SWAG’s Senior Data Analyst Recognised Among UK’s Top AI Leaders

September 29, 2026

We are proud to announce that Funmi Oladipo, our Senior Data Analyst at SWAG Cancer Alliance, has been recognised as one of the UK’s Top 100 AI Leaders through the AI Hundred initiative.

The recognition celebrates Funmi’s innovative work using data analytics, automation and artificial intelligence to support improvements across cancer services.

Over recent years, Funmi has led the development of several tools to help cancer teams better understand and manage pathway performance. These include the SWAG Cancer Waiting Times Power BI Dashboard which provides a consistent and validated view of performance across five NHS Trusts and four Integrated Care Boards, and the Special Cause Flow Alert System which helps identify emerging pressures in cancer pathways before they become critical.

Funmi’s work focuses on turning complex data into practical insights that support earlier intervention, improved pathway management and better experiences for patients.

Commenting on the recognition, Funmi said:

“Being recognised as one of the UK’s Top 100 AI Leaders is both humbling and deeply meaningful. It tells me that the work happening quietly inside NHS analytics is being seen: building pipelines, designing automation tools, making data work harder for clinical teams. To be recognised alongside entrepreneurs, researchers, and tech leaders confirms that applying AI thoughtfully inside the NHS, where it directly touches patient care, is just as important as building it from scratch.
“It means something to me personally as a Black woman in a field where we are still underrepresented. I hope it encourages others who look like me to see themselves in these spaces. Most importantly, it motivates me to keep exploring innovative ways to use data and AI to improve cancer services: not technology for technology’s sake, but innovation translated into practical improvements in patient care.”
Funmi will also be speaking at the AI Hundred event sharing insights into how AI can help improve cancer pathways before diagnosis or treatment even begins:
“When people think about AI in cancer care, they picture imaging algorithms spotting tumours or models predicting treatment response. That is extraordinary work, but I work in the world before that world. I am going to talk about what AI can do for cancer care before a single clinical decision is even made: faster and safer referral triage, smarter pathway coordination, and patient-facing information tools that give people answers at 9pm when the clinic phone line is closed.
The unglamorous middle of the cancer pathway, the referral, the wait, the not-knowing, is where anxiety lives and where delay quietly accumulates. My argument is that this is also where AI can make the biggest near-term difference: not because the technology is most advanced there, but because the problems are most solvable, the risk profile is lower, and the impact on patients is immediate.”

Congratulations to Funmi on this well-deserved achievement. You can vote for Funmi in the Top AI 100 here: awards.digileaders.com/AI100-2026

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