Kelly Boyd

‘Proactive, approachable and a great role model’

Part of the Tech Women Celebration 50 – a curated list of some of the most inspirational women working at all levels of tech

Kelly Boyd is a seasoned data leader with over 26 years at Aviva, consistently driving innovation and transformation across the data landscape. As Data Ingestion Leader, she has centralised data services across multiple business domains, delivering strategic improvements in data governance, operational efficiency and sustainability.

Her leadership of cross-functional teams - spanning the UK, India and Poland -has been instrumental in building a cloud-based data lake, integrating over 180 data sources and managing more than 500 feeds.

Kelly’s technical expertise includes AWS, Snowflake and Informatica, with a strong focus on compliance and security. A passionate advocate for neurodiversity, she fosters inclusive, high-performing teams and mentors emerging talent. Her work has achieved significant cost and CO₂ savings, earning her recognition as a Women in Tech Excellence Awards finalist for three consecutive years.

With a pragmatic, collaborative approach, Kelly bridges technical and business stakeholders, championing data as a strategic asset. Her commitment to sustainable, inclusive data practices makes her a standout leader in UK tech.

What does the nominee consider to be her biggest achievement to date?

Kelly’s most significant achievement is the transformation and centralisation of Aviva’s enterprise-wide data ingestion capability, delivering exceptional results in sustainability, cost efficiency and operational resilience. She consolidated disparate ingestion pipelines into a single, scalable platform, streamlining operations across General Insurance, Healthcare, Cyberand Group assets. This enabled real-time monitoring, improved governance and enhanced customer outcomes.

Under her leadership, the team ingested over 500 feeds from 180+ sources, creating a trusted single source of truth. Her sustainability impact is notable: by implementing automated Snowflake ingestion, lifecycle policies and data tiering, her team deleted 1PB of S3 data, transferred 474TB to Glacier IR, saved 12,000 kWh of energy and reduced CO₂ emissions by 2,484.84 kg in six months. This initiative also delivered £264K in cost savings in 2024.

During the FNZ MyMoney and Retail ingestion project, Kelly navigated complex challenges, achieving an 80% reduction in ingestion time despite delays. Her leadership is widely recognised, with her team achieving 100% favourability in the 2024 Voice of Aviva survey for leadership, inclusion and values. Colleagues describe her as "proactive, approachable and a great role model," highlighting her focus on sustainability, efficiency and customer outcomes.

What is the most significant challenge the nominee has overcome?

One of Kelly’s most significant challenges was transforming Aviva’s fragmented data ingestion landscape into a unified, enterprise-wide capability while overcoming technical, organisational and stakeholder barriers.

The FNZ MyMoney and Retail ingestion project required rebuilding pipelines under tight constraints, with limited communication with FNZ’s technical staff causing delays and increased costs. Legacy infrastructure limitations added complexity, requiring new pipelines without disrupting production services.

Kelly led with resilience, securing encryption keys, managing expectations and maintaining team morale. The result was a successful implementation of new feeds, including FNZ Quotes, achieving an 80% reduction in ingestion time. This transformation was both technical and cultural, as Kelly championed a "build once, reuse many" philosophy, shifting the organisation to a centralised platform. This saved £900K annually through resource optimisation. Her success has established a resilient, efficient and sustainable ingestion capability, setting a benchmark for data leadership.

Tell us something about the nominee that people would find surprising

What surprises many about Kelly is her unconventional journey into technology. Forgoing A-levels and university, she joined Aviva 26 years ago, gaining hands-on experience across multiple functions to develop a deep understanding of the business and its customers.

Self-taught in many technologies, she has built expertise in cloud platforms, data governance and large-scale engineering leadership. Her rise from entry-level to Data Ingestion Leader exemplifies determination, curiosity and resilience.

Alongside her career, she has raised a family and championed sustainability and inclusion initiatives. Her team’s 100% favourability in leadership, wellbeing and values reflects her impact. Kelly’s story challenges the notion that a formal degree is essential for success in tech, proving that passion, grit and continuous learning can achieve extraordinary outcomes.