British tech executive Poppy Gustafsson was appointed in 2024 as the UK Government’s Minister for Investment.
The Cambridgeshire-born businesswoman is also the co-founder and former CEO of cybersecurity giant Darktrace.
Gustafsson gained a degree in mathematics from the University of Sheffield before qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2006.
From there she landed a job at venture capital firm Amadeus Capital.
Her expertise in finance and technology led her to join Autonomy, a company founded by late billionaire Mike Lynch.
In 2013 she then co-founded Darktrace with a team of mathematicians, business leaders and intelligence experts, including from GCHQ.
The company developed self-learning AI technology to detect and combat cyber threats.
Under Gustafsson’s leadership, Darktrace expanded rapidly, serving nearly 10,000 customers across 110 countries and employing over 2,400 people. The company filed more than 200 patent applications and achieved a market cap of £4.1bn by 2024, after it went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2021.
However, Darktrace’s time as a publicly listed company has not been without controversy. In early 2023, hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) published a detailed report alleging that Darktrace had employed questionable sales and accounting practices to inflate its financial performance prior to its 2021 IPO.
The report accused the company of “channel stuffing”, a practice where sales are recorded before products are delivered, and overstating growth metrics.
Darktrace denied these allegations, and a subsequent review by Ernst & Young (EY) identified only minor inconsistencies that were not deemed material to the company’s financial statements.
Gustafsson was named ‘Tech CEO of the Year’ at the UK Tech Awards in 2021 and received an OBE for services to cybersecurity in 2019.
This was before being promoted to CBE in the 2025 New Year Honours.
In September 2024, Gustafsson stepped down as CEO of Darktrace following its £4.3bn acquisition by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo. She was succeeded by Jill Popelka, Darktrace’s COO.
She did however, remain involved with the company as a non-executive director.
Upon her departure, she shared on LinkedIn: “Darktrace has been an enormous part of my life since its inception, and I have always said I have the best job in the world. Leaving is not an easy decision, but I am confident in doing so because I know I am leaving the business in the most capable hands.
“This decision was not due to any one factor but rather a culmination of the effort and personal commitment I have poured into this business over the last 11 years, through all its highs and lows.
“And while I will no longer be leading the company, I look forward to still playing a part in its future through joining the board as a non-executive director after the transaction completes. I am profoundly grateful to have had the privilege of leading such an exceptional team.”
Later that year, Gustafsson was appointed as the UK’s Investment Minister, leading the Office for Investment, by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
She was also elevated to the House of Lords for a life peerage.
A key part of her role is to promote the UK to investors and businesses around the world to attract more investment for the country.
Upon her appointment, it was reported that The Office for Investment was to introduce a new service to ensure that investors get the correct support from the government.