Gareth Hetheridge

Gareth Hetheridge is Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Leonardo UK. He leads the company’s digital transformation strategy, overseeing cloud, data, A.I, enterprise technology, and digital innovation across Leonardo’s UK operations. Since joining Leonardo in 2021, he has driven major modernisation initiatives, including the deployment of a secure sovereign cloud platform and data-driven manufacturing capabilities that support advanced defence and aerospace programmes.

Prior to Leonardo, Hetheridge held numerous senior technology leadership positions at Rolls-Royce, including Global Head of IT for Defence. Earlier in his career, he served in the Royal Air Force and in the Army Reserves. He is also actively involved in defence-industry collaboration through Team Defence Information, of which he is a Non-Executive Director.

Under his leadership, Leonardo became the first major UK defence company to gain accreditation for migrating sensitive workloads to a secure public cloud environment, enabling engineers, partners, and customers to securely access data and applications while supporting innovation in areas such as advanced electronics, military aviation, cyber security, and future combat air systems.