UK moonshot factory ARIA has appointed a new CEO, five months after founding CEO Ilan Gur announced he was stepping down.
Kathleen Fisher will join ARIA (the Advanced Research and Invention Agency) in February next year, having previously worked as a programme manager and later director at DARPA, the US research agency which served as the inspiration for Aria.
ARIA was founded in 2023, with the aim of unlocking technological breakthroughs which could generate big social and economic returns. It was created by an Act of Parliament, and is funded by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It will receive £1.22bn in government funding between 2027 and 2030, and has so far committed £400m in funding, most of which will fall within that time period.
Since launch, it has recruited 16 programme directors across two cohorts, many of them academics and entrepreneurs, and launched nine R&D programmes.
Who is Kathleen Fisher?
Fisher’s expertise lies in cybersecurity. She’s currently a director at RAND, a research organisation based in California, where she heads up its cybersecurity initiative.
Prior to RAND, she was a director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office for three years, leading a portfolio of over 50 programmes and 20 programme managers. She was also previously a programme manager at DARPA, where she led a project to create provably secure software for military vehicles.
Fisher was also a professor and chair of the Computer Science Department at Tufts University in the US.
“Kathleen combines a rare mix of qualities: proven leadership at the highest levels of government R&D and a track record of turning pioneering research into industry-shaping breakthroughs,” said Matt Clifford, Aria’s chair, in a statement accompanying the announcement.
What’s next for ARIA?
In its first few years, ARIA has succeeded in attracting top research talent from around the world. Next up, it needs to show that it can bring about the transformational change that was envisaged at its founding.
"As programmes mature, my focus will be on translating scientific advances into real-world impact: ensuring ARIA's breakthroughs don't just advance knowledge, but transform lives and create lasting value for the UK,” said Fisher in a statement.
