Amanda Brock | CEO | OpenUK
Amanda Brock is a leader who has spent more thirty years building a career shaped by law, technology, and the power of open source. After working as a lawyer for twenty-five years, she moved to take on the responsibility of leading OpenUK, an organisation she helped build from the ground up. For the past six years, she has guided it to become the United Kingdom’s industry body for the business of open technology, covering open source software, hardware, data, standards, and AI. Her work focuses on the people behind these technologies, many of whom collaborate globally and contribute to open source communities across borders. She often describes this community as the submarine under the UK digital economy, a quiet but essential force driving deep tech innovation and progress. At EliteX, we are proud to have Amanda Brock as part of the edition: 10 Elite CEOs in 2025.
Her personal journey into open source began in 2008 when she joined Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. Her role there shaped her understanding of global collaboration, technology infrastructure, and the importance of open source code. She explains open source as the base layer of the digital world, much like the base of a pizza. People may focus on the toppings like the cloud, the Internet, or AI, but without a strong base, you have a sloppy mess. Open source provides a strong base, allowing innovation to scale faster and communities to build on shared work. Over time, she developed a strong connection to the values of open source such as access, contribution, and collaboration. These values matched her own principles and slowly became part of her leadership approach.
The future of technology must serve humanity and create positive change for all.
Amanda’s path to becoming CEO was shaped by unexpected events, opportunities, and the confidence to say yes even when the road ahead was unclear. Early in her career, she became an IT lawyer by accident when a job offer was changed from IP to IT law. Her employer also supported her through an IT law master’s degree, which included the first internet law course in the UK. This positioned her among the earliest internet lawyers in the world. Later, she joined Canonical on a three-month contract and planned to leave after restructuring the legal team. Instead, she was asked to stay longer, which meant turning down a role at Amazon. These turning points taught her the importance of embracing opportunity, even when outcomes cannot be predicted. Another major achievement was becoming the editor of the key textbook on open source law and policy. When she suggested a new edition, her professor encouraged her to take the lead, and the book eventually became widely recognised, even being translated into Mandarin this year.
Integrity has always been at the core of her leadership. She believes that personal values must guide every decision, especially when leading an organisation. As CEO, she constantly balances short term demands with long term growth, especially during global economic challenges. OpenUK operates on a carefully managed budget, and she learned that difficult decisions often involve saying no to opportunities that fall outside the organisation’s mission. Choosing where impact is strongest has helped OpenUK grow steadily and sustainably even during uncertain times.
Innovation grows when people collaborate, support each other, and build on shared strengths.
Amanda has also worked toward expanding OpenUK’s global influence by developing its sister organisation OpenHQ, which focuses on international open source policy. This includes engaging with AI and open source communities around the world and participating in major global events like the Global AI Impact Summit. Despite global downturns, she remains committed to building a stable foundation for future opportunity and encourages slow, steady growth that aligns with intuition shaped by years of experience.
For her, innovation is at the centre of everything. She encourages her team and community to lead where they can, support others, and connect people who can create value together. Technology plays a defining role in shaping strategy at OpenUK. With almost two decades in open source technology, she believes that working in this space means living slightly ahead of the curve. Through research, reporting, and collaboration, OpenUK sets conversations that others often follow years later.
To stay competitive in a fast-changing global market, Amanda believes in continuous improvement and learning. Her organisation grew quickly because it created a strong and recognisable model but never stopped adapting. Eight new board members will soon join, bringing fresh perspectives that will help the organisation evolve further.
Relationships are at the heart of her work. She believes deeply in the open source principle of people over code. She ensures that OpenUK remains inclusive, diverse, and aligned with global sustainability goals. It was the first organisation in its area to appoint a Chief Sustainability Officer, reflecting its belief in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For Amanda, social responsibility is not a trend, but a long-term commitment to building a fair and open technology ecosystem.
She often advises career developers to understand that being a CEO can feel lonely, not because of the responsibility alone but because of the nature of the role. She never compromises on integrity and believes in doing what is right with the information she has. Her vision for the future reflects her optimism. In a world moving quickly because of AI, she believes that the next decade will bring deep change in productivity, work structure, and society. She hopes that this transformation will create space for better work life balance and a healthier future for families. Her goal is to help build a world where technology serves humanity and by being democratises supports positive change for all.
Integrity is the one thing a leader truly owns, and it must guide every decision.
