General Sir Roly Walker joins the Resilience Conference lineup

1 August 2024

We're excited to announce that the newly appointed Chief of General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, Head of the British Army, will speak at Resilience Conference, in his first appearance at a startup and technology event. In his recent speech at the RUSI Land Warfare Conference, the Chief of General Staff talked about the need to link startups, investors, and defence together:

“... investors also recognise that a lot is at stake and we share mutual values in the rules-based system as well as mutual interests in maintaining it. So, I also want to better connect investors of venture and private equity capital to our problems, and not just UK investors – this is a game for all of Europe, for NATO, and the Joint Expeditionary Force countries. Importantly to grow our Defence technology ecosystem as a source of strategic advantage. Because if we are to deter an increasingly aligned axis of upheaval, we need to apply all our strengths as a strong democracy against the weaknesses of rigid, autocratic regimes.”

We passionately share General Roly’s vision of venture capital and the tech sector playing this role in protecting democracies. Supporting this engagement is one of the main reasons we organised Resilience Conference. General Roly will take the stage in a discussion with American Lt. Gen (Ret.) Scott Howell, an advisor at the leading venture capital firm General Catalyst.

A limited number of tickets for Resilience Conference are available now. The Generals’ conversation will sit alongside panels, interactive workshops, and very focused networking with leaders from the public and private sectors in defence and national security. The conference will also showcase some of the best tech companies in this sector, including startups participating in Launch, Resilience Conference’s startup pitch showcase.

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General Sir Roly Walker KCB DSO

Chief of the General Staff, British Army

General Sir Roly Walker was commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1993, and served with the UK’s Special Forces from 1997. He commanded the Grenadier Guards in 2009, promoted to the General Staff four years later.

He has commanded at company, squadron, battle group, brigade and SF group levels, variously in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, as well as joint command of operations across Europe, the broader Middle East, Africa and South America. On the Staff, he has served in brigade, divisional, army and strategic HQs.

Since April 2021, he was the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) during which time he was responsible for advising on and directing operations to support the government’s response to Covid, the death of the late Duke of Edinburgh, the withdrawal from Kabul, the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II and coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, numerous evacuation operations, and most recently, the Hamas attacks on Israel. In June 2024 General Walker was appointed as the Chief of the General Staff.

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Lt General Scott Howell

Catalyst Advisor at General Catalyst

Lt General Scott Howell retired from the United States Air Force in August 2021 after a 34- year career during which he held a variety of leadership positions, including most recently as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from July 2018 to June 2021.

In his role at JSOC, Lt Gen Howell oversaw military operations across multiple theaters, and was responsible for the readiness and mission execution of highly-specialized military forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Before JSOC he served as the Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command with a focus on organizing, training, and equipping more than 70,000 U.S. Special Operations personnel operating in more than 85 countries. In this role he led acquisition, budgeting, programming, and fiscal processes for USSOCOM with the military services, Joint Staff, and Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Previously, Lt Gen Howell commanded all Coalition special operations forces in Afghanistan as Commanding General, NATO Special Operations Component Command / U.S. Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan. Lt. Gen Howell has commanded a squadron, group, joint special operations air component, special operations wing, and a special operations joint task force. His senior staff positions include service in the HQ Air Force Staff, Air Force Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and as the Deputy Director of Special Operations at the Joint Staff. Howell is a 1987 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and earned Master’s Degrees from the Air Command & Staff College and the National War College. He is a career helicopter pilot with assignments in rescue and special operations, and has deployed extensively.

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