Tom Ilube Cbe

Tom is the founder and CEO of Crossword. He is also a Non-Executive Director of WPP plc, the FTSE100 advertising agency, and is chair of the RFU. Tom was formerly a BBC Board member. Tom was until recently Managing Director of Consumer Markets at Callcredit Information Group, the private equity-backed UK credit reference agency. Whilst at Callcredit, Tom founded Noddle, a credit reporting service that eventually grew to four million users and was acquired by US-based Credit Karma. Prior to Callcredit, Tom founded and was CEO of Garlik, a venture capital-backed identity protection company, sold to Experian. Earlier, Tom served as Chief Information Officer of Egg Banking plc, which at the time was a pioneering main market-listed UK internet bank. His earlier career included positions at Goldman Sachs, PwC, Cap Gemini, and the London Stock Exchange.

​Tom chaired the UK Government Technology Strategy Board’s Network Security Innovation panel. He was a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Cyber security at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a Geneva-based UN agency. Tom is an Honorary Fellow of both Jesus College and St Anne’s College, University of Oxford. He was awarded a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the City University of London; an Honorary Doctor of Technology by the University of Wolverhampton, and was appointed a CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to Technology and Philanthropy.