Eleanor Lightbody

Eleanor Lightbody is the CEO of Luminance and a trailblazer in the AI industry.

Eleanor started her career at world-leading cyber-AI firm, Darktrace, where she set up and ran the company’s African operations before becoming head of the Industrial division. With a wealth of experience in scaling fast-growing AI businesses, Eleanor joined Luminance, the pioneer in Legal-Grade™ AI, in 2021 and elevated the company to new heights. She is worthy of recognition on the Women in Leadership Power List for several reasons:

Commercial Success
Under Eleanor's leadership, Luminance recently secured a $40 million Series B funding round led by West-Coast investors, March Capital, with additional participation by National Grid Partners and Slaughter and May. This investment reflects Luminance's global impact, with Eleanor spearheading 5x growth in ARR in the last two years and a series of incredible customer wins. The company’s customer base now spans 600+ organisations in 70+ countries including household names such as DHL, BBC Studios, LG Chem, and Staples.

Pioneering Innovation
Much of this commercial success is driven by the rate of innovation coming out of Luminance’s R&D hub in Cambridge. Less than six months after joining the company, Eleanor spearheaded the development and release of Luminance’s flagship product, ‘Corporate’. Having historically sold to law firms, this product development signified a new addressable market for Luminance, designed to help any team across any business to generate, negotiate and analyse contracts.
Since then, the Luminance team has released a regular cadence of brand-new functionality to its global customer base. This includes a world-first with Luminance Autopilot, Auto Mark-Up which allows users to bring any contract into line with gold standards in a single click, as well as Self-Serve which enables non-legal teams to independently negotiate contracts.
It is this pioneering innovation which has allowed customer such as Emma Sleep to double the number of contracts they review every quarter and Hitachi to take an NDA from generation to signature in under five minutes.

Creative a Culture of Inclusivity
Eleanor's success is further exemplified by the diverse and inclusive culture she cultivates at Luminance. With a focus on fostering meritocracy, Eleanor maintains 50% female representation on her executive team, setting a precedent for gender diversity in the traditionally male dominated tech industry. This commitment to diversity extends to championing initiatives like Luminance’s Women in Law events which focus on connecting women working in the legal profession, as well as Luminance’s Graduate Insights Days which encourage candidates from a diverse range of educational and social backgrounds to experience life at a fast-paced tech scale-up.

A Vocal Thought Leader
As a vocal spokesperson for the transformative potential of AI, Eleanor engages with prestigious publications like The Times and City AM, elevating Luminance's profile and contributing to broader discussions on emerging technologies' ethical and societal implications.

Eleanor’s nomination for this List acknowledges her remarkable contributions to the sector and underscores the indispensable role of women leaders in shaping the future of the industry.