’s festival was hailed as a landmark success, a reflection of both the region’s growing influence and the strength of collaboration between business, academia, and the public sector.

Each year, Leeds Digital continues to raise the bar, delivering content that rivals national conferences in scale and calibre. And for Answer Digital, it’s always a highlight in our calendar.

Shining a light on Women in Genomics

Among the most talked-about sessions this year was our “Women in Genomics: The Future of Personalised Women’s Health” event, held at Answer HQ.

The evening brought together an inspiring panel of women driving change across the genomics and health innovation landscape, including leaders from NHS England, the British Society of Genomic Medicine, and the North East & Yorkshire Genomic Medicine Service.

From earlier cancer diagnosis to personalised treatment for conditions such as endometriosis and depression, genomics is already transforming women’s health. Yet, behind every breakthrough are women whose leadership, resilience, and innovation often go unseen.

Our discussion explored key areas including:

• Improving diagnosis of hereditary cancers and rare diseases
• Precision medicine and the promise of personalised treatment
• Reproductive health and fertility, from IVF screening to non-invasive prenatal testing
• Hormonal health and menopause research
• Equity in genomics, ensuring representation and outcomes for all women

It was a powerful evening of reflection and optimism, proving that when data, science and diversity come together, the future of healthcare becomes brighter for everyone.

Inside the AI Engine Room

We also hosted “Inside the AI Engine Room”, an interactive session exploring the real-world realities of AI adoption, beyond the hype.

Led by Paul Wye, Head of AI at Answer Digital, the talk examined what it really takes to embed AI safely, responsibly and at scale.
From governance and data readiness to upskilling teams and de-risking vendor lock-in, the session provided a candid look at how organisations can move from experimentation to measurable impact.

The discussion also tackled one of the biggest challenges of 2025 the pace of change. As AI evolves faster than any previous technology, Paul outlined how businesses can build strategies that remain adaptable, ethical, and rooted in their data foundations.

The key takeaway?
AI success isn’t about chasing the latest model. It’s about clarity, context and culture, understanding your data, defining your business problems, and empowering people to use technology that genuinely improves outcomes.

Looking ahead

Leeds Digital Festival 2025 showed what makes our region so special, a community that combines creativity with technical depth, and collaboration with purpose.
We’re proud to have played our part again this year, spotlighting the people and technologies transforming healthcare, genomics and AI.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, contributed, and shared their insights. We’re already looking forward to doing it all again next year.