Dame Hayaatun Sillem
Founder & CEO, Argentic Associates
Hayaatun is the founder and CEO of Argentic Associates, focused on transforming major philanthropy, and host of What We Don’t Know, the podcast on better leadership in an uncertain world.
Until the end of 2025, she was CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which promotes engineering and tech excellence for public benefit, and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, which awards the world’s most prestigious engineering prize. She is a member of the UK government’s Women in Tech Taskforce, trustee of various charities and Non-Executive Director at construction company Laing O’Rourke.
She previously cofounded the Academy’s Enterprise Hub, named the UK’s top startup hub (FT 2026), chaired the government’s Business Innovation Forum and co-chaired with Sir Lewis Hamilton his Commission on improving Black representation in motorsport. She was awarded a CBE in 2019 and a Damehood in 2026 for services to Engineering.
