Andrew Walls

I am a UK school leader (Vice Principal), technologist and entrepreneur working at the point where school improvement, compliance and artificial intelligence meet. Based in the UK, I have built my career around helping schools and trusts operate more effectively through better use of data, smarter systems and practical innovation both at Sidney Stringer Academy and the Dixons Academies Trust. My work sits across both senior leadership in education and the development of AI-powered services designed to solve real operational problems. I am also a Google Certified Innovator (London 2017).In my leadership role, I have responsibility for areas including IT, sustainability, data and assessment. I am particularly interested in how technology can move beyond being a background function and become a genuine driver of school improvement. For me, that means creating systems that save time, improve visibility, support decision-making and reduce unnecessary workload for staff. I care a great deal about making complex things usable, whether that is a reporting process, a compliance workflow or a digital platform. I have created numerous solutions with colleagues including emergency reporting systems, AI systems that find grant opportunities and AI and BI systems to analyse data and inform leadership decisions.Alongside my work in education, I am the founder of Acuity AI Education Ltd, where I have been developing practical AI tools for the education sector. One part of that work focuses on school website compliance and policy auditing, helping schools and multi-academy trusts identify issues quickly and act on them with confidence. Another major strand is Acuity AutoRedact, an AI-powered redaction platform designed to help organisations handle subject access requests by automatically removing personally identifiable information from documents and CCTV footage. That work has grown from a clear understanding of the pressure schools and organisations face when trying to meet GDPR obligations accurately, quickly and safely.What defines much of my work is that I do not just lead ideas at a strategic level; I also build. I regularly develop systems and automations myself using tools such as Google Apps Script, Python and cloud platforms, creating solutions that can be deployed in real settings rather than remaining theoretical. I enjoy taking a challenge, breaking it down and building something useful from the ground up. That practical mindset has shaped the way I approach leadership as well as entrepreneurship. I also enjoy working with other people to find solutions to problems.I am especially motivated by problems that sit between compliance, operational pressure and opportunity. Schools and trusts are often expected to do more with less, while also managing increasing accountability and administrative complexity. I see AI and automation as powerful tools in that context, not as gimmicks, but as ways to remove friction, improve accuracy and give people back time to focus on what matters most.More broadly, I am driven by the ambition to create products and services that have genuine value for schools and other organisations. I am interested in growth, partnerships and scaling good ideas, but always with a focus on practical impact. Whether I am leading within education, building software, refining outreach or developing a new service, my aim is the same: to create solutions that are clear, effective and worth using.