Dinesh Panigrahi

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2026.

Dinesh Panigrahi is a high impact digital transformation leader with 18+ years delivering AI, SaaS and IoT programmes that redefine what organisations can achieve.

He has modernised banking platforms used globally, engineered predictive analytics advancing regenerative agriculture, transformed higher education through digital innovation, delivered AI-powered workforce intelligence for a global oil conglomerate, and deployed IoT solutions at industrial scale. Renowned for turning complexity into clarity, he drives measurable gains in efficiency, compliance, and scalability.

Dinesh champions responsible, accessible AI and consistently sets new benchmarks for enterprise transformation, making him one of the sector's most influential and future-ready leaders.

What's the most exciting part of your current role?

My thrill comes from helping turn complex, high stakes ideas into clarity, momentum and outcomes. My role brings synthesis, speed and the ability to expand my thinking in real time.

What do you do in week one of a new project to avoid pain in month six?

Week one is the crucial week wherein I scan, define and understand the current landscape of the new project as I design my playbook including all information regarding the stakeholders, applications etc to get crisp idea of alignment, clarity and risk exposure, which would be a building block for month six.

What’s the part of your estate you most want to simplify in 2026?

The legacy estate, as it’s the one that causes the most drag effect in digital transformation journeys, along with peoples’ mindset towards adopting new technologies.

Excluding smartphones, what piece of technology could you not live without and why?

Cloud infrastructure: it’s the most important piece for any organisation/project/programme embarking on digital transformation. Without it the digitisation initiative is a mere thought without purpose.

What excites you most about the future of IT?

Niche technologies being discovered and implemented across organisations. Today’s IT is shifting from a being a support function to strategic function orientation while enhancing innovation, driving change and amplifying human capability

What talent are you quietly proud of that would never show up on LinkedIn?

Empathy and calmness during crisis. It helps in solving the most challenging situations with my mind being clear and focused.

What’s your most-used keyboard shortcut or command that you wish everyone knew?

Control+Shift+T - it’s the most used and handy keyboard shortcut while multitasking, works almost 99% of the time, and helps in keeping the flow intact.