David Gowans

Head of Strategic External Engagement

My current role is focused on the relationship between Barclays and the wider policy and regulatory landscape. I work directly with government, industry bodies, and financial institutions to make sure what Barclays does commercially is aligned with where government strategy is heading and to ensure the bank's voice is heard in the rooms where those decisions get made.

• I lead Barclays' engagement with the Disability Finance Code for Entrepreneurship, launched in December 2024.
• I drive Barclays' work supporting underrepresented groups and manage partnerships with Community Development Financial Institutions and Responsible Finance organisations across the UK.
• I'm one of a small number of Barclays executives cleared for media representation, speaking for the bank with government and media such as BBC, CNN and the Financial Times.

Steering Board Member, Maple Review

Invited directly by the Minister for Small Business to join the government-backed Maple Review Steering Board. The Review is focused on dismantling the economic barriers to entrepreneurship caused by deprivation.

• I sit alongside CEOs and senior leaders from across industry, bringing the perspective of the UK's financial sector on what systemic barriers to capital access look like from the inside.
• The Review's findings will shape government policy in 2026, with recommendations spanning financial services, business support, procurement, and AI.
• This is a personal as well as professional commitment. I grew up in north east england with limited access to capital or networks, and I understand the barriers the Maple Review is trying to dismantle from lived experience.

Co-Chair, Working Families ERG & Inclusion and Opportunity Council

I co-lead Barclays' largest Employee Resource Group, a community of over 7,000 colleagues across seven peer support groups, with 20% year-on-year membership growth during my tenure. I've shaped policy on flexible working, carer support and neurodiversity at an executive level, and contributed to Barclays' accessibility work showcased at the United Nations and Barclays recent benefits change for paternity leave.

Head of Industries, Innovation Bank & Eagle Labs

This is the role I'm probably most proud of. I conceived, built and launched Barclays activity in growing and emegive tech markets which is now forms the activity of our Innovation Bank, a firm-wide proposition that positioned Barclays as the UK's go-to financial partner for the technology sector, publicly launched at London Tech Week.

• The network that underpins it, Eagle Labs, now operates across 43 locations, has supported nearly 20,000 businesses, and portfolio companies have raised over £5 billion in combined investment.
• I owned sector strategy across AI, Software, DeepTech, Games, Creative Industries, Professional Servives and Life Sciences, building specialist teams with genuine vertical expertise rather than generalist coverage.
• I took Barclays' UK market share to an industry leading figure in games, AI and tech without a traditional coverage model.
• I secured and structured the AI partnerships with industry leaders and NVIDIA, establishing Barclays as a credible and leading player in the UK AI ecosystem.

Head of Innovation

Co-founding member of Barclays Ventures, the group's internal start-up unit, reporting directly to the CEO. I led the bank's activity in emerging technologies and delivered pilots into Barclays' global infrastructure. Bringing start-up pace and culture into a legacy institution is a much harder problem than it sounds, and it was the foundation for everything that followed.

Earlier Career: Design, Platforms & Digital Programmes

I spent several years building Barclays' digital foundations. As Head of Interactive I designed and shipped MyZone, now Barclays Now, and founded Digital Wings, a national digital skills platform still in use today, and delivered Barclays' first Salesforce implementation.

• As Head of Digital Eagles I trained 14,000+ colleagues and supported 113,000+ customers through community programmes, reaching 37,000 children through Code Playground.
• Earlier still, as Lead Design Solutions & Innovation Architect, I led teams of designers, developers and project managers building the platforms that modernised how frontline colleagues and customers experienced the bank.