Kate Stevenson

Transformation and Product Leader with 15+ years' experience leading enterprise-scale AI, intelligent automation and digital transformation portfolios. Proven track record of defining strategy, building high-performing teams and delivering measurable business outcomes, including £300m+ realised value across more than 100 AI and automation products. Experienced in influencing senior stakeholders, securing investment and driving transformation across global organisations.

Passionate about building, mentoring and empowering cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional results.

Data & AI Product Manager at Jaguar Land Rover (2024-07 – Present)

• Defined and delivered the Intelligent Automation product strategy and roadmap across JLR's Corporate functions, aligning investment and delivery priorities with enterprise transformation objectives.
• Owned a portfolio of 35+ Automation and AI products spanning Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance, and Sustainability, managing the lifecycle from opportunity identification through to value realisation.
• Led the integration of the Intelligent Automation Discovery function into the central Data & AI product organisation, strengthening governance, prioritisation, and delivery alignment.
• Coordinated the upskilling of 25+ product professionals, fostering a common understanding of technologies, product disciplines, and internal capabilities.
• Directed discovery and opportunity assessment activities, identifying and prioritising high-value automation and AI use cases aligned to business outcomes.
• Built compelling business cases and value frameworks that secured investment and enabled enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.
• Established trusted partnerships with senior business and technology stakeholders to align strategic priorities, secure investment and accelerate adoption of digital products.
• Led and mentored a high-performing team of five Senior Product Consultants, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Drove change management and adoption activities to maximise product utilisation, business engagement, and value realisation.
• Partnered with Finance, Data, and Technology leaders to support enterprise-wide finance transformation and data-driven decision making.

Intelligent Automation Discovery & Engagement Manager at Jaguar Land Rover (2022-03 – 2024-06)

• Promoted to lead JLR's Intelligent Automation Discovery capability, establishing and leading a high-performing team of 20 Senior Business Analysts.
• Owned the discovery portfolio for Automation and AI products across Corporate and Commercial functions, driving identification, prioritisation, and progression of transformation opportunities.
• Led the development and governance of the Intelligent Automation pipeline, partnering with business stakeholders to build a sustainable portfolio of high-value opportunities.
• Defined and embedded standardised discovery methodologies, improving consistency in opportunity assessment, product definition, and requirements management.
• Facilitated executive and business stakeholder workshops to validate customer needs, business challenges, and value cases for automation and AI initiatives.
• Recruited and developed a team of permanent and contingent Business Analysts, strengthening organisational discovery and product capability.
• Selected as a trusted transformation leader to support three critical enterprise-wide transformation programmes.
• Contributed to an award-winning Intelligent Automation capability recognised by Celonis, Automation Anywhere, Appian, and Blue Prism.
• Built and maintained strategic partnerships with key delivery partners to support portfolio execution and capability growth.
• Collaborated with leading technology vendors to establish and scale new digital capabilities across JLR.
• Partnered with internal delivery, change management and control room teams to evaluate solution options and define implementation
• Championed early careers development through mentoring, recruitment, and talent programmes, supporting the growth of future product, data, and technology professionals.

Senior Business Analyst at Jaguar Land Rover (2018-10 – 2022-03)

• Joined Jaguar Land Rover as the first Business Analyst dedicated to the Automation CoE responsible for pioneering the approach to identify and evaluate RPA opportunities.
• Promoted and embedded Intelligent Automation across JLR, educating stakeholders, developing a high-value automation pipeline, and supporting delivery of the digital strategy
• Partnered with business stakeholders across the enterprise to drive process automation, improve operational efficiency, and deliver measurable business value.
• Led RPA projects across a number of functions including Procurement, Human Resources, Product Engineering, Commercial and Finance
• Proven ability to run collaborative process workshops (AS-IS & TO-BE) with business stakeholders and develop insightful recommendations and solutions
• Worked closely with SMEs to capture detailed business and functional requirements, and to build robust business cases
• Championed a process-first approach, re-engineering and optimising business workflows before automation to maximise efficiency, adoption, and business value
• Positively managed relationships with business stakeholders across end-to-end automation journey.

Business Performance Improvement Lead at Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) (2015-09 – 2018-09)

• Led transformation initiatives across Operations and Commercial functions, identifying opportunities to enhance customer outcomes, streamline processes, and deliver measurable business value.
• Partnered with business stakeholders to drive operational excellence, enable change, and support the adoption of automation and data-driven decision-making.
• Led cross-functional initiatives to identify efficiencies, improve business performance, and deliver tangible operational benefits.
• Collaborated with business leaders, process owners, and SMEs to define and implement strategic improvement opportunities.
• Redesigned and optimised processes to enhance customer and employee experiences while improving operational effectiveness.
• Applied Lean Six Sigma and data-driven problem-solving techniques to identify root causes and deliver sustainable improvements.
• Assessed high-impact manual processes and assessed automation opportunities to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Ensured improvement initiatives aligned with business objectives and delivered measurable outcomes.

Sales & Customer Service Analyst at Accenture South Africa (Pty) Ltd – Management Consulting (2012-06 – 2015-06)

• Project focused within Communications, Media & Technology specialising in customer experience (CX) and CRM transformation.
• Partnered with business and technology stakeholders to design customer-centric solutions, optimise operating models, and support large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Contributed to transformation programmes across discovery, analysis, design, and delivery
• Mapped and redesigned customer journeys and business processes (ARIS) to improve customer experience and operational effectiveness.
• Defined future-state operating processes, aligning customer needs, business objectives, and technology capabilities.
• Collaborated with cross-functional stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable and valuable solutions.

Strategy Consultant at Insight Customer Solutions (a member of the SMC. group) (2010-07 – 2012-06)

• Managed customer experience and mystery shopping programmes for a diverse client portfolio, leading project delivery, stakeholder engagement, and insight-driven service improvement initiatives.
• Analysed customer feedback and behavioural data to produce actionable recommendations, client presentations, and training programmes that supported strategic decision-making and enhanced customer experience outcomes.

BCom Honours (Strategic Management) Cum Laude in Strategic Management – University of Johannesburg, South Africa (2009 – 2009)

BCom (Intrapreneurial Management) in Business Management, Intrapreneurship, Financial Management – University of Johannesburg, South Africa (2006 – 2008)